A Legend of the Ship Without Number

(Baonghean) -Leaving without a return date, he was given a memorial service for all five trips on the Ship Without Number transporting weapons to the South. By chance, I met veteran Bui Binh Trong - one of the soldiers who created the miracle of the "Ho Chi Minh Trail on the sea", a living witness who proudly told me stories that seemed to only exist in legends.

Volunteer to join the army

In a small house in Tan Thanh hamlet, Tam Hop commune, Quy Hop district, sitting opposite me was old farmer Bui Binh Trong. He was from the coastal area of ​​Quynh Long, Quynh Luu district. In 1963, in the South, Ngo Dinh Diem was frantically suppressing the revolutionary movement, plotting to permanently divide the country with the advice of his American masters. In July of that year, he received a notice of military service. “I was in the priority group not to join the army because I was the only child. But I still “secretly” registered with my family to join the army at school, without going through the commune. The day I received the notice of being accepted, I informed the whole family,” Mr. Trong recalled.

Holding back his longing and nostalgia, leaving behind his young wife, who had just married, and his old mother in the countryside, he entered training at the Navy base right at Cua Hoi. With his swimming ability and familiarity with the sea lanes, in October 1964, the young man from the coastal region of Quynh Luu was quickly selected to join Brigade 125 (formerly known as Water Transport Group 759, established by the Ministry of National Defense on October 23, 1961) stationed in Hai Phong. From here, he and his brave comrades began participating in a series of sea voyages to provide weapons to the South on the Ships Without Numbers as gunners. “I was one of the first soldiers from the North to join the Ships Without Numbers. Before that, only soldiers from the South gathered in the North after the Geneva Agreement,” said Mr. Trong.

Veteran Bui Binh Trong recounts his time on duty on Ship Without Number.

5 live memorial services

The History of the 125th Naval Brigade recorded: “At the end of 1963, the US-puppet strategic hamlet policy went bankrupt, leading to heavy defeats on the battlefield, signaling the inevitable failure of the “Special War” strategy. The US-puppet believed that the threat to them was support from North Vietnam. Therefore, entering 1964, they advocated conducting a suffocation campaign, tightly controlling the land border and strengthening surface patrol boats, ports, and preventing infiltration by sea.”

In that situation, the Navy Command assigned Group 125 the task of continuing to support the South, in order to contribute to defeating the enemy's new plot. This was also the time when Mr. Trong began participating in sea voyages to support the South. His first sea voyage on Ship No Number began in 1964, carrying weapons to the South, arriving at Ca Mau port. "All ships were disguised as fishing boats. US 7th Fleet aircraft continuously circled around to probe. At sea in the South of the 17th parallel, US - puppet military ships continuously followed and provoked, waiting for our ships to be exposed" - Mr. Trong recalled. “At that time, we remained calm, maintaining normal activities like going fishing, but always prepared to fight. If the enemy's firepower was too strong and difficult to resist, with just the command of the commander, the captain would short-circuit the fuse to blow up the ship, officers and soldiers were ready to sacrifice themselves to protect the secret of the supply route at sea” - Mr. Trong said while pointing to the black and white photo of the Ship Without Number taken by the US Navy.

Before each departure of the unnumbered ship, there was a sacred ceremony - "The living funeral ceremony". "All military uniforms and equipment from the North, personal belongings were packed into chests. The military supplies provided the sailors with black clothes and Southern scarves. After 3 whistles, the ship saluted the port and left at night, officers and soldiers lined up on the deck and quietly saluted the North. Everyone had a premonition that this could be the last time they saw the Motherland, but no one was shaken or afraid" - Mr. Trong said. In 2 consecutive years 1964-1965, Mr. Trong silently saluted the port 5 times to go on a mission with a spirit of being ready to sacrifice like that. In 5 trips, his ship successfully docked at Ca Mau 3 times, the remaining 2 trips due to "the port being rough", the ship had to return to the North.

Quiet everyday life

In 1965, he was sent to study at the Naval Officer School until December 1966 when he returned to his unit as a trainee deputy captain. During the period from 1968 to 1972, his ship continuously followed the Hai Phong - Nhat Le (Quang Binh) route to transport weapons and logistical equipment to support the Quang Binh and Southern fire lines. In December 1974, after more than 10 years in the army, Mr. Trong was demobilized and returned to his hometown due to poor health. In 1978, veteran Bui Binh Trong brought his whole family to the mountainous district of Quy Hop to make a living and has been there ever since. After a few months of marriage, he left for the army and it took him 6 long years to visit his wife for the first time. "For all those years, she stayed home waiting, taking care of my family so that I could do my duty with peace of mind."

After decades of working in the new countryside, the old veteran's family has a warm and peaceful life. The children have grown up, moved out and have stable jobs. "Life is not yet rich, but seeing the children and grandchildren get along and work hard is very exciting" - Mr. Trong smiled contentedly in the twilight. On the Ships Without Numbers of the past, some of his comrades sacrificed their lives for their missions, some became generals, and some chose to return to civilian life to quietly make a living. Each person has a different fate. Vietnamese history is a heroic history written by those ordinary people!

War veteran Bui Binh Trong was awarded the Third Class Medal of Honor, Third Class Resistance Medal, and First Class Liberation Soldier Medal.

Article and photos: Thanh Duy