The love of the coastal village with comrade Kaysone Phomvihane

(Baonghean)Tien Thuy Commune (Quynh Luu, Nghe An) is a normal coastal village like many other coastal villages, which also experienced the fierce years of war, also steadfastly and persistently fought against the enemy, guarding every creek, every row of casuarina trees, every sandbank... But during the resistance war against the French, the people here were fortunate to have beautiful and precious memories of the highest leader of the Party and people of Laos - Comrade Kaysone Phomvihane. In 1952, Comrade Kaysone returned to Phu Son village (today's Tien Thuy) to recuperate and lived in the love, protection and devoted care of the people of the coastal village.

Those are special and rare memories for a coastal village. Until now, more than half a century has passed since the day comrade Kaysone Phomvihane - the highest leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party returned to Tien Thuy, the village has changed a lot, become more prosperous, more developed with bustling fishing boats. However, the memories of comrade Kaysone are still preserved as a valuable part of the village's tradition.

When asked about the story of the former leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party who came here to recuperate, all the villagers knew, but afraid that what they said was too little, not enough, they pointed to Mr. Chinh's house: "You just go there and ask, only he knows best about Mr. Cay-xon, about... Laos, we don't know as much as he does"!

It turns out that the person who knows the most about Laos in the village is Mr. Bui Cong Chinh (86 years old) - Head of the Vietnam - Laos Friendship Association in Tien Thuy commune. Mr. Chinh said: "It is a pity that those who used to meet and talk with comrade Cay-xon, those who let him live in their house, take care of him, and now all have passed away. So I can only recount what I have heard, collected, recorded, and kept."



Mr. Bui Cong Chinh (left) introduces the chair that comrade Kaysone Phomvihane often used.

According to Mr. Chinh, Tien Thuy (ancient name is Hau village, Phu Nghia, Phu Son) is a place with beautiful mountains and rivers, beaches, estuaries, winding Mai Giang river, majestic Dragon mountain. During the anti-French period, like many other localities of Thanh - Nghe - Tinh, this place was a solid rear base of the Binh Tri Thien, Bac Bo fronts and the whole of Laos. However, the fact that the beloved leader of the Lao people came here to recuperate originated from a deep affection between two leaders, two comrades, brothers: comrade Kaysone Phoomvihane and comrade Ho Huu Loi.

Comrade Ho Huu Loi was a member of the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee and was assigned to work in the West to help Laos. In 1952, while serving as the political commissar of the Western Laos Military Command, Comrade Loi had the opportunity to work with Comrade Kayson. Comrade Loi's wife, Ho Thi Hoang En, was also assigned to help his friend, and helped Comrade Kayson's wife, the Secretary of the Lao Youth Union, in her work. The relationship between the two families gradually became very close during their work assignments. When Comrade Kayson informed us that our Party and Government had invited him to Vietnam for a vacation, Comrade Loi and his wife invited Comrade Kayson to stay at their house and visit their hometown of Quynh Luu. That sincere invitation was accepted by Comrade Kayson.



The house where comrade Kayson lived in 1952.

Comrade Ho Huu Loi took Comrade Cay-xon and two of his friends, one a security guard, one a servant, to stay at the house of his uncle Ho Cau, who was a member of the Communist Party from 1930-1931. Ho Cau's house was in Tien Thuy, a spacious, private house, close to the sea, and after a while they moved to live at Mrs. Truong Thi Yen's house. Although it was a vacation trip to recuperate, Comrade Cay-xon was a person of special importance, so during his stay here, Comrade Ho Huu Loi asked his sister-in-law to help with cooking, guarding, and communication. The locals only knew that the three cadres had come back to rest, two of them were quiet because they did not speak Vietnamese well, and one was cheerful and chatty with everyone. However, they welcomed the three cadres like children returning from far away, with all their love, protection, and care. The people ate, lived and worked with the three officials above with sincerity and naturalness like the nature of coastal people.

Mr. Chinh took me to visit Mrs. Truong Thi Yen's house. The oldest person still living in the house is Mrs. Yen's granddaughter-in-law. When Comrade Cay-xon came here to live, she had not yet become a daughter-in-law. The house still retains the chair that Comrade Cay-xon used to sit on to work and chat with everyone. When he came here and lived in this house, Comrade Cay-xon liked to ask questions, chat with everyone, share feelings with the workers, and was fascinated by watching fishermen fishing, making fish sauce, women weaving, boat builders... He used to sit on the weaving frame to try weaving, to try pulling the net with the fishermen, and once he even earnestly asked to go out to sea with the boat, but no one dared to let him go.

The host here is a knowledgeable person, a Party member since the early years of the Communist Party of Vietnam, so talking with comrade Kay-son is very enjoyable.

He was very interested in learning about the experience of organizing militia, defense, and the experience of fighting against the French sweep two years ago, in which the army and people here and many communes of Quynh Luu district fought very well.

On bright moonlit nights, he held the children's hands and sang and danced, teaching them to dance the Lam Vong dance, like close friends and brothers... The song that Comrade Cay-xone taught the children, called "Resistance", was sung again by the Vietnam - Laos Friendship Association in Tien Thuy at the Bun Pi May festival in 2009. The song resonated, making the Lao leaders and Lao students present that day extremely emotional.

The elders in the village still recall stories about Comrade Cay-xon's simple eating and living style that his grandparents and parents told him. He loved to eat local dishes, especially boiled fresh fish, fish cooked in vinegar, grilled fish... Although the taste and cooking method were different, he did not ask for anything, still ate like a family member and especially loved the rich taste and salty aroma of Phu Son fish sauce. His family knew this, so when they said goodbye, they gave him a few bottles of fish sauce, which made him very touched.

During his nearly one-month stay in Tien Thuy fishing village, comrade Kaysone Phomvihane had moments of rest, lived happily and harmoniously, and left good impressions in the hearts of the people. When his health had recovered, and the resistance war against the French still had many tasks to be solved, he said goodbye to the villagers and returned to his work. Much later, when the people of Tien Thuy read the newspapers and listened to the radio, they were surprised to realize that the person with a lovable personality who had retired from their village years ago was the highest leader of the Party and people of Laos...

During the years of resistance against the French, Tien Thuy commune had thousands of people volunteering to help Laos, from directly participating in combat, to working as frontline laborers, to the rear... The late President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nuhak Phomxavak, during his revolutionary days, was also rescued and adopted by Mr. Ta Quang Chau, a native of Tien Thuy.

Lake Lai