Soldiers in Muong Piet, Muong Pom...
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| Border guards on the border marker. |
The mountain peaks, steep passes, and bends are gradually being flattened to create a wide road to the border. Unexpectedly, when reaching Loc village, the center of Thong Thu commune, I met an old acquaintance, Lieutenant Colonel Ngo Duc Duong, Chief of Border Guard Station 515. We shook hands and congratulated each other. He kept exclaiming that he did not expect to meet each other in this remote border area. He said: "If it rains, the Uoat - known as the best fighting horse for the forest roads - will have difficulty climbing Pu Cao Ma slope to reach Loc village".
He confided: "I was just assigned to move here, from a favorable place to a remote place, the forest road is steep, winding, high, and far away, only accessible by motorbike taxi, during the rainy season, I have to walk through the forest, at first I was scared, but for border guards, that's normal."
Thong Thu border commune once achieved the feat of shooting down the US air force in the 1960s, received a letter of praise from Uncle Ho and was awarded the title of Hero of the Armed Forces by the State.
And Border Guard Station 515, still the same as before, still simple and precariously located on a slope, but the station yard has been expanded to accommodate the speeding car carrying us in first gear.
Young Captain Nguyen Xuan Lam, Deputy Commander in charge of reconnaissance, who has many years of experience working in this northwestern region, talked to me and personally took me to visit the Station's farm model, which had just been established at the end of August 2006.
The farm is located next to Vang Hay, Khe Piet, about a twenty-minute walk from the Station. On the way, he said: Building a farm model is part of the Station's plan to build and protect the border. As we know, Thong Thu is a border commune with a rugged area, bordering Bat Mot commune, Thuong Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province to the north. From the Station, even the most active patrol takes 7 to 8 days to go and return, and if it rains or is windy, it takes more than 10 days.
To the west, it borders 6 Mong villages in Sam To district, Hua Phan province, Laos. The advantage is that Thong Thu commune is purely Thai ethnic group, has a tradition of patriotism, trust in the Party, actively implements the movement to build a new life, has settled down for many years, the economy and society are having many changes. In terms of economy, the commune is actively mobilizing people to develop from the strengths of forestry, raising large livestock and reclaiming land, intensively cultivating wet rice fields...
However, there are still many difficulties due to awareness and farming skills, so the productivity and quality of crops and livestock are not high, and the poverty rate is still the highest in the country.
Therefore, the Station has set up a project to build a comprehensive farm economic model to expand the learning points for the people. The land that the Station requested to receive is about 7 hectares wide, the area where people used to cultivate, the land has been exhausted and only reeds remain.
The station assigned a team to carry out the project, first of all, to improve the forest land by protecting, planting new trees to cover the bare land and hills, and planting grass for raising buffalo and cows. Arriving at the farm, where the houses were temporary, we met 3 soldiers. Pham Duc Chinh, the team leader in charge, said that he joined the army in 1989, and when he came here, he met a teacher from the lowlands who came to teach in Thong Thu and then stayed in this borderland for the past 15 years.
Initially, under the direction of the Station, the farm focused on developing more goats, cows and special poultry such as black chickens, Que Phong ducks...
Of the total 7 hectares of land allocated, the upper part is reserved for raising and protecting, the lower 3 hectares are for growing elephant grass and vegetables. Although it has only been less than four months, the herd already has more than 20 goats, 5 breeding cows and nearly 100 chickens and ducks, but to develop quickly, the biggest difficulty is still capital to buy more cows and goats.
People from Loc village recently visited the farm and are learning how the soldiers grow vegetables, beans, raise goats... Hopefully, this model will soon be replicated in many other places, helping people in the border area quickly escape poverty.
Captain Nguyen Xuan Lam also told me about the Station's activities in many areas: Station 515 is assigned to manage a total length of 29km of border, with three landmarks I1, I2, I3. Thong Thu is a commune with complex and difficult terrain, especially in the rainy season, to reach the farthest patrol points such as landmark I1, you mainly have to walk through the forest.
Bad guys often connect mainly through the forest roads in the outskirts to transport drugs to Vietnam and carry out bandit activities. When I arrived at the station, I was lucky to meet Tran Van Tai, the Chief of the Nam Giai Border Control Station, who had made many achievements in ambushing and capturing many drug criminals on Keo Choong peak, who had refused to accept a bribe of 80 million VND from a drug criminal in 2000, and met Nguyen Nam Thai, a comrade-in-arms of martyr Va Ba Giai at the border of Tam Hop commune, Tuong Duong district.
The two men were assigned by their superiors to Thong Thu to support Station 515. Continuing Captain Lam's story, the two men said that coming here was also extremely difficult and dangerous as they often faced drug criminals and had to fight many gunfights with criminals.
In the past two years, the Station has detected 9 cases of illegal drug trafficking and transportation, arrested 9 subjects, and seized 6 kg of opium. In 2006 alone, Muong Phu Control Station arrested 2 subjects trafficking and transporting heroin.
In addition to coordinating with local forces to patrol and protect the border and fight against all types of crimes, Station 515 also helps local Party committees and authorities strengthen the political system, handle cases and build economic development models, and participate in monitoring the implementation of Government programs 134 and 135.
In recent years, the Station has worked with sectors, organizations and unions to open literacy classes and provide medical examination and treatment for people; successfully built 3 cultural villages: Loc village, Ang village and Hiep Cat village...
Party Secretary Luong Son Tuan commented on them: "Thanks to the support of Border Guard Station 515, the political and social situation of Thong Thu commune has become increasingly stable. The Station and the local Party Committee and government have promoted and mobilized people to gradually improve and raise awareness of new business practices."
Saying goodbye to you, we know that this place still has many difficulties, in daily life there is still a lack of electricity, water... but we believe that in the future the road to Thong Thu will be opened, shortening the distance in many aspects. The people here have a heroic tradition, together with you, we will contribute our strength to keep the guns strong, so that every season the flowers bloom and the peach blossoms are always bright on the border land of the Fatherland.
Article and photos: Minh Thu
