The 'Suot Mothers' on the Lam River

(Baonghean.vn)-During the anti-American war, countless mothers rowed boats to take soldiers across the Lam River. They can be considered the “Suot Mothers” of Nghe An.

Mother of the Fence

In the remote district of Tuong Duong, many people in their 60s and 70s, returning from the battlefields in the South, still remember their old mothers rowing boats at Cua Rao wharf, the source of the Lam River. In the 1960s, there was no other means of transport to get between the two banks than small boats.

Cua Rao (Xa Luong - Tuong Duong) - where a mother rowed a boat to transport soldiers across the river during the years of fighting the Americans.

No one remembers how many years that mother rowed the boat, but they only know that generations of young people from the "4 Yen, 1 Nga" region (including the communes of Yen Na, Yen Tinh, Yen Hoa, Yen Thang and Nga My) went to the battlefield in the North.Maleall crossed the river on their mother's boat. On the day of their return, the person rowing the boat across the river was not their mother that year. When they asked, they learned that their mother had been swept away by the current along with the boat on a day of heavy rain and high tide.

Once, Mr. Vang Van Phung in Phong village (Thach Giam) took us to ask relatives and people who might know a little information about the boat rowing mother, but no one remembered clearly. No one remembered her name, relatives, or village, so they often called her the boat rowing mother. More than half a century has passed, the flow of time has swept that mother deep into the past, her body has absorbed into the rivers and fields of her homeland.

"Long-haired army" Van Ru

About Van Ru ferry in Khanh Son commune (MaleDan), we heard the story of "10 girls of Lam River". Mr. Tong Xuan Hung is the Party Secretary of the commune.MaleDong (now Khanh Son commune) during the years of fighting the Americans said: "After the war, everyone went in different directions, some married far away, some went to work, some followed their children to live elsewhere, some passed away."

The "10 Lam River girls" of the past are now all nearly 90 years old. Currently, Mr. Hung only knows of two people living in Lam Son block (Town).MaleWe went up here to meet Dang Thi Duong and Tran Thi Ut - 2 of the "10 Lam River girls".

Ms. Dang Thi Duong (Nam Dan Town - Nam Dan District) used to row a boat to transport soldiers across the river at Van Ru ferry, Khanh Son Commune (Nam Dan).

Mr. Duong is now in his 90s and doesn't remember much, except for the time he rowed a boat to ferry soldiers across the river. As for Mr. Ut (85 years old), his hair is white but he is still alert and remembers many details about his ferry mission. According to his memory, Route 15A through Khanh Son commune is extremely dangerous, with mountains on one side and a river on the other, so American planes often dropped bombs here to cut off the strategic route.

Almost every day this position was divided, the militia worked day and night to fill in bomb craters, but as soon as they finished, American planes came to drop another bomb. Sometimes before the leveling was completed due to the previous bomb batch, they came to drop the next batch.

Mrs. Tran Thi Ut recounted the years of rowing a boat carrying soldiers across the river at Van Ru ferry.

To avoid casualties and reduce damage caused by American bombs, when marching to Nam Dan Town, our troops turned towards Ta Lam dike, reached Xuan Lam commune and crossed Van Ru ferry. But after a short time, the enemy discovered our troops' new direction of movement and continuously bombed the Van Ru ferry area.

Faced with increasingly fierce bombing by American aircraft, Nam Dong commune established the “Steel” Company and the “10 Lam River Girls” Squad, ready to die. The mission of the “10 Lam River Girls” Squad was to transport soldiers across the river at night, camouflage boats, weapons, and vehicles of the soldiers during the day, and participate in rescue operations in case of casualties.

Starting at 5pm, when night began to fall and the river surface was covered in fog, the squad deployed to carry out the mission. By 6am the next morning, the team members camouflaged and hid their boats to avoid enemy detection. Like that, every night, 4,000-5,000 soldiers crossed the river safely.

Van Ru ferry scene today.

Mr. Ut recalled: “There were times when we rowed boats carrying soldiers across the river almost every night. The enemy dropped flares that were as clear as day, then planes came and dropped bombs on the river. I told the soldiers to lie down close to the boat, and I jumped out, holding on to the side of the boat and let the boat drift. When the enemy planes were far away, I rowed again.”

Meeting and listening to stories about the women of our homeland who served in combat during the fierce war years, we suddenly remembered the verses in the epic poem "The Road of Desire" by Nguyen Khoa Diem:“But do you know/ There are so many girls and boys/ In four thousand generations of people of the same age as us/ They lived and died/ Simply and calmly/ No one remembers their faces or names/ But they made the Country...”.

Cong Kien