Old soldiers carried rocks up the mountain to erect a stele to honor their comrades.

THE OLD BATTLEFIELD WAS A TIME OF BLOOD AND FIRE

The soldiers, the "warriors" of Division 320 A who participated in the historic battles of Height 1015 (SAC LY) and 1049 (DELTA), now Ro Koi commune, Sa Thay district, Kon Tum province on April 24, 1972, must still remember the fierce and fierce battles, accepting sacrifices and losses of forces to fight the opening battle of the campaign, creating a springboard for the forces to attack and liberate the Northern Central Highlands. Height 1015 (Sac Ly) is a place located between the three districts of Sa Thay, Dak To, and Ngoc Hoi (Kon Tum province). This is a high point with a particularly important military strategic position. Kon Tum is an important strategic location for the strategic defense system in the Central Highlands.

According to Colonel Nguyen The Tan - former Division Commander of Division 320, Deputy of the Liaison Committee of the Delta Division, Division 320 said: On November 19, 1971, Senior Lieutenant General Van Tien Dung - Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army visited the Division and talked with key officers. Here, the Chief of the General Staff said: This time the Ministry assigned your Division to enter the new battlefield to carry out strategic attacks. This is an extremely important area, an extremely arduous and difficult battlefield. But no matter how difficult it is, you comrades must fight well, destroying each battle group right at their lair.

Lieutenant General, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Nguyen Quoc Thuoc and his comrades revisit the old battlefield (businessman and veteran Le Manh Hai stands on the far right).

Implementing the direction of the General Staff. On March 30, 1972, the Central Highlands Front Command assigned the 320th Division to use the 52nd Infantry Regiment to encircle the enemy on the 1049 high point. Using the 64th Infantry Regiment to approach the 1015 high point area, ready to fight the enemy airborne landing to rescue the enemy parachute battalion. On April 3, 1972, the 52nd Infantry Regiment attacked the 1049 high point but could not repel the enemy, our troops suffered quite high casualties. On April 8, 1972, the Front Command assigned the 320th Division to use the 64th Infantry Regiment to encircle and destroy the enemy parachute battalion. Our artillery fired fiercely at the prepared targets. The attacks simultaneously advanced on the targets. After 3 days of fighting, the 64th Infantry Regiment and reinforcements completely destroyed the 11th and 2nd Parachute Battalions. Killed 260 enemies, captured 166 others, shot down 20 planes, and captured many enemy weapons and war vehicles. To have the opening victory at the heights of 1015 and 1049, hundreds of soldiers of the 320th Division, "forever twenty years old", remained here.

Hunchback, silver hair, carrying rocks up the mountain, engraving a stele to honor his comrades

To express gratitude and honor the brave sacrifice of comrades, in accordance with the wishes of generations of officers and soldiers of the Division, especially the surviving comrades who participated in the battle on these two high points, the Traditional Liaison Committee of the Delta Brigade, Division 320, with the consent of the Kon Tum Provincial Government, decided to build a stele house of the historical relics of high points 1015 and 1049. The construction motto is "Socialization of funding, receiving support from the voluntary hearts of everyone. The Liaison Committee does not ask for money, does not call for investment in construction. Does not develop a project to ask for money from the State".

Explaining this idea, Veteran Le Manh Hai - Director of Phu Nguyen Hai Company Limited, Head of the Traditional Liaison Committee of the Delta Brigade, Division 320 in Nghe An and Ha Tinh emotionally said: "Our Division grew up and went through many battles in the Route 9 - Southern Laos campaign, then was sent to the Northern Central Highlands battlefield. The fighting conditions in the Central Highlands battlefield were extremely difficult and arduous, with a bowl of rice shared in half, a cigarette divided in half, two people sharing a blanket on a cold and rainy night... In such difficult conditions, the affection between comrades and comrades was very much in love with each other. Tonight, we share a cigarette and a piece of dry food, but tomorrow when we go into battle, some are still alive, some are gone. Thinking about it is painful and touching. How can we not feel pain when we see our comrades fall? The war ended nearly half a century ago, but we, the veterans of Division 320, always remember our fallen comrades. All of us with the same aspiration met and agreed on the idea of ​​returning to the old battlefield to build a memorial house. to remember and pay tribute to comrades who fell for the bright future of the nation".

Veterans of Division 320 and ethnic people on the inauguration day of the memorial stele at High Point 1049 DELTA.

After surveying and selecting the location, 28 veterans of Division 320 A in Nghe An - Ha Tinh region went to set up tents, carry stones, and construct the stele house at two high points 1015 and 1049. During the construction process, according to veteran Dang Dinh Quyen - Deputy Head of the Liaison Committee, he personally led a group of veterans at the age of "Thất thập cổ lai hy" to the mountainous area to open the road, dig the foundation, and supervise the project. Participating in the group were veterans Kieu Dinh Minh, Tran Quy Thang, from Ha Tinh; veterans Nguyen Tien Suu, Dau Dinh Toan, Nguyen Huu Chat... from Nghe An. There were very touching cases such as veteran Ho Sy Tuong from Nam Dan district, who suffered from prostate fibroids, and after recovering from surgery, hid his illness to join his teammates carrying stones up the mountain to erect the stele house; after finishing the stele house and inaugurating the project, he passed away. Veteran Nguyen Huu Thanh and his wife joined in cooking for her husband's comrades.

The stones for the memorial stele were also painstakingly prepared by the veterans. The stones were purchased from Thanh Hoa, sawn into slabs, and sent to Ninh Binh to create patterns, then transported to Nghe An to be brought to the temple of King Quang Trung on Quyet Mountain (Vinh City) to be engraved. In November 2017, they were moved to Sa Thay. From Sa Thay, a car was hired to take them to the top of the mountain. There are 5 stone stele slabs, the heaviest of which measures 3.6m x 2.2m and weighs 11 tons. The road to the top of the mountain is steep, and only original cars can go up. In addition to transporting materials by car, there are many other tasks such as cutting trees, paving the road to prevent cars from slipping, carrying sand, setting up camps... all of which are undertaken by the veterans. On January 2, 2018, the 2 stone stele slabs on the high points 1049 and 1015 were placed in the right position. The stele stands tall facing the majestic Po Ko River, with Highway 14 and the Dak To - Tan Canh peak, places bearing many heroic historical marks during the fierce war years.

EPILOGUE

With all the gratitude to comrades and the "Sweat and Tears" money of businessman Le Manh Hai, four memorial houses to honor comrades were erected. In January 2018, the Chu Bo stele house, Duc Co, Gia Lai, worth 1.3 billion VND was completed. In May 2018, two stele houses were inaugurated at high points 1015 and 1049, worth 3.6 billion VND. In April 2019, the Dong Du stele house, Cu Chi, worth 3.2 billion VND was completed. In addition to the efforts of veterans, the participation in design and construction, technical supervision and direction of officers and employees of Phu Nguyen Hai Company Limited, and a number of officers and soldiers of Division 320, Division 9, and Army Corps 4, four stele houses have sprung up. Part of the funding for the construction of the stele house was contributed by veterans of Division 320 A, 450 million VND. Lieutenant General Khuat Duy Tien's family donated 450 million VND. The remaining 7 billion VND was contributed by businessman and veteran Le Manh Hai.

Presently, the 1015 high point - Sac Ly in Ro Coi commune, Sa Thay district; the 1049 high point - Delta in Ho Moong commune, Sa Thay district have been ranked as provincial-level historical relics by the Kon Tum Provincial People's Committee and chosen April 21 every year as a festival day (commemoration day) for cadres and people from all over the country to come here to offer incense in memory and pay tribute to the children who fell for the Fatherland to blossom with independence and bear fruit of freedom.

Here, the writer would like to talk more about the passion and contributions of businessman - veteran Le Manh Hai. Born as the second son of the famous Phu Nguyen gold and silver merchant family in Vinh, during the years of the war against America to save the country, young Le Manh Hai joined the Red City self-defense force to protect the neighborhood.

In 1971, when the resistance war against the US was at its fiercest stage, Le Manh Hai took up arms to defend the Fatherland, was assigned to Division 320A, fought in the B5 battlefield, Central Highlands Front. Le Manh Hai participated in the Spring-Summer campaign of 1972 with famous battles at heights 1015, 1049... contributing with the entire front to liberate Dac To - Tan Canh, liberating a large area of ​​the Central Highlands.

In the historic Ho Chi Minh campaign, Le Manh Hai and his comrades participated in capturing Dong Du and Cu Chi bases, directly attacking Tan Son Nhat airport and with the troops advancing into Saigon, completely liberating the South. The country was unified, Le Manh Hai and his troops fought back against the encroachment of the Pol Pot regime and participated in the campaign to liberate Cambodia from the hands of the genocidal regime.

War veteran, businessman Le Manh Hai and his teammates on the meeting day.

Having successfully completed his duties as a soldier during the war, Mr. Le Manh Hai was discharged from the army and transferred to work at the Nghe An Department of Industry until his retirement in 2007. Returning to civilian life, he established Phu Nguyen Hai Company Limited. In addition to creating jobs for children of veterans, the company's headquarters is also a meeting place for the Veterans Liaison Committee, a place to review the unit's traditions during holidays. The achievements of the company and Mr. Hai personally are many; however, the most precious thing about him is his heart of always remembering and showing gratitude to his comrades...