Living witnesses of the historic victory of April 30

In the witness stories, there were youth volunteers buried by bombs. The brothers dug them up, rested for a while, then continued their mission.

In the history of thousands of years of building and defending the country of our people, the great victory in the spring of 1975 was one of the most brilliant feats, bringing the country back together. But to have a peaceful life like today, countless children of the Vietnamese people sacrificed their youth and even their blood.

The stories of those involved are always considered the most vivid and authentic historical documents. Flipping through photos taken with his comrades in the past, memories of the heroic war appear like slow-motion films before the eyes of veteran Bui Ngoc Chien (in Dong Da district, Hanoi).

Soldier Bang Nguyen That (right cover) escorted Duong Van Minh to the radio station to read the surrender statement. (Photo: Archive)

At that time, when the war to protect the Fatherland was entering its fiercest phase, in July 1966, like millions of other young people, the young man who had just turned 18, Bui Ngoc Chien, put down his pen, registered to join the army and went to the Southern battlefield to fight.

Mr. Chien said that "Going to B" is not only the desire of all generations, but also the pride of cadres and soldiers for the survival of the Fatherland in the context of the two regions of the South and the North still being divided.

The battalion of more than 600 people trained in Chi Ne town, Lac Thuy district, Hoa Binh. Every day, everyone had to carry a heavy backpack full of bricks to march through simulated terrain of forests, mountains, rivers and streams, and go through the night...

After 3 months of training, the battalion marched through the Truong Son mountain range to fight in the Quang Ngai battlefield. That arduous journey, along with the soldiers' luggage, was also the determination to defeat the American invaders so that the country could be unified and every family could be together.

Mr. Bui Ngoc Chien said: “We marched a battalion from here with more than 600 comrades. But unusually, the special forces unit of Farm 3 selected 12 people to supplement the special forces unit. Special forces combat was very tense because when fighting, special forces always attacked points, meaning they had to go to the center of the battle while the infantry coordinated to fight outside. The most important thing was how the infantry could keep it a secret so that the special forces could approach that center.”

Veteran Bui Ngoc Chien, in Dong Da district, Hanoi.

Always standing shoulder to shoulder with the army in the resistance war was the youth volunteer force. Tens of thousands of young men and women volunteers at that time were only 18 or 20 years old, but carried within them the spirit of determination to "Split the Truong Son range to save the country".

It was an honor to be in that ranks, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Lien recalled: Just 17 years old, in the rice fields of Thai Binh, she enthusiastically set out to join the youth volunteer team.

Her youth volunteer team left their hometown and marched to Truong Son, for more than a month, traveling at night and resting during the day to avoid being detected by enemy planes. During those difficult months, the female youth volunteers were always optimistic. The shock art troupe of Construction Department 67 was established with 20 members. After a while, the team was merged into the art troupe of the Ministry of Transport to form the art troupe "Singing to drown out the sound of bombs".

And Ms. Lien was one of the most active members of the Team, participating tirelessly with the enthusiasm of youth. During the day she worked as an artist, ensuring traffic in the trenches, and at night she became a teacher...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Lien shared: “There was a day when we were buried by bombs, the brothers dug us up and sat down to rest for a while before continuing our mission. At that time, the ideal was very noble, there was something very motivating. Songs such as “The Girl Who Opened the Road”, “On the Top of Truong Son”… just singing them made me feel heroic, never thinking about death, just going to work, completing the required mission so that the convoy of trucks carrying goods could go forward, I felt excited”.

In the journey of national liberation, the moment that those who witnessed it could never forget was on April 30, 1975, when Mr. Bang Nguyen That - Infantry Regiment 66, Division 304, Corps 2 - the soldier who directly escorted President Duong Van Minh and Prime Minister Vu Van Mau to declare their surrender to the liberation army at the Independence Palace.

Mr. That emotionally recalled that on April 26, 1975, in the Long Khanh rubber forest, the entire 66th Infantry Regiment was informed of the plan and prepared to participate in the Ho Chi Minh campaign.

After capturing the Nuoc Trong base, the Armored School trained the enemy's elite armored troops at the gateway to Saigon. At dawn on April 30, 1975, the 66th Infantry Regiment was assigned as the main spearhead along with the 203rd Tank Brigade, 2nd Corps, advancing straight along the Bien Hoa highway into Saigon.

On the way to Saigon, the enemy repeatedly blocked and fought back fiercely but was quickly neutralized by the liberation army until the last resistance base.

At about 9:30 a.m., after the second tank crashed through the main gate, the entire infantry column marched straight into the lobby of the Independence Palace. Faced with the initiative of the liberation army, President Duong Van Minh, Prime Minister Vu Van Mau and the entire Cabinet of the Saigon government were disarmed and asked to surrender unconditionally.

Mr. Bang Nguyen That said: “With the aim of avoiding fighting between the two armies as well as the people and comrades of the whole country, after a brief consultation, comrade Pham Xuan The had to bring President Duong Van Minh and Prime Minister Vu Van Mau to the radio to announce their surrender.

The fact that I and the entire 2nd Corps deep penetration team, which was assigned to the 66th Infantry Regiment, were honored and proud to be present at the historic moment of April 30, 1975, I will never forget those memories. Even though there were comrades who sacrificed themselves at the moment of victory”./.

According to VOV