Battles of the commando soldiers

(Baonghean) - With his gentle face and voice, few people would think that Mr. Phung Ba Dien was once a naval commando who, together with his teammates, achieved resounding victories. With his calmness, this wounded soldier is fighting cancer to win his life. At the age of 63, with his experience, he has come to understand all the "impermanence" of life...

The feats

In a small, quiet house in block 11, Cua Nam ward (Vinh city), Mr. Dien sat sipping green tea and telling us about his life. He was born in 1951, growing up right when the war against America entered its most intense and fierce phase. At the age of 19, right after finishing secondary school, the young man from Cua Lo coastal town volunteered to join the army. With a tall figure, agile and intelligent style, and good at swimming, Mr. Dien was assigned to Group 126 - Naval Special Forces. Up to now, more than 40 years have passed, but Mr. Dien still has not forgotten the years of hard training on the training ground in Hai Phong. Those were the times when he soaked his body bare-chested in the mud in the cold night, the times of practicing swimming from international waters (buoy number 0) to shore from early morning to late afternoon. The most difficult thing was practicing breathing tubes and walking underwater.

The breathing tube is made of plastic, about 20cm long, about 3cm in diameter, used for special forces soldiers to hold in their mouths to breathe air when moving underwater. The most important and difficult thing when going underwater is to maintain balance, not to bob up and down, only to let the breathing tube protrude about 2-3cm above the water surface. Because if you bob up and down while moving, the breathing tube protruding above the water surface will be easily detected by the enemy; if you let the breathing tube sink completely under the water surface, you will choke on water and this situation is equally dangerous. The breathing tube was an indispensable item for special forces soldiers at that time. Mr. Dien still keeps one. As a naval special force, Mr. Dien and his teammates had to master the principles of structure and operation of various types of maritime vehicles, learn how to become fishermen who know how to cast nets, cast nets, and master first aid in case of injury...

Mr. Phung Ba Dien and the water commando's snorkel - a battlefield souvenir.

After 1 year of training, Phung Ba Dien and his unit crossed the Truong Son mountain range, bypassed Laos and Cambodia to march into the Southeast region. He still remembers that the journey that year lasted for 5 months and 19 days, often facing hardship, hunger and lurking dangers. Once, marching to military station 40 (Central Highlands), a fierce coordinate, most of the transport vehicles were hit by bombs, food was burned, the whole unit had to survive by eating forest leaves while waiting for rice supplies.

Entering the Southeast battlefield, young soldier Phung Ba Dien was assigned to Unit 19 of Group 10, Sac Forest Special Forces. His unit was tasked with participating in attacking enemy ships and warehouses in ports with the aim of preventing the enemy from transporting weapons, equipment, fuel and other necessities to the battlefields, which would cause losses to our troops. The main areas of shelter and activity were vast mangrove forests and crisscrossing rivers and canals. With a firm grasp of the techniques and tactics of water special forces, and with superior strength, a brave and courageous fighting spirit, Phung Ba Dien was trusted by his unit to directly attack enemy targets. This mission was extremely dangerous, because the enemy always kept a close watch, divided into many circles to protect, and regularly threw grenades and hand grenades into the water to prevent our special forces from infiltrating. Many of our soldiers were killed by shrapnel from enemy shells. Along with that are dense barbed wire fences and German shepherd dogs ready to sniff out the presence of special forces soldiers.

In the Sac Forest war zone, this extremely fierce land, the special forces soldier from his hometown Nghe An went through life and death with his teammates, participated in many fierce battles and achieved resounding victories. Until now, 42 years have passed, Mr. Dien still remembers clearly the feeling of anxiety and nervousness when he first entered the battle. Not because of fear, but most importantly, he was worried about not completing the mission. That time, he and two teammates were assigned to sink a 13,000-ton ship, 150m long, 25m wide, anchored at Rach Dua port (Vung Tau). Three people tied ropes in formation, each carrying 5.6 kg mines, from the assembly point, headed towards the target to complete the mission before dawn. Waiting for the enemy to finish throwing a series of grenades, Mr. Dien and his teammates quickly infiltrated under the ship's hull to place timed mines and then quickly retreated.

The operation was extremely quick, the enemy could not have expected the bravery and intelligence of our commandos, so exactly 2 hours later, a series of explosions broke out at Rach Dua Port, resounding throughout a large area. At this time, our 3 soldiers had returned halfway, from afar they could still clearly hear the ear-splitting explosions, the enemy's alarm sirens, indiscriminate shooting, all kinds of ships and canoes running loudly under the flares as clear as day. Mr. Dien shared: "Needless to say, the joy and pride when a soldier goes into battle for the first time and completes his mission excellently. At that time, I remembered my comrades who sacrificed themselves, remembered my relatives who were waiting for news every day...".

The second battle that Phung Ba Dien participated in also took place at Rach Dua Port. The target was a transport ship containing 10,000 tons of weapons and military goods anchored in the port. This time, the modern mines from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia had not been delivered in time, so the unit decided to attack with homemade mines. Mr. Dien and two teammates transported 100 kg of explosives and tried to approach the target. When approaching the ship's hull, they had to use ropes to tie the explosives close to the engine compartment and then retreat. Having been infiltrated by our special forces many times, this time the enemy arranged careful guards and created more obstacles to be on guard. Therefore, the retreat did not go as planned, meaning that when leaving the target, the tide was receding and the sky was starting to get light. This was a very dangerous situation, because the receding tide would carry people out to sea, and when it was light, it would be easy for enemy patrol ships to detect them. When drifting out to sea, Mr. Dien and his teammates struggled with the waves until they were almost exhausted. Fortunately, a fishing boat on the way back discovered and saved all 3 people...

The battle continues

During the fighting in the Southeast, soldier Phung Ba Dien participated in many attacks on enemy ships, contributing to causing significant losses for the US and the puppet army. Once, he alone with a B-41 and a bullet burned an enemy ship on the Thi Vai River, killing 16 enemies. After firing, he hid the B-41 in the mud, jumped into the canal, left the battlefield and found his way back to base. About 5 minutes later, other enemy ships used 12.7mm guns to shoot, all kinds of trees, big and small, were cut down, fortunately he escaped the enemy's bullets. Phung Ba Dien also supported local guerrillas in anti-sweep battles and was wounded twice in Long Son island commune by enemy mortar fire.

Listening to Mr. Dien's confidences, we suddenly remembered the introduction to the memoir A Time in the Sac Forest by Colonel Le Ba Uoc, former Commander of Group 10, Sac Forest Special Forces: "Over the past 20 years, there have been a few films, books, and articles written about the Sac Forest, but the truth has not yet told all that needs to be said about a vast battlefield of rivers and streams that are salty and bitter all year round, extremely fierce, where soldiers have to expose themselves every day to bombs and bullets, endure the friction of B52 carpet bombing, of toxic chemicals, about the great bravery, the boundless patriotism of the officers and soldiers of the special forces, of the fathers, mothers, sisters, and younger sisters in this beloved suburban land...".

After the liberation of the South, Phung Ba Dien was transferred to Saigon to work in military administration. In 1978, he transferred to work at the Agricultural Committee of Nghe An province. Five years after the liberation, the special forces soldier had the opportunity to return to visit Long Son island commune. At that time, the people were harvesting rice in the fields. Hearing that "Dien" had returned to visit, everyone rushed to surround him to ask questions, their faces filled with joy as if welcoming a son who had been away for a long time. On the day of parting, many mothers burst into tears, and he was also moved to tears and unable to speak.

One day in early 2005, Mr. Dien felt a severe stomach ache. A few days before, he had difficulty eating and drinking. He was taken to the hospital, but the cause was not yet determined. A few days later, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. For many people, this is a “death sentence”. Phung Ba Dien was very calm and composed. He thought that from now on, he would begin a new battle, which was fighting a deadly disease. He confided: “In fighting the enemy, I trust my comrades and the people, in fighting the disease, I put my trust in science and doctors. With that trust, I calmly went to the operating table. Because on the battlefield, I have faced death many times, now everything has become very normal”. For nearly 10 years, with the spirit of a special forces soldier, Mr. Dien has been fighting a deadly disease. The important thing is that he always keeps faith, calm, ready to accept all luck and risk. Perhaps that is why he has not been defeated by illness!

In the neighborhood, Mr. Dien is an exemplary citizen. Five years ago, the road within the block was often muddy during the rainy season, so he went to each household to mobilize contributions to build the road. As a result, a road of more than 700m was paved with concrete, making travel clean and convenient. Every time they passed by here, people often jokingly called it "Mr. Dien's road". Recently, his comrades and former unit completed and submitted the dossier to the superiors to propose conferring the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces on soldier Phung Ba Dien. Hopefully, good news will come soon to this brave and courageous special forces soldier in both combat and daily life!

Article and photos:Cong Kien