The joy of victory of the Loc village militia

(Baonghean) -NIn 1965, the US imperialists escalated bombing of the Socialist North. As a highland border commune, Thong Thu (Que Phong) was an important strategic location, a trading place with neighboring Laos.

Every day, every time they took off from Thailand to bomb the North and the Central regions, American planes still flew over Thong Thu airspace. In the face of the escalating developments of the American empire, following the directive from above, Thong Thu commune established a militia platoon ready to fight back against the bombing raids of American planes and attack and hunt down spy groups and commandos who secretly infiltrated the area from across the border.

Village elder Luong Van An - Deputy of the Loc village militia platoon is telling the story of shooting down an American plane in the past.

The Loc village militia platoon (Thong Thu commune) has 30 officers and soldiers, all of whom are Thai ethnic people, carefully selected from the local youth force. They are healthy, spirited, brave, ready to receive and complete all assigned tasks well. That year, Mr. Luong Van An was 41 years old and was assigned the responsibility of Deputy Commander in charge of the combat unit ready to fight back against American aircraft on the low-altitude air defense position arranged in Pu Long mountain, Loc village, Thong Thu commune with a solid combat fortification system.

This is a militia unit on duty organized under the civilian-support system. To fight against low-flying aircraft, the infantry weapons equipped are K53 machine guns and K44 rifles, which is really not easy. The only advantage of the unit is that the battlefield is built on a high mountain, moreover, the planes passing here often fly very low, sometimes flying close to the highest mountain in the area. Every day, regardless of sun or rain, noon or afternoon, everyone enthusiastically practices under the guidance of the officers of the Que Phong District Military Command. Each plan, each combat tactic is mastered, waiting for the opportunity to shoot down American aircraft with infantry guns.

While practicing and being highly vigilant, but never firing a shot, the brothers in the unit all showed impatience before the trust of their compatriots... Finally, the opportunity came. It was a summer afternoon in June 1967, when the whole unit had just finished practicing and resting, the combat squad discovered a group of 3 American planes flying from the Southeast, weaving through the mountain ravines, approaching the combat position. Alarm! The whole unit quickly got into combat position.

With their guns loaded, the entire platoon watched the direction of the American plane, ready to receive orders from their commander. The leading “Ghost” plane (the common name for the F4H fighter of the US Air Force) gradually grew larger in front of each man’s gun. Waiting for the fighter to be completely within the effective range of the infantry’s guns, a series of bullets from the two K53s and the K44 gunners simultaneously fired straight at the sky enemy according to the decisive command of Deputy Commander Luong Van An.

Right from the first volley, the F4H - "The Ghost" was hit by bullets! Black smoke billowed from its belly, the plane wobbled and crashed into the Huoi Tang area of ​​Piet village, Thong Thu commune. The pilot did not have time to parachute, the other two planes panicked and flew high and disappeared to the West... Unable to hide the joy of the first victory, the whole battlefield cheered. Immediately after that, the villagers without anyone telling them rushed to the battlefield to congratulate and carry the villagers who shot down the "iron bird" of the American enemy.

With the motto "No pride in victory - no discouragement in defeat", right after the victory, the officers and soldiers in the unit urgently repaired fortifications, cleaned weapons, and replenished ammunition to prepare for new battles in the indescribable joy of the people of Thong Thu. After this victory, the militia force of Thong Thu commune was honored to be awarded the Second Class Military Exploit Medal by the Party and the Government, and Uncle Ho sent a letter of commendation. Thong Thu commune was awarded the title of Heroic Unit of the People's Armed Forces during the anti-American war. This is the honor and pride of the militia platoon of Loc village and of the ethnic people of Thong Thu commune in the resistance war against the invading American imperialists.

44 years after the day of recording the victory, the old Loc village militia platoon now has only 5 people left, that is, Luong Van An, Luong Van Thich, Lu Van Cang and Lu Van Than. Although they are old and weak, their current life is still full of difficulties, each person has their own circumstances, but they are always exemplary village elders in their activities, still meet each other and often tell their children and grandchildren about the past victories with the hope of lighting the fire for the younger generation not to forget the heroic traditions.

Le Ba Lieu