Phan Thai At - A loyal revolutionary soldier

(Baonghean.vn) - At Yen Xuan Temple (National Historical - Cultural Relic) in Linh Son Commune (Anh Son), there is an exhibition of photos of the first generation of revolutionary soldiers of Anh Son District. In the first row is a photo of a young man with a kind face, a high forehead and determined eyes. That is Phan Thai At (1894-1967) - the first Secretary of Yen Xuan Party Cell, later the first Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Quang Ngai Province.

Portrait of revolutionary soldier Phan Thai At (documentary photo).

Phan Thai At was the youngest child in a family with a rich tradition of patriotism and love for the people in Yen Xuan village (now Linh Son commune - Anh Son). His father and uncle participated in the Van Than and Can Vuong movements and then fell into the hands of the French invaders. They were brutally beaten but still maintained their integrity. Since childhood, Phan Thai At had witnessed the miserable life of the people under the colonial-feudal regime. Along with that was the greed, brutality and inhumanity of the local tyrants, the lackeys of the French colonialists. At the age of 8, he had to suffer the loss of his father and the sight of his mother being tortured by the lackeys, hitting her head with a sword, causing her to become disabled. Hatred was kindled from that moment. Despite the difficult circumstances, his mother still let him study Chinese and Vietnamese. His teacher was a patriotic person, always bringing up the heroic examples of the past and present to educate the spirit of patriotism for generations of students.

Entering his youth, Phan Thai At and a few close friends often met to exchange new information from books and newspapers and information collected from people participating in revolutionary organizations. In 1922, he advocated the establishment of the Tam Giao group with the purpose of exchanging information, disseminating books and newspapers, and poetry to promote patriotism. Among them were documents about the revolution and patriotic poems by the patriot Phan Boi Chau. After that, the members of the Tam Giao group decided to contribute fields to plow together and pool capital to open a traditional medicine store. Two years later, when the capital had increased considerably, the Tam Giao group expanded its business to include groceries and became increasingly "profitable". The group decided to change its name to the Friendship Association and bought a two-story wooden house, the lower floor used for selling goods, the upper floor used for receiving guests and for discussion among like-minded people. That house was named Hieu Yen Xuan.

Through books and newspapers, people learned about the activities of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association and actively responded and supported it. Later, on the basis of the Friendship Association, the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association branch was led by Phan Thai At as Secretary. In September 1929, the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association branch in Yen Xuan was transformed into a branch of the Indochina Communist Party. This was the first branch in Anh Son, and also one of the first branches established in the rural area of ​​Nghe An. At that time, Phan Thai At was appointed as the branch secretary by comrade Nguyen Phong Sac - Central Committee member in charge of the Central Region Party Committee. Comrade Nguyen Phong Sac asked: "Our Party has just begun to be established. The enemy is still strong, and the activities will be very difficult. Do you think we can do it? Should we do it now or wait for another time?" After a moment of thought, Phan Thai At replied: "I know it's difficult, but if we want the next generation to continue, we must start now."

At the end of 1929, at the Conference to establish the Nghe An General Farmers' Association, Phan Thai At continued to be appointed as Secretary of the General Association. Remembering the advice of comrade Nguyen Phong Sac "Once the Party exists, we must make the people know the Party", Phan Thai At enthusiastically went to build Party bases in Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh and Dien Chau districts. After a period of revolutionary activities, he learned a valuable experience: "Every job, no matter how small, good and useful for the people, is meaningful for the Party".

In early December 1929, while he was working enthusiastically, he received a summons from comrade Nguyen Phong Sac. Phan Thai At handed over documents to his brother who was also participating in the activity to go to Vinh to receive a new assignment. After a while, along with a number of other comrades (including Nguyen Duc Canh) to assist comrade Nguyen Phong Sac, Phan Thai At was assigned to work and build bases in the South Central provinces with the following advice: “In those provinces, the mobilization work has just begun, the enemy is still on high alert. Making a revolution has many difficulties. Being away from home will be very missed. From now on, you will have to take care of everything by yourself, it is easy to get discouraged. You must be determined and always think of the Party, rely on the collective, and the people to do things.”

In the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen and Quy Nhon, Phan Thai At did many jobs such as rickshaw puller, painter, porter, plowman, and pharmacist. These jobs not only helped him earn a living but also created conditions to mobilize and enlighten the masses to follow the Party and build bases. In particular, in Quang Ngai, Phan Thai At built many bases, leading to the establishment of a provisional Provincial Party Committee and he was assigned as Secretary.

At this time, in Nghe-Tinh, the Soviet movement had exploded, and everywhere in his homeland, people rose up against the tyrants. He dreamed of a scene of fire blazing red across the Lam River, Vinh Town, and all the rural areas where he had helped to start the base. In early October 1930, responding to the Nghe-Tinh Soviet movement, Phan Thai At directed the organization of demonstrations in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. The center of the movement was Duc Pho district (Quang Ngai), the masses surrounded the district capital, and the district chief had to flee. After that, the movement spread to all districts in the area. Seeing the movement develop strongly and widely, the communist soldier from Nghe-Tinh was filled with joy and silently called out: "Nghe-Tinh! The people of Quang Ngai are rising up together under the Party's flag!". But not long after, the movement was brutally suppressed and terrorized by the enemy, many revolutionary soldiers fell into the enemy's hands, including comrade Nguyen Nghiem - Deputy Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee. The revolutionary base was destroyed by the enemy, and communication lines with superiors were cut off. Phan Thai At was also exposed, and the enemy hunted him down relentlessly, but he was always helped and protected by the people. In the face of such a difficult and dangerous situation, he was still determined to maintain the movement and find ways to reconnect communication lines.

On July 22, 1931, Phan Thai At was arrested while waiting for the Regional Party Committee's contact person to receive documents. Being taken to Quang Ngai prison, the enemy asked him: "I didn't expect you to be a communist and build a movement everywhere, making us suffer. What do you think now?" Phan Thai At answered loudly: "What do you think? Live and work for the revolution, die for the Party, for the revolution." The enemy continued to ask: "And you, do you also want to live?" Without a second of thinking, he answered: "I am of the people, of the Party." And at that time, he was planning how to die to build influence for the revolution, for the Party. After threatening and seducing, but unable to change the will and determination of that communist soldier, the French colonialists finally announced the death sentence. But public opinion and people strongly opposed that sentence, forcing them to reduce it to life imprisonment and exile to Buon Ma Thuot prison.

Here, he met comrades Phan Dang Luu, Ton Quang Phiet and many other staunch revolutionary soldiers. He and his comrades fought uncompromisingly with the enemy, forced to eat clean food, have medicine and soap, not be beaten, protest against overtime... Then everyone composed poems to propagate and encourage each other to maintain revolutionary spirit in the face of the enemy's savage and brutal blows. And he wrote some verses full of enthusiasm and belief: "After walking a lot, I have to sit down temporarily/ Sit and watch the stage play/ The enemy is proud, puffing up their hoods and screaming/ The dog general shows off his power, tearing and tearing at his prey/ Let the rotten flesh be here, where is it to be found/ When our bones are broken, we will still not retreat/ When the curtain falls, we will know which side wins/ The justice of the past still shines".

Then, in May 1935, Phan Thai At was exiled to Con Dao. In this place considered “hell on earth”, he met loyal revolutionary soldiers such as Ton Duc Thang, Nguyen Duy Trinh, To Chien, Vo Thuc Dong... Under close supervision and brutal revenge, Phan Thai At and the imprisoned revolutionary soldiers continued to fight in many forms. In particular, they still regularly organized reading books and newspapers to grasp the domestic and international situation, still organized cultural and political classes, and promoted increased production. They even published the newspaper “General Opinion”. In his memoirs, Phan Thai At confided: “In the midst of this situation where the enemy only pushed us to death, the comradeship and class love shone brightly and became strangely profound. We still lived optimistically, with confidence and determination for the Party thanks to that.”

After the August Revolution succeeded, Phan Thai At and other revolutionary soldiers captured and imprisoned by the enemy in Con Dao were picked up by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on a ship to return to the mainland. His health was declining, and his superiors created conditions for him to return home to rest and treat his illness, but he volunteered to stay and work and was sent to Cambodia to help the neighboring country build a resistance base. In 1953, Phan Thai At was summoned by the Central Government to return home to prepare for the Dien Bien Phu campaign, the trip lasted exactly 1 year. On this occasion, he had the opportunity to visit his hometown after 23 years away. At this time, his beloved mother had passed away. His hard-working wife at first did not dare to believe that he would live to return. But he was still happy and excited because his old dream had come true, the land had returned to the farmers. After a few days at home, he set off for Viet Bac.

In 1961, comrade Phan Thai At retired in his hometown and still actively contributed his intelligence to the development of his hometown and village. Due to old age, weak health, and the wounds from torture and beatings during his imprisonment, the steadfast revolutionary soldier passed away in mid-1967. Nearly 50 years have passed since he left this world, but his name still lives forever in the hearts of the people of Nghe An and Quang Ngai and in the revolutionary cause of our Party.

Cong Kien