When "there is a heart in the car..."
The poem by poet Pham Tien Duat kept ringing in our minds when we talked to the person who spent 12 years with the "glassless truck squad" - one of the commanders of the brave drivers on the Truong Son route in the past:
"The car is still running because the South is ahead.
Just have a heart in the car"
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Mr. Dang Xuan Thu (right) |
The daily task of the vehicle company was to transport goods, mainly weapons, ammunition, military uniforms, military supplies, and food according to the command of the superiors. At first, his fleet of vehicles were all original three-axle Z157s of the Soviet Union and CA30s (Hong Ha Vehicles - China), in the 70s, there was an additional single-axle Z130 of the Soviet Union. Daytime off, night travel, following each other... The Truong Son road was "dusty in the sun, muddy in the rain", many times the drivers had to follow their own judgment and experience. The marching route had to pass through many fierce key points in the rain of bombs, bullets, and flares of the enemy, but the drivers still held their ground, which was the cockpit. The vehicles without windows, lights, or roofs still moved straight forward. The slogan at that time was "love the vehicle like a child, cherish gasoline like blood", "all for the beloved South".
In 1969, the 61st vehicle battalion was tasked with transporting goods from the South of Se-Bang-Hieng River on military road 128 to deliver goods at military station 34 at Muong Noong intersection, but once due to request, the convoy of 36 vehicles had to continue to Long pass, Bac river, to deliver goods at military station 35, Sa Van airport. When 8 vehicles had just reached the top of the pass, the enemy's 0V10 aircraft dropped flares to detect the target and fired signal flares. 3 minutes later, F4s and F5s circled around and dropped bombs. 5 vehicles were damaged, and a driver from Ha Bac was killed, still holding the steering wheel tightly. During his 12 years of service on the Truong Son road, his vehicle company lost nearly 20 people.
In 1975, leaving the 559th group, Dang Xuan Thu joined the Liaison Vehicle Regiment of the Transport Department - General Department of Logistics stationed in Den Cuong, continuing to carry out military transport missions against the 1979 border war and providing aid to Laos on Route 7 and Route 8. In 1983, he retired in Hamlet 9, Nghi Phu Commune (Vinh City). Although he was a 3/4 disabled veteran, with poor health due to the pressure of bombs when his vehicle team was discovered by enemy aircraft dropping bombs while on duty at the Indochina junction in 1967, the old soldier still maintained the qualities of resilience, the will to overcome difficulties, and the optimism of a soldier driving on the Truong Son Road in the past. He enthusiastically participated in social work in the locality, was an exemplary Party cell secretary, and was loved and respected by the people of Hamlet 9, a member of the Veterans Association, the Liaison Committee of Truong Son Troops in Vinh City and Nghi Phu Commune. Memories of his comrades, teammates and the years driving on the Truong Son road were always full in him.
He said he had many memories of Truong Son, but he remembered the one in 1968 the most. That time, his vehicle team stopped at the 33rd military station located south of the ThaMe River, Se Bang Hieng Pass. As usual, the vehicle repair squad leader of Company 8, Nguyen Van Thuong (from Vinh), carefully carried his tools to check the vehicle. The sky was quiet when suddenly he heard the rumbling sound of B52s. Five minutes later, they dropped bombs, blowing up the entire parking lot where Company 8 had gathered. After the B52s, he jumped up and saw Nguyen Van Thuong holding his broken right arm, only a bloody tendon remained. He quickly ran to get a bandage to tightly wrap his comrade's arm, but the blood was still pouring out. Thuong said, "Cut off my arm." Knowing that there was no other way to save his comrade, he told Thuong, "If God lets us live, we will become sworn brothers," then gritted his teeth and followed his friend's words.
12 years of dedicating his youth on the Truong Son road - awarded with 1 Third Class Military Exploit Medal, Emulation Soldier Badge, First, Second, Third Class Liberation Soldier Medal; First Class Glorious Soldier Medal, First Class Resistance Medal... a proud past but Dang Xuan Thu is still very modest. He said: "Don't write about me, write about those who fell for independence and freedom on the Truong Son road when they were in the most beautiful age of their lives. They are the ones who deserve to be honored".
Khanh Ly