Final article: Will, pride and friendship
The Vietnam - Laos border is a friendship border of great significance to the two countries. Therefore, the work of determining the location of the border markers between the two countries is of particular importance; requiring joint marker planting teams to be careful, meticulous, accurate, and ensure respect for the interests of each country. The markers were erected not to create separation but to highlight the long-standing friendship of the two countries "mountains connected to mountains, rivers connected to rivers". Therefore, during the process of erecting markers, the two marker planting teams of Nghe An province received many sharings of affection from the Lao people... Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Hong - Team Leader of Marker Planting Team No. 1 still remembers clearly the first days of the survey: On the trip to survey Marker 366, the road on the Vietnamese side was not accessible, so we had to borrow a road through Laos. The vehicle climbed for more than 1:00 p.m. to reach Pha Khom village, home to 15 houses of the Lau family, Mong Lao people. After “talking” with their hands, the village chief knew that the Vietnamese border demarcation force had happily arranged for everyone in the group to rest. Next was a day of marching uphill. Short slopes, then long slopes, the group was divided into many groups, groups of 3 people, groups of 5 people… climbing forever, resting wherever they were tired. When they returned to the village, it was past 9:30 pm. Their clothes were torn, their hands were bleeding. Before they could celebrate, they discovered that Tan, a member of the team, was nowhere to be found. Lost, they had to ask their friend - the village chief - to agree to dispatch 5 militiamen who were familiar with the terrain, to identify the lost location, to organize a search. It was not until nearly dawn that the Lao militiamen found Tan and helped him back. After only one night, Tan was pale and haggard, unable to utter a single word for the next week.
Along its route, the No. 2 Marker Planting Team had to pass through and climb the gates of heaven, the mountain ranges stretching from Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Tuong Duong to Ky Son. On those steep mountain and forest routes, the difficulties were beyond words. Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong, the leader of the No. 2 Marker Planting Team, still remembers many memories imbued with the Lao-Vietnamese brotherhood: Once, the No. 2 Marker Planting Team and the Bolykhamxay Marker Planting Team carried out a bilateral survey plan at markers 452 and 453 in Thanh Huong commune, Thanh Chuong district. Because this section did not have a patrol road, traveling was extremely difficult, the slope was almost vertical, if the person in front was not careful, he could slip down and hit the person behind, and rocks could roll down at any time. The marching continued, and some people fainted from exhaustion, too tired to swallow rice. Meanwhile, the leader of the Bolikhamxay marker planting team, Bunlam Xa Ne Ha, encouraged the Vietnamese team, and Hong encouraged the Lao team to work together to complete the mission. The friendly doctor bandaged our wounded cadres, and both sides shared a pot of uncooked rice. Eating together, living together, working together - the Vietnamese and Lao cadres truly considered each other as brothers.
Sharing the same thoughts as the cadres and members of the Vietnamese border marking teams, some Lao border marking officers who had worked for 2 years on the border of Ha Tinh province, such as Tha Nu Xin Lat Xa Chac - Deputy Technical Team Leader of Bolykhamxay province, could not imagine the hardships they had experienced in the border marking area on the Nghe An side. Tha Nu Xin Lat Xa Chac was originally a strong man, but due to traveling too much in the cold and rainy weather, and suffering from rheumatism, when he returned to the station, his knees were swollen, and the members of the Border Marking Team No. 2 had to make a stretcher and carry him away. It is said that when he returned to Vietnam, Tha Nu had to stay in the hospital for a whole month before he got better... Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong said: Landmark 428 can be reached with great effort, but there are many places in the area that are even more difficult. But when thinking back, it was thanks to the will, courage and love for the homeland that helped him take the steps. Like the working trip in early January 2012, near the Lunar New Year of Nham Thin, the bilateral and interdisciplinary survey team was still determined to conduct a survey and monitor the markers in Mon Son commune (Con Cuong). The markers here are very far from residential areas, and are located in dangerous locations, so the team had to travel both by river by boat and by road with a distance of about 60 km.
At this time, it was extremely cold, many sections had to march along the stream up to the waist for more than a day, the stream water was freezing cold, the temperature at night was sometimes only 4-5 degrees at an altitude of 1,525m above sea level. It was so cold that we couldn't sleep at night, so we just lit a fire to warm up. But our faces were warm but our backs were freezing cold. The survey of these two landmarks took more than 10 days. During these days, the whole group never saw the sun, only thick fog, we couldn't see each other's faces clearly from 2-3m away, our clothes were always soaked, it was extremely cold, we just kept walking, and had to stick close together because if we were a little bit further apart, we would lose each other immediately. There were sections where the weather was so foggy and the forest was so dense that the GPS satellite positioning device had no signal and couldn't observe the terrain, so the whole group got lost down the mountainside. It took 2 hours to climb back to the old place. When we completed the mission and returned to Post 555, it was already the 25th day of the Lunar New Year.
Milestone 397 (1) on the Laos side.
During the journey to plant markers, there were many unexpected dangers that the members of the Marker Planting Team No. 2 still fear: During the survey in Chau Khe commune, Con Cuong district, the vehicle carrying the entire team crossed the Giang River (about 1.5km from Border Guard Station 553); after passing a short distance, the flood from upstream suddenly came and the vehicle got stuck on the rocky ledge and could not move. At first, the river water only reached the wheel level, but after only about 10 minutes, the water reached the hood. The team hurriedly tried to find a way to escape from the flooded vehicle. The team had to contact Border Guard Station 553 to ask for help. Luckily, a road construction unit about 10km from the station used an excavator to pull the vehicle up...
Staying for 2-3 days in the middle of the forest because of floodwaters cutting off rivers and streams is a daily occurrence for those who set up markers. Only when sharing dry rations can one truly see the camaraderie of comrades. Walking on many sections, the mud is 2-30 cm deep, but one must wade barefoot, because if one wears shoes, one cannot lift it up because the mud is so sticky. Then there are all kinds of leeches. Green leeches bite across the neck, crawl into the ear, making it very difficult to stop the bleeding; Golden flies swarm and bite, leaving "flower" marks on many people's bodies... Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Hong, leader of the No. 1 Marker Setting Team, confided: "Every time we touch a newly erected marker, the members of the marker setting team feel boundless pride - Today, our Fatherland is built by our hands - we feel more strength to continue through the endless old forests without human footprints, to climb the towering mountain peaks to shape new markers". Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong - Team Leader of Border Marker Planting Team No. 2 confided: "Determining the work of increasing the density and embellishing national border markers is a sacred task, demonstrating the determination to build a solid national border. Although it is difficult and tiring with nights of "eating dirt, sleeping in the forest, making friends with slugs and leeches", we always consider it a source of pride, a special job that not everyone is assigned. The officers and employees of Border Marker Planting Team No. 2 identify their responsibilities and tasks, and are highly united to complete the task well."
Currently, the Vietnam-Laos border in general and the border running through Nghe An with Hua Phan, Xieng Khouang, Bolikhamxay in particular are about to be completed. The above results are thanks to the Joint Committee of the two countries, the Steering Committee of Nghe An and the provinces of Laos who have devoted resources to the implementation; including the enthusiasm and high sense of responsibility of the border marker planting teams. We would like to honor those who have overcome all difficulties and dangers to embellish the Vietnam-Laos border, creating momentum for the sustainable development of the two countries, further enhancing the friendship and eternal kinship between the two peoples.
Chung Hai