Twice heroic homeland

(Baonghean) - Coming to Nghi Huong (Cua Lo Town) in the historic days of AUGUST, the bustling, excited atmosphere is clearly visible on every face of the coastal city's residents...

Mrs. Tran Thi Thuu (Block 3, Nghi Huong Ward) is over 70 years old this year, but her memories of the heroic years of the resistance war against American imperialism are still intact. At that time, guerrilla Tran Thi Thuu was assigned to be the Captain of the Air Defense Militia Team, Head of the Clearance, Reception and Transport of Goods Committee of Nghi Huong Commune.

In April 1972, the US imperialists mobilized a large air force and navy to attack the North on a large scale and fiercely. They blockaded ports and sea areas, and attacked our economic and defense facilities. At that time, Cua Lo Port was the place to receive and transit rice aid and necessities from the Soviet Union and China for the battlefield in the South. In particular, Nghi Huong was a particularly important area and target in terms of military strategy, a place to concentrate on receiving large goods to support the battlefields, a place to arrange air defense positions, radar systems, anti-aircraft guns and many other military targets. Therefore, it became the most fierce and brutal target of the enemy... In that situation, the superiors directed that the goods from the Hong Ky ship docked at Ngu Island must be winched to the mainland. The task of the Militia and Self-Defense Force on duty in air defense was to bring the goods from the water to the shore for the army of pack vehicles and vehicles to transport to the rear. But in reality, the method of using winches to bring goods in was not very effective. Nghi Huong Militia and Ben Thuy Port workers came up with a way to put the goods in large plastic bags and drop them into the sea, following the wind direction, the goods would drift to the mainland. "To carry out that initiative, in order for the goods to drift to the mainland and avoid casualties, we had to study and summarize the weather rules as well as the times when enemy planes often conducted sweeps. Thanks to that, the packages of goods continued to reach the shore, supporting the battlefield in the South"...

A corner of Nghi Huong ward - Cua Lo town.

From July 1964 to December 1972, the US imperialists conducted 1,023 bombing raids, dropping 6,316 tons of bombs and nearly 200 mines on Nghi Huong to block the sea route. With courage and indomitable will, the people of Nghi Huong, from young people to the elderly and mothers, calmly carried each package of goods, sneaked through the trenches to transport tens of thousands of tons of goods from the coast to the inner line for hiding. At that time, the whole commune had 1,429 volunteers to join the army; 250 youth volunteers; 513 participated in the transportation team... On average, each person transported 40 bags of goods per day. On October 1, 1972, during a bombing sweep by enemy aircraft, the 75mm and 12mm artillery teams of the Nghi Huong guerrillas heroically shot down an R-F5C aircraft of the US Air Force. In the unequal and uncompromising war with the enemy, 135 Nghi Huong children sacrificed their lives, 114 people were injured, and had to leave part of their bodies on the battlefield... With continuous achievements on all fronts, in 1973, the Nghi Huong commune militia and self-defense force was honored to be awarded the title of Hero of the Armed Forces by the Party and the State. In December 2014, the people and armed forces of Nghi Huong ward continued to be honored to be awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the Party and the State.

Promoting the tradition of the twice heroic homeland, the Party Committee and people of Nghi Huong are united and determined to gradually rebuild their hometown. With the advantage of being a central ward of a coastal town, Nghi Huong focuses on breakthroughs and innovation through sustainable tourism and service development. Mr. Tran Minh Luong, Secretary of the Ward Party Committee, affirmed that during the great national resistance war, Nghi Huong took the lead. Today, Nghi Huong is also becoming a leading ward of Cua Lo coastal town in the fields of economic, cultural and social development. The poverty rate is only 2.84% per year, the average income per capita reaches 35 million VND/year. The material and spiritual life of the people has been improved, the strength of great solidarity in the community is focused on...

Ngoc Anh