Truong Bon- Where time stops
In the sacred space of Truong Bon, time seems to stop, leaving only gratitude in everyone's heart...
Behind the shirt
Cherishing the blue shirt and the small silver bag carefully kept in the display system of Truong Bon Museum, Mr. Phan Trong Loc - Director of the Relic Site said that these are precious relics donated to the museum by the family of martyr Nguyen Thi Van (born in 1950), to contribute to enriching the artifacts here.
Over the years of being attached to the relic site, he has witnessed and listened to many touching stories behind the sacrifices of the martyrs above.Fire coordinatesOn the day Van's relics were brought to the museum, her family members were moved to tell more about her childhood, the years filled with love associated with Lam Duc land of Thuong Son commune, Do Luong district.
At that time, Ms. Van was in secondary school, half a day at school, half a day with friends inviting each other to go to Du hill to collect firewood or go to Cuoc Ban field to cut grass for buffaloes and cows. Ms. Van's childhood grew up in the cool green of corn fields surrounded by the clear water of Bau Cau. American planes flew across the sky, bombs and rockets exploded on the corn fields in bloom. The eighteen and twenty year old boys of Thuong Son village volunteered to go to war. During the youth volunteer recruitment in 1966, Ms. Van enthusiastically participated. That year, she was just over 16 years old...
When the recruiter saw the girl's small stature, looking at her profile, he saw that she was just over 16 years old, so he told her to go back to school and wait until next year when she was old enough to go. Ms. Van refused: "I'm almost 17 years old, I volunteer to go to war. Don't you know that a 17-year-old girl can break a buffalo's horn?". So Ms. Van set off. On October 30, 1966, wearing a pith helmet, backpack and green shirt, she officially joined the ranks of the youth volunteers, a shaggy army of mostly 17-18-year-old girls, who bravely and intelligently faced bullets and bombs with hoes, shovels and shoulder poles, held out at the most fierce key points, were present at the most fierce times, went out on the streets at any time, whenever a bomb wave stopped, whenever a car was on fire, there was a traffic jam...
Nguyen Thi Van's unit marched quickly to Gang ferry, Thanh Khai commune, Thanh Chuong district. Later, Van was added to Company 317. When Truong Bon became the key point that the US aimed at to cut off the traffic artery of the North to support the South, there were nights when the road was blocked, Van's company had to liberate dozens of trucks. They unloaded the goods, carried them away to hide, and when the bombs were cleared, they brought the goods back to the trucks to load them on time to the front lines.
Truong Bon was always bombed, and the sky above Truong Bon was always filled with smoke from bombs. And then, on the fateful morning of October 31, 1968, Nguyen Thi Van was killed while filling a bomb crater in Truong Bon, along with 12 other soldiers of the 317th Youth Volunteer Company, by a series of coordinate bombs. It was 6:10 a.m. At that time, Nguyen Thi Van was just 18 years old.
The next day, the unit and people of My Son commune tried their best but still could not find the body of Nguyen Thi Van. Her body had melted into the soil of Truong Bon. The girls and boys who sacrificed that year did not keep anything, not even their youth, not even their flesh, not even a small picture was left...
The echo remains forever
Touching stories behind the artifacts atTruong Bon National Historical Site Museumcontinues in the emotional flow of the tour guides here. Primitive tools such as hoes, shovels, rakes... are used to fill bomb craters, clearing the way for vehicles to pass. Oil lamps of the youth volunteer force are made from cluster bomb shells, grenades to guide each convoy through the dark night. Radios are used to direct combat operations, overcome bomb craters, and clear the way to the battlefield on Highway 15A.
Primitive artifacts and tools of Nghe An Youth Volunteer Force in Truong Bon. Photo: Thanh Quynh
In contrast to the primitive equipment and tools of the Nghe An youth volunteers were the large, modern bombs and bullets that the US imperialists had dropped on Truong Bon to prevent support for the southern front. There were magnetic bombs, time-delayed bombs, anti-personnel bombs, cluster bombs, mortar shells, armor-piercing bullets... Some were still painted, some were rusted, all lay quietly but still evoked the tragic scene of a fierce historical period.
After listening to the touching stories through the artifacts, we were led by the museum staff to the last exhibition room, the diorama was lit up, all visitors' eyes were drawn to the movement of each small detail recreating the fierce battles and arduous work of the youth volunteers on the legendary route.
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And then, the narrator's inspiring voice rang out, at the same time the images of young girls and boys volunteered appeared on the screen of the sand table. Young boys and girls in their eighteens and twenties stepped into danger with full optimism. Temporarily putting aside their youthful aspirations, they were happy with the joy of each convoy of vehicles following each other safely to the battlefield, anxiously counting each series of bombs falling in order to defuse the bombs and clear the road.
The most touching moment was when the diorama recreated the moment at 6:10 am on October 31, 1968, when the young volunteers went out to the street to carry out their mission. Suddenly, groups of American planes rushed in. The whole Truong Bon was immersed in the sound of explosions that seemed to tear the sky and earth apart, scattered and obscured by the rain of bombs and bullets. The final madness of the defeated took the lives of 11 girls and 2 boys, their bodies mixed with the soil, rocks, grass and trees.
Visitors standing in front of the model and those artifacts seem to feel the echoes of the past, of a time of heroic and glorious fighting of the nation. Truong Bon is now not only a historical site, but also a place for future generations to return to, to listen to the stories of the past. Tears of gratitude, incense sticks are lit not only to remember, but also to affirm that the sacrifice will never be forgotten, forever a source of pride in the hearts of every Vietnamese person.
The place name Truong Bon is associated with the sacrifice of 13 martyrs of Company 317, the Youth Volunteer Force against the US to save the country in Nghe An province on the morning of October 31, 1968, when just a few hours before the US was forced to declare a halt to bombing the North.
Truong Bon at that time was considered the only strategic route, connecting the traffic arteries for the North to support the South. The US Air Force concentrated its forces on fierce attacks, turning Truong Bon into a "dead coordinate".
In this life-and-death battle, 1,240 officers and soldiers fought steadfastly and heroically sacrificed their lives to maintain the traffic artery on the road against the Americans.
To recognize the Truong Bon place name, to recognize the dedication and heroic sacrifice of Truong Bon soldiers, of which the most typical are 13 Youth Volunteers of the "Steel Squad", on January 12, 1996, Truong Bon was recognized as a National Historical Relic.
On September 23, 2008, the President issued a decision to confer the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces on the Truong Bon Youth Volunteers. October 31, 1968 was chosen as Truong Bon Victory Day.