Hero Tran Can - the pride of Yen Thanh rice land in Dien Bien Phu campaign
Hero of the Armed Forces Tran Can was born in 1931, in Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province.
From a young age, he was determined to join the army to hold a gun and kill enemies to save the country. After three unsuccessful attempts to volunteer to join the army due to poor health, on the fourth attempt he was finally enlisted (January 1951).
Before participating in the historic Dien Bien Phu campaign, Tran Can fought bravely on many fronts. In every difficult and fierce situation, he and his unit excellently completed the assigned tasks. Although he was seriously wounded twice, he continued to fight, commanding his unit to resolutely attack and destroy the enemy to the end.
In the historic Dien Bien Phu campaign, he left a deep impression right from the opening battle of the campaign at Him Lam hill. In this battle, Tran Can was assigned to command a squad to penetrate deep into the enemy headquarters and plant the "Determined to fight, determined to win" flag that President Ho gave to the army at the enemy's fort. Despite the fierce enemy fire, he still cleverly led the squad through the frontline bunker, penetrated straight into the enemy headquarters and planted the flag at the bunker. After planting the flag, he continued to command the squad to destroy the remaining enemies in the underground bunker, captured 25 of them, and collected many guns and ammunition.
In the battle at Hill 507, despite the fierce enemy artillery fire, Tran Can was still intelligent and brave enough to lead the squad to charge. While we and the enemy were fighting for every inch of land, he and his comrades defeated four waves of their counterattacks. When the enemy charged forward to counterattack the fifth wave, Tran Can immediately picked up the grenade the enemy threw back and commanded the unit to jump onto the trench bank and engage in close combat with the enemy.
While the Company officers were wounded and he himself was seriously wounded, Tran Can was still determined to replace the Company officers to command the troops fighting all night. To maintain the position, he encouraged the troops and those who were slightly wounded to continue to maintain their fighting spirit, repelling the enemy's counterattacks, creating conditions for friendly units to attack the center of Muong Thanh. On the day the historic Dien Bien Phu campaign ended, May 7, 1954, Tran Can heroically sacrificed himself.
With his glorious achievements in the campaigns, Tran Can was honored to receive 1 Third Class Military Exploit Medal, 2 First Class Military Exploit Medals from the State, and was twice elected as an emulation soldier of the regiment.
With his achievements in steadfastly holding out against the enemy and maintaining the position on Hill 507, he was posthumously awarded the Second Class Military Exploit Medal and the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on May 7, 1956.