Major General Bui Duc Tung and battlefield memories

(Baonghean)After 30 years of fighting, nearly 50 years of military life, at the age of 86, Major General Bui Duc Tung is still strong, still walking strongly. This man who has been through life and death on many battlefields is very proud because his life has witnessed the glorious moments of history...

The house of General Bui Duc Tung's family is located in the middle of Hamlet 24, Nghi Phu Commune (Vinh City). In the yard there is a fish pond and many rustic trees are planted: corn, potatoes, grapefruit, mango, banana... Perhaps, because he has been away from home all his life, he wanted to bring those trees to the city to plant in the garden to ease his nostalgia. Whenever sadness suddenly comes, he wanders out to admire the garden, the fish pond, memories of his childhood, memories of his hometown come back to warm his soul, helping him to be peaceful in the midst of everyday life with many messy things. Major General Bui Duc Tung was born in 1928, from Lang Thach village (now Thach Son commune - Anh Son).

In his memory, it was a poor and difficult countryside, where life was hard all year round but still lacked food, and was constantly bullied by the tyrants and village chiefs. In 1945, the 17-year-old Bui Duc Tung was enlightened about the revolution and was soon assigned to the Lang Thach village Self-Defense Team, participating in attacking the enemy at Kim Nhan station and besieging Anh Son district office. After a moment of contemplation, he recounted the heroic moments of nearly 68 years ago: “At that time, Kim Nhan garrison had a large concentration of Japanese soldiers, so the Viet Minh Anh Son Government Committee directly directed the capture to neutralize and shake the morale of the local landlords. According to the plan, on the night of August 22, 1945, amid the sound of drums, gongs and cymbals, our Lang Dien Self-Defense Team coordinated with other teams to divide into 4 directions to advance into the enemy garrison. Without anyone telling anyone, everyone marched straight ahead, holding spears and spears in their hands and charged forward. Faced with the fighting spirit of the revolutionary self-defense force, the Kim Nhan garrison commander and soldiers were truly panicked and had to lay down their weapons and surrender. The red flag with a yellow star fluttered on the gate of the garrison, signaling that the enemy's largest military base in Anh Son was in the hands of the revolution. The next morning, tens of thousands of people flocked to the government office to witness the glorious moment of history. Here, the provisional revolutionary government officially introduced itself to the people, abolishing forever of the colonial-feudal regime. Joy broke out, everyone shared the excitement of having become citizens of a free, independent country...”.

After the revolution succeeded, the Self-Defense Force member was assigned to the Guard Battalion with the task of protecting the headquarters of Nghe An province. After that, the young soldier was assigned to work and fight in Inter-zone 10 (later changed to Viet Bac Military Zone). From here, Bui Duc Tung left his newlywed wife, his family, and his hometown to enter the battlefield.

During the resistance war against the French, young soldier Bui Duc Tung was present in almost all important campaigns, from the Viet Bac Campaign, to the Border Campaign, the Upper Laos Northwest and finally the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. In the campaign that "resounded throughout the five continents, shook the world", Bui Duc Tung's unit was present from the very beginning, when pulling artillery over hundreds of steep and steep passes to the battlefield until the day the victory flag flew over the roof of the De Castries bunker. During those 56 days and nights, he and his comrades truly lived through days full of hardship and sacrifice. At that time, Bui Duc Tung was a platoon-level officer. His unit was initially assigned to capture the Doc Lap hill stronghold, and when this mission was successfully completed, they were assigned to continue digging trenches to surround Muong Thanh airport.

The soldier from back then shared: “Nearly 60 years have passed, I have never forgotten the moment of victory. From the dark, muddy tunnel, the soldiers rushed forward under the bright sunlight. Everyone cheered, echoing throughout the land and sky, despite the smoke from the bombs still billowing. Poet Nguyen Dinh Thi was very talented in sketching the image: Vietnam from the blood and fire/ Shakes off the mud and stands up shining brightly”.

After the Geneva Agreement, the US sought to replace France in the southern battlefield, set up the puppet government of Ngo Dinh Diem and carried out its ambition of permanently dividing Vietnam. As early as 1963, Bui Duc Tung's unit was ordered to secretly march into battle and expand the controlled area in the battlefield of Zone V and the Central Highlands. Here, he participated in hundreds of large and small battles with the US-puppet forces and many times stood on the fragile boundary between life and death, as he said, "Life and death are only a split second apart from pulling the trigger, whoever is faster will live". During this time, he could not forget two fierce battles, contributing to creating a turning point in tactics in the confrontation with the US-puppet soldiers who were equipped "to the teeth" with strong firepower, those were the Ba Gia battle and the Van Tuong battle (Quang Ngai).

General Vo Nguyen Giap warmly encouraged comrade Bui Duc Tung - Political Commissar of Division 2 (Military Region V).

He said: “In the Ba Gia battle, our unit was assigned the task of ambushing the 51st Regiment of the puppet army in the Nui Tron area, pushing the enemy out into the fields and fighting them on each field. Seeing our troops' high spirits, the enemy faltered and were destroyed, many were captured. All kinds of enemy weapons and military vehicles were also destroyed and captured by us.”

After that, his regiment continued to receive orders to ambush a battalion (consisting of 3 battalions) that came to rescue and occupy Go Cao post. When the enemy battalion entered the ambush formation, he and his comrades charged out to attack and divide the enemy formation, preventing them from uniting. “We pushed the enemy down near the riverbank and fought with them for each section of the trench. The enemy sent aircraft to support, but it was ineffective because we were fiercely fired back. On the afternoon of May 30, 1965, our unit almost completely annihilated a battalion of the puppet army’s marines. Early the next morning, our troops from all directions simultaneously attacked Chop Non mountain and eliminated all remaining enemy troops there,” Mr. Tung said excitedly. And what was even more proud was that after the victory in the Ba Gia battle, his regiment was renamed the Ba Gia Regiment, and he was a commanding officer of the regiment.

In mid-August 1965, the Ba Gia Regiment marched down to the coastal area to build bases and familiarize itself with the terrain. Detecting the presence of liberation troops, the American generals decided to carry out the "Starlight" operation, mobilizing forces from all directions to surround and destroy them. On August 17, 1965, Quang Ngai fishermen went out to sea and saw American warships moving around busily. Noticing this abnormality, the fishermen returned to report the situation. After analyzing and predicting the enemy's intentions, the Ba Gia Regiment immediately made a plan and deployed its formation to prepare for combat.

As predicted, the next morning, US Marine Corps aircraft took off in droves, dropping all kinds of bombs on Van Tuong hamlet. Then gunboats from the sea also fired in droves, tanks roared, and helicopters landed in chaos. The enemy intended to use large numbers and strong firepower to overwhelm the Ba Gia Regiment. “The enemy’s firepower was very strong, their weapons were very modern, and they coordinated many branches, but we proactively deployed combat plans so we did not suffer many losses. With recoilless rifles, B40s, and AT grenades, we burned 4 enemy tanks in the first salvo of bullets...” - Major General Bui Duc Tung recalled. After 2 days of fierce fighting, the Ba Gia Regiment was able to withdraw from the enemy’s encirclement quite safely.

After the victory at Van Tuong, Major General Bui Duc Tung continued to march across the battlefields. The 2nd Division - Military Region V was established, and he was appointed as a division-level officer. During the Tet Offensive (1968), his unit was ordered to directly advance to capture Da Nang. Then in the following years, he marched with his unit to fight on Route 9 in Southern Laos (1971), and to the Bo Lo Ven plateau (Laos) to support the friendly country (1972). In the spring of 1975, during the Hue - Da Nang campaign, his 2nd Division was assigned to capture the two strongholds of Tien Phuoc and Phuoc Lam (Quang Nam), to liberate Tam Ky and destroy all the puppet forces blocking these areas.

On the winning streak, Division 2 was ordered to advance to liberate Da Nang. Here, Division 2 proactively coordinated with main units and militia and guerrillas to attack the enemy from all directions. The enemy panicked and fled to dozens of ships waiting at the seaport. "Seeing the chaotic scene of the enemy trampling over each other to escape in Da Nang on the afternoon of March 29, 1975, we believed that the day of victory and liberation of the South was not far away" - Mr. Tung shared. As Political Commissar of the Division, he was assigned to stay in Da Nang to do military management work.

At noon on April 30th that year, when he heard the news that our attack forces had entered to liberate Saigon and the South was completely liberated, he and his comrades were extremely happy. Major General Tung was moved and sad when recalling 38 years ago: “After the moment of cheering, we hugged each other and cried. We cried because of joy and happiness, we cried because we remembered how many comrades had fallen to have that happy day...”. Then he and everyone else joined the crowd from all directions pouring into Da Nang City to continue to cheer for the victory day.

By 1975, Major General Bui Duc Tung had spent 30 years in the army. After that, he was transferred to the IV Military Region Command, then Commander of the Nghe An Provincial Military Command, and a delegate to the 8th National Assembly (1987-1992). In 1995, he retired, then was elected Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial Veterans Association. It was not until 2002, at the age of 74, that he officially returned to his family. After nearly 50 years in the military, Major General Bui Duc Tung has many memories, especially the hardships, sacrifices, and comradeship, especially the "sharing life, sharing death". But he cannot forget one day in 1971, after the Route 9 Southern Laos campaign, two new soldiers from the same village came to see him and informed him that his wife at home had died of heart disease. Married for 26 years, having a daughter together, only seeing each other 3 times. Therefore, he was really shocked by the "thunderbolt" news. But the situation on the battlefield was urgent, he had to suppress his grief to continue marching with the division to fight in Bo Lo Ven (Laos). His current wife is also from the same village, had a husband who was a martyr and had a young daughter. She gave birth to 4 more children (2 boys, 2 girls), so they have 6 children (now 13 grandchildren).

His family had 3 brothers who all fought in the Southern battlefield, and all 3 returned safely. After returning from the battlefield, his old parents were still well, and he was able to take care of them when they were old and weak. And in addition to this, he had a second wife who was also very capable and resourceful, and raised his children to be good people.

At the age of 86, Major General Bui Duc Tung still takes time to record combat plans, developments and experiences after each typical battle to send back to his old unit as a memory. He shared: “These living documents will be added to the unit’s traditional archive to foster pride and educate the spirit and fighting will of the younger generation. Moreover, these are lessons learned from combat practice, painful experiences that the next generation needs to absorb to proactively deal with all situations.”

Cong Kien