Find the person in the song…

(Baonghean) “How beautiful is the girl from Dong village, fighting day and night with the people to record the victory of the first battle on the historic fifteenth day…” - the lyrics of that song by musician Thanh Tung made me want to meet the girls in the song. And one drizzly March afternoon, in the peaceful village of Nghia Tien commune, Nghia Dan district, in the house of the eldest sister, who was also the A leader of the female militia squad on duty years ago, I met them again with fresh memories…

“Sister Ba, Sister Ba!” - my companion, reporter Le Ba Lieu (Van Hien Newspaper) called out when we entered the brick yard behind the long alley. A petite woman, her hands still covered in dirt, ran out from the garden blooming with yellow mustard flowers: “Oh, it’s an honored guest”. Putting on a warm coat and tying her hair, Ms. Ho Thi Ba invited us to sit down on the mat spread under the porch. Knowing our intention to meet the girls from Dong village from years ago, Ms. Ba said: “Let me go call them, there are still nearly 10 people in Dong village. The anniversary is coming soon, we have plans for the meeting. That day, the journalist must definitely come to join in the fun!”

The day Ba mentioned was March 15, 1965, a day that has gone down in history for the army and people of Nghia Dan district (old). And the memory, without needing to be evoked further, has flooded back in every look, every story… of the girls from Dong village, now grandmothers. That day, there were 17 girls, aged eighteen or twenty; The oldest person was Ho Thi Ba (23 years old) and was also the only one who had a husband (a border guard soldier). The rest were: Ho Thi Cam, Ho Thi Nam, Ho Thi Hao, Sam Thi Muoi, Ho Thi Thom, Sam Thi Chanh, Sam Thi Sinh, Ho Thi Chiu, Ho Thi Tinh, Ho Thi Hoi, Ho Thi Cam, Ho Thi Than, Ho Thi Xuan, Ho Thi Lien, Pham Thi Truc and Vo Thi Thao. They were carefully selected from among the youth union members of Dong village to form a mobile female militia squad on duty in Nghia Tien commune in early 1965, to strengthen and coordinate with the 710 37mm anti-aircraft artillery unit to directly protect the Dong village area - where there was a very important military target in the western region of Nghe An during the years of the war against the US.

Most of them are Tho ethnic people from Dong village, only 2 girls who are teachers from other places come here to teach and participate in activities in the unit. The squad is directly under the command of the Nghia Tien Commune Military Command with the task of participating in combat duty on the air defense battlefield with equipped infantry guns and doing combat support work for the 37mm anti-aircraft unit 710.

Dong village girls in those days. Photo: Le Ba Lieu

“Those days were so much fun, the movement of “3 ready”, “3 responsible” had all of us young people enthusiastically responding: do any task, go anywhere for the Fatherland” - the women shared. Every day, the women and soldiers of Unit 710 joined hands to dig and build anti-aircraft artillery positions with traffic trenches, bunkers, and in their free time, they took care of the needlework and stitches of the artillery soldiers’ uniforms. The singing of the militia girls, their responses to the soldiers from many rural areas of the Central and Northern regions… resounded loudly while digging trenches, pulling artillery, and the drops of sweat soaked the land here.

That day, right after the sisters had just brought food to the soldiers on the artillery site and returned to their combat positions, the entire squad, except for the sisters on guard duty who were always on the highest combat readiness, those who were not on duty could not sleep because of the sweltering heat on the battlefield. Around 12 noon, the alarm siren from the artillery site rang out repeatedly. The entire squad quickly got into combat positions. From the East-Male, a group of 4 American planes aggressively rushed to the archipelago, bombing the Cat Mong area - where an important target was being protected. The battle took place very fiercely between our army and people and the American planes. Throughout a large area, our firepower from the 37mm anti-aircraft guns of Unit 710, the 250B Factory Self-Defense Battalion, the Tay Hieu Farm Self-Defense Battalion, along with the infantry firepower of the militia units of Thai Hoa Town, Nghia Hoa, Nghia Quang and Nghia Tien simultaneously spread a net of fire to surround and directly fight back the group of aggressive American planes as if they wanted to cause trouble.

The battle lasted for a long time with dense bombardments. During the fiercest moment of the battle, American aircraft directly attacked the 37mm artillery position of Unit 710 - the unit directly responsible for protecting important targets. At this time, the 37mm artillery batteries were almost out of ammunition, forced to fire sparingly in short bursts while one group after another, American aircraft took turns circling the island... The sound of anti-aircraft artillery gradually became less frequent... In that situation, 17 girls in the Dong village female militia squad, following the order of A-leader Ho Thi Ba, quickly cut their way to the ammunition depot to supply ammunition to the position. At that time, above their heads were bombs, gun smoke and the roar of planes, death could come at any time, but the girls of Dong village did not hesitate, they bravely rushed into the hot battlefield, each carrying a box of 37mm artillery shells weighing over 50 kg on their shoulders - more than their own weight - with solid bare feet, overcoming the mountainous distance of nearly one kilometer each trip, promptly supplying each battery with precious shells so that the 710 anti-aircraft artillery position could once again resound with each round, each round of fire straight into the sky invaders... That was March 15, 1965 - the day that will forever go down in the traditional history of the Nghia Dan army and people with the first victory in shooting down a US Air Force F105 Thunder God, protecting the target safely. In that victory, the selfless bravery of the girls of Dong village truly contributed a great deal. With this feat, the Dong Village Militia Squad was honored to receive the Third Class Military Exploit Medal....

In the small house of the eldest sister Ho Thi Ba, the Dong village girls who bravely fought through the fire and bullets with their green hair and youthful smiles have now become grandmothers. Their hands, wrinkled by the years and the hardships of everyday life, are now warm in each other's hands. Their smiles light up over a bowl of green tea, all the worries of many years suddenly disappear when March 15th returns. Every year, on that day, they gather together after a meeting organized by the commune. They talk about those who followed their husbands away from Dong village, such as Ho Thi Cam, Sam Thi Chanh, Ho Thi Than, etc. There are those who are no longer here, such as Pham Thi Truc and Ho Thi Chiu.

For the most part, among the sisters, life is still full of hardships, only a few of them have pensions (because after finishing their duty in the Militia Squad, some of them went to school to become teachers), the rest, they returned to their fields, crops, and sowed on the land that they had shed their sweat and blood to protect. They quietly immersed themselves in life, without a word of complaint or demand. Deep down, the memory of the "first historical battle" is a sacred memory, full of pride. When someone mentioned it, someone remembered it, the girls of Dong village in the past were moved. That memory, according to the sisters, was to reflect on themselves, to know that they had lived without being ashamed of their homeland, and more importantly, their Fatherland, and now to live a worthy life, to be an exemplary model for their children, grandchildren, and fellow villagers.

For them, the past feats belong to a historical period, and “each person mentions it to live better” rather than to seek compensation. A few years ago, they wished to visit Uncle Ho’s hometown in Kim Lien together, and now that dream has come true. “The commune is also very concerned, but the commune is still poor. Therefore, being able to visit Uncle Ho’s hometown is already our wish. Now, the only hope left is to visit Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum together once.”

Saying goodbye to the yellow mustard flowers in a corner of Ba's yard, saying goodbye to the towering Dong tree that cast its green shade for generations of Dong villagers, where the red flag flew during the resistance years, saying goodbye to the Dong village girls who are now grandmothers, we returned to Thai Hoa town in the late afternoon, our hearts filled with the song about the sisters...

Thuy Vinh