The steadfast age of 28 of Hero Le Thi Bach Cat

Passing away at a very young age and undertaking a special mission, searching for and collecting information about her was an arduous journey but also full of emotions and surprises.

Young lecturers of 4 universities

Le Thi Bach Cat was born in 1940 in Mai Dong hamlet, Mai Bang village, Nghi Thuy commune, Nghi Loc district (now Nghi Thuy ward, Cua Lo town). Her father was a village teacher, teaching Chinese characters, so from a young age, Bach Cat was able to go to school and soon became an active member of the local Youth Union and Young Pioneers activities. In 1958 - 1959, she was one of the first generation of teachers at the Primary School, Nghi Tan commune, Nghi Loc district.

Teaching locally for a short time, then, with her agility, intelligence, and talent for physical education and sports, sheLe Thi Bach Catwas sent by the Nghe An Department of Education to study Sports Pedagogy at the Central School of Physical Education and Sports, trained by the Soviet Union, and was retained as a lecturer. Having been involved in the Pedagogical profession from 1960 to 1965, lecturer Le Thi Bach Cat transferred to 8 agencies 7 times, including 4 universities, now Vinh University; Hanoi University of Physical Education and Sports; Bac Ninh University of Physical Education and Sports; Central School of Physical Education and Sports.

In addition, Le Thi Bach Cat also taught at two high schools, including Huynh Thuc Khang High School and a cadre cultural supplementary school. Her mark during her years on the podium was to propose and found the subject "Culture, Sports, Music, Painting", the predecessor of the Faculty of Physical Education of Vinh University. With this achievement, teacher Le Thi Bach Cat was posthumously awarded the Medal "For the cause of education" by the Minister of Education and Training.

Brilliant youth

"I go to repay the teacher/ Hold the chalk to guide the younger generation"is a verse written in a "blood letter" sent by teacher Le Thi Bach Cat to the First Secretariat of the Central Youth Union, with the great wish to go to B, to the South to fight.

Joining the special team, the class with the code name K33 that day of hers and her colleagues had more than 300 cadres from the Education, Culture, Health, and Sports sectors.

During the 3 months of training before receiving the mission, sending letters home was difficult, and the students also had to adhere to the principle of secrecy. Before going to the South, the students were given new names to keep secrets on the march. The nameLe Thi Bach CatThe papers were also sent back to the North, from here on, she had a new nickname, Le Lien Xuan.

From the day she went to the South to fight until she fell, the time was only 4 years. During those years, teacher Le Thi Bach Cat was also known as Sau Xuan. During her time fighting in Saigon, she was assigned to the Central Education Subcommittee of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Regional Youth Union, in charge of student affairs. During her secondment to Da Lat city, she and her secret base closely followed the area, built bases, and developed revolutionary forces.

Later, when she returned to Saigon, Ms. Sau Xuan continued to be assigned to work in District 4 as a District Party Committee member in charge of youth, Secretary of the Saigon City District Youth Union. Under the guise of a female worker at a canned food factory named Dinh Thi Lan, Ms. Sau Xuan successfully completed the task of enemy agitation, building many revolutionary bases...

In preparation for the 1968 Tet Offensive and Uprising, Ms. Sau Xuan was transferred by the Regional Party Committee to District 2-4 (now District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) with the title of District Party Committee member, Secretary of the Youth Executive Committee and Secretary of the Armed Propaganda Cell of District 2-4.

Implementing the plan of the General Offensive, Mrs. Sau Xuan directly directed the mobilization of the people, coordinated with armed teams and other special forces to rise up, attack the enemy in the areas of Pham Ngu Lao, Chuong Duong wharf, Hiep Thanh alley, Van Don wharf, and deal painful blows to the enemy.

On May 5, 1968, during an attack, Ms. Sau Xuan and her comrades had to retreat to alley 83 De Tham to hold out. When the battle was raging, as the platoon leader, Ms. Sau Xuan ordered the two uninjured comrades to retreat to preserve their forces, while she and her two comrades stayed behind, determined to fight the enemy to the death, fighting tenaciously, firing until the last bullet. Before falling, despite being wounded, she did not forget to use the last grenade to throw at the enemy and shouted loudly "Down with American imperialism", "Long live Ho Chi Minh". The youth of teacher and soldier Le Thi Bach Cat stopped forever at the age of 28.

Pride of coastal people

55 years after the martyr Le Thi Bach Cat sacrificed, on September 20, 2024, the President signed a decision to posthumously award her the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces. Time passed, her siblings were no longer around; receiving this honor was Mr. Le Van Duoc - her nephew, the son of her brother.

Mr. Duoc shared: We received this decision late in the afternoon of September 20, 2024 and I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. When my grandmother went to join the revolution, I was still young and had no memories. My father, probably because he missed his youngest sister, rarely mentioned old memories when he was alive.

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When he passed away, I knew he was still in pain because he had not found her grave, had not completed the records to record her merits and contributions. As a child and grandchild, I knew that responsibility belonged to me.

Mr. Le Van Duoc

The journey to find documents for martyr Le Thi Bach Cat was started by Mr. Duoc and his family in the early 90s of the last century.

During that process, the first lucky thing was probably that the family received an introduction from the Department of Physical Education and Sports, then worked with the staff of the National Archives Department 3 to access the entire file of martyr Le Thi Bach Cat, from when she went to school, worked as a teacher, lecturer and went to the South to fight.

From these "golden" documents, over the past 30 years, Mr. Duoc has continued to visit the lands where martyr Le Thi Bach Cat lived, worked, fought, met witnesses, and heard many stories about her. Her brave, courageous, and intelligent fighting spirit and her courageous sacrifice and dedication for her comrades are important factors that make her family always believe that the State will posthumously award her the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces.

Although martyr Le Thi Bach Cat has passed away, in Mr. Le Van Duoc's family there is always a precious corner to preserve the mementos and images that the family recorded during the more than 30-year journey to find documents about her.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the name of female commando Le Thi Bach Cat was given to a street in Ward 13, District 11, a middle school and became the name of an award for young people in the city named after Uncle Ho.

Right in Cua Lo town, there is also a street named Le Thi Bach Cat. The school named after her, many years ago also resounded with the traditional song “We are very proud that our school is named after the hero Le Thi Bach Cat".

In the past, her parents named her Bach Cat, a name associated with coastal people, meaning “Lao wind, white sand”. Bach Cat, later on, was also understood as natural, strong, cheerful, like her heroic life. In that far away place, she must always be smiling...