Touching Art Program 'Truong Bon - Legendary Epic'

Art program "Truong Bon - Legendary epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

Attending the program were comrades: Truong Tan Sang - former Politburo member, former President; Nguyen Sinh Hung - former Politburo member, former Chairman of the National Assembly; General Luong Cuong - Politburo member, Standing member of the Central Military Commission, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army; Uong Chu Luu - Chairman of the Vietnam Peace Committee, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly.

Leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Nghe An province attended the art program "Truong Bon - Legendary epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

Comrades of the Party Central Committee: Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education; Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh - Member of the Central Military Commission, Commander of Military Region 4; Tran Sy Thanh - Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee; Nguyen Dinh Trung - Secretary of the Dak Lak Provincial Party Committee. Also attending were comrades: Thuan Huu - former member of the Party Central Committee, former Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, former Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, former President of the Vietnam Journalists Association; Bui Quang Huy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, First Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Executive Committee.

On the side of Nhan Dan Newspaper, there was comrade Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association; comrades leading members of the Editorial Board, leaders of the Boards.

Leaders and former leaders of the Party, State and Nghe An province attended the art program "Truong Bon - Legendary epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Van Thong - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Hoang Nghia Hieu - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; and comrades in the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee; leaders of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, People's Council, People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province, departments, branches, and localities. Also attending the program were relatives of martyrs and representatives of families with meritorious services in the locality.

Comrade Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association - represented the Organizing Committee to deliver the opening speech of the art program. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Truong Bon is a steep pass with a length of 5km, located on the strategic route 15A passing through My Son commune, Do Luong district. Truong Bon's unique route has a particularly important strategic position, connecting our traffic arteries from the great rear in the North to support human and material resources for the battlefield in the South.

During the years when the US imperialists escalated their bombardment of the North, this place was considered the fiercest front line. From June to October 1968, the US air force dropped nearly 2,700 bombs of all kinds on this place. In the midst of the land plowed by bombs and bullets, where death was always near, tens of thousands of people here lived and fought, overcoming the dangers of bombs and bullets, hardships and deprivation, staying on the battlefield day and night. In that life-and-death battle, 1,240 officers and soldiers fought steadfastly and heroically sacrificed, typically the sacrifice of 13 youth volunteers of Company 317 on October 31, 1968.

Audiences come to watch the art program "Truong Bon - Legendary epic". Photo: Thanh Cuong

Speaking at the art program, comrade Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association emphasized: "Today, we are here to once again honor the heroic martyrs who fell in Truong Bon for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland. They sacrificed their youth, not sparing their lives to keep the traffic arteries open, setting an eternal example of martyrdom".

The most touching thing in Truong Bon is the historical choice, the daring to die when people have seen the path to live with the mission completed. From the morning of October 31, 1968, only until 0:00 on November 1, 1968, there was a ceasefire, there was peace in the North. In the hands of the young volunteers in Truong Bon that day were the admission notices of vocational schools, the signed discharge decisions... Ahead were weddings. The future was lecture halls...

Performances at the Art Program “Truong Bon - Legendary Epic”. Photo: Thanh Cuong

“The heroes have remained in the motherland, but their spirits will always live on. Every anniversary of Truong Bon is an occasion to express gratitude to the heroes who sacrificed their blood and bones for the Fatherland. That gratitude needs to be transformed into a noble way of life for future generations, into concrete revolutionary actions, making the Party’s ideals and the people’s aspirations come true in every corner of the homeland and the country,” said Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper Le Quoc Minh. “Once again, I respectfully bow before the souls of the martyrs who fell for peace today. Forever grateful to you, uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters!

The art program “Truong Bon - Legendary epic” consists of 2 chapters. Chapter 1: The opera: The restless dawn; Chapter 2: The desire for peace, with a diverse combination of music, artistic dance, poetry, opera... to connect the past, present and future. The war has gone far away, life is being revived strongly right on the “coordinates of death” of the past. That epic song still resonates, their stories will continue to be told, because “No one is forgotten, and nothing is forgotten”.

At the art program, the Organizing Committee arranged 13 special chairs in solemn positions for the 13 heroic martyrs of the Youth Volunteer Force who sacrificed their lives at Truong Bon on October 31, 1968. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Performances at the Art Program “Truong Bon - Legendary Epic”. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The program recreated the images and stories of the Truong Bon soldiers of the past before their sacrifice. Their youth was like a heroic epic that was flourishing, with vitality, with dreams and ideals that were boiling. Their youth had wiped away tears, nostalgia and love to live and fight for the common ideal of the whole nation, they had used their blood, bones and noble youth to dedicate to the Fatherland.

In addition, the program also introduces the land of Truong Bon, Nghe An, a place rich in cultural and historical traditions, having gone through a process of resilient and heroic fighting, and is rising strongly in the integration period. From the land of Truong Bon, Nghe An in Central Vietnam, the program pays tribute to those who sacrificed in the war, to cherish the value of independence and freedom today, thereby sending a message of the aspiration for peace to humanity around the world.

General Luong Cuong - Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army and Comrade Le Quoc Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper presented 10 gratitude houses to 10 policy families. Photo: Thanh Cuong

At the art program "Truong Bon - Legendary epic", General Luong Cuong - Member of the Politburo, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army and Comrade Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association presented 10 gratitude houses to 10 policy families, each house worth 100 million VND.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh and Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee Thai Thanh Quy presented 13 savings books to relatives of the 13 Youth Volunteers who died in Truong Bon on October 31, 1968. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Party Central Committee members: Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education; Thai Thanh Quy - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council presented 13 savings books and gifts from the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense to relatives of the families of 13 Youth Volunteers who died in Truong Bon on October 31, 1968, each gift worth 3.5 million VND.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh - Commander of Military Region 4 and First Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Bui Quang Huy presented gifts to 20 policy families. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Comrades: Lieutenant General Nguyen Doan Anh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Commander of Military Region 4; Bui Quang Huy - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union presented 20 savings books to 20 policy families.

At the program, the Organizing Committee also donated 20 million VND to the Management Board of Truong Bon National Historical Site.

At the program, comrades of the Party Central Committee: Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association and Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council presented flowers to thank the sponsors. Photo: Thanh Cuong