Hanoi (VNA) – On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954-2024), people who fought in the 56-day campaign in the northwestern province of Dien Bien as volunteers and on the frontlines shared their memories about those days.
Tran Dinh Duong, now 92 years old, recalled that at the age of 20, he wrote a petition to volunteer for the battlefield, together with his close friend Vo Ba Son, adding that it was obvious at that time because his cousins and friends all did the same.
The two men, from the same hometown of Nghe An in the central region, joined other volunteer youths. They marched to Thanh Hoa, Son La and then Dien Bien, and joined the army. Duong was responsible for manning the phone line, while Son was a company liaison.
They fought side by side until the day of victory, and joined the reconstruction of Dien Bien and the resistance war against US imperialists. Son recently passed away due to illness and old age.
The volunteer spirit seemed to be the common point of all young people in their twenties, regardless of their gender.
Nguyen Thi Ly, 89 years old, currently living in Nam Thanh ward, Dien Bien Phu city, still has intact memories of that time when she was on the frontlines transporting food to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield.
Her old age makes her memory sometimes cloudy. She no longer remembers the years or events clearly, but the time when she transported goods and weapons to the frontline seemed to be the most beautiful memory of her life.
Born in An Lac village, Hanh Phuc commune, Tho Xuan district of Thanh Hoa province, Ly turned 18 in 1953. Responding to the appeal for all people to participate in transporting food to serve the Dien Bien Phu campaign, Ly also wrote a petition to voluntarily go to the battlefield.
That day, all essential goods from all over Thanh Hoa province were gathered in Tho Xuan and then transported to Son La and Hoa Binh provinces by different routes to ensure safety and secrecy and then shipped to large warehouses in Dien Bien.
On average, each woman carried 20kg of rice and walked a long way. Every night, they set out to avoid detection by secret agents and enemy aircraft.
According to Ly, bringing rice to a safe place was an arduous and strenuous process that could not be described in words, with the lack of food and water, amidst explosions of enemy bombs, and on dangerous forest roads.
During the Dien Bien Phu campaign, there were over 16,000 volunteer youths working side by side with soldiers serving in combat. Among them, more than 8,000 people with outstanding achievements were recruited into army units right on the battlefield.
Assessing the role and achievements of young volunteers in the resistance war against the French colonialists, with the Dien Bien Phu campaign at its peak, General Vo Nguyen Giap who commanded the campaign once said that ensuring transportation and food and ammunition supply for Dien Bien Phu was an extremely important factor, no less important than those fighting at the battlefield every day, every hour. Along with the army and people in the northwest region, they made worthy contributions to the great victory of the nation.
“I always consider young volunteers soldiers,” affirmed Giap./.
