August Story in La Gi

Although 80 years have passed, in the memory of the people in the southern coastal area of ​​Binh Thuan province, a historical event that left an impression on the revolutionary spirit of the August Revolution in 1945 at that time is still unforgettable.

A corner of La Gi. Photo: Ngoc Lan

The Doi Duong site (now in La Gi ward, Lam Dong province) has become a part of the local revolutionary history and a miracle because this is a forest of casuarina trees (poplar trees)... This poplar forest stretches 7 km to Tam Tan branch, which is currently the most poetic and beautiful coastline in the area, attracting many resort tourism projects.

During the August Revolution of 1945, this place became a rather special historical mark in a very unstable context. Upon hearing the news on August 24, 1945, under the movement of the provisional Viet Minh, the neighboring areas of Phan Thiet town rose up and surrounded the Binh Thuan provincial road, forcing the provincial governor Huynh Du to quickly hand over the government to the revolutionary forces. Meanwhile, in Ham Tan district (including the two communes of Phong Dien and Phuoc Thang), with the core being the Youth Frontline force (also known as Phan Anh Frontline), a young, progressive group that recognized the situation sent people to the province to be guided. There was also a lot of tension between the two trends of forming a delegation to Phan Thiet to meet the province, including the group of District Chief Ho Dinh Lan, even though they knew the situation had changed. But in the end, it was agreed to send the Youth Union without any connections to government officials to Mr. Do Don Tho (General Commander) and Mr. Do Don Tri, Mr. Le Kim Khoi... to quickly leave on the only bus on the morning of August 26. But it was not until the morning of August 28 that they met the provincial Viet Minh leaders, and the Chairman of the Provincial Provisional Revolutionary Committee, Nguyen Nhon, personally issued a letter of authorization for Mr. Do Don Tho to represent the delegation to organize the seizure of power in Ham Tan. On the way back via intersection 30 passing Phong Dien, they heard that in La Gi there was a siege of the Western paratroopers at Doi Duong Tan Ly beach, next to Tan Long fishing village.

Monument to the French paratroopers

It was around 5 pm on August 28, 1945, people were surprised to discover in the sky over the sea an airplane after several rounds of the archipelago and then dropped 13 parachutes on the beach. For the villagers, it was the first time they saw this strange phenomenon, but thinking about the war situation going on outside the province, they knew this was a French plane with some intention. Some people with more knowledge confirmed that this was an action of the French, although they knew they had been kicked out, there was still a group carrying out a plot to infiltrate and parachute into this strategic area, so they shouted the alarm widely and quickly formed many groups with knives, spears, sticks... as weapons and ran towards the beach. The paratroopers also quickly collected their parachutes and hid deep into the dense pine forest. The strangest thing ever happened was that the young fishermen left their boats at the dock and waded across the Dinh River with the people at La Gi market, voluntarily mobilizing rice, sticky rice to cook rice, wrap banh tet... to supply the pursuing force, following the footprints of the enemy who was still hiding. The next morning, the battle ended when the pursuing force discovered and captured the last Vietnamese traitor hiding in a house at the end of the fishing village. The entire parachute group was defeated, with one Frenchman wounded by our shots, three other Frenchmen and two Vietnamese traitors captured alive. Regarding weapons, seven guns, radios and many military equipment were captured... and taken to the Thuong Chanh house to guard and use "steel wire" (morse), and the incident was reported to the province. At that time, the Youth Union from the province returned to discuss the work of organizing the uprising and then the province also strengthened the direction, then transferred the enemy and the captured spoils of war to Phan Thiet.

In the new atmosphere, while consolidating the key forces on the spot, many young people had awareness through grasping information about the mass movement in the province and some former Tam Tan Communist Party members had quickly mastered the situation... At the same time, receiving the direction of the provincial Viet Minh on the leadership personnel of the district's provisional revolutionary people's committee and organizing the September 2nd independence celebration at La Gi football field, which took place in a jubilant atmosphere. A rather unique initiative on the referendum of people attending the rally, on the election method, the Organizing Committee introduced candidates for a certain position, then whoever agreed ran to the corner of the field. The initial results were very clear through the "number of votes" based on the number of positions in each corner of the football field and that candidate. Thus, at present, the district provisional committee only had: Chairman Mr. Phan Thanh Ba, Vice Chairman Mr. Do Don Tho, Secretary General Mr. Tran Cong Hoanh, Military Commissioner Mr. Pham Phu Dam... But later with the participation of the province, this composition was consolidated to meet the next task. After the rally, Ham Tan District Chief Ho Dinh Lan also returned from the province and quickly complied by handing over all books and seals to the revolutionary government.

Looking back, with a dramatic "bare-handed capture" battle, it opened the way for an uprising to seize local power, contributing to the success of the August Revolution in Binh Thuan.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/cau-chuyen-thang-tam-o-la-gi-388952.html