Meeting the "Sharpened Girl" on the old battlefield

At noon in July, among the pilgrims going to Dong Loc T-junction (Can Loc - Ha Tinh ), I met again Mrs. Le Thi Nhi - the prototype character in the poem "To you, the volunteer girl" by poet Pham Tien Duat years ago.

Meeting the

On a July afternoon, among the pilgrims at Dong Loc T-junction (Can Loc - Ha Tinh), I met again Mrs. Le Thi Nhi - the prototype character in the poem "To you, the volunteer girl" by poet Pham Tien Duat years ago.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYax8DhChmg[/embed]

Poem: To you, the young volunteer. Poem: Pham Tien Duat

Meeting the

Different from the image of a young, mischievous female Youth Volunteer in the midst of the bomb-filled battlefield in the poem “To You, the Volunteer Girl” by the late poet Pham Tien Duat, Ms. Le Thi Nhi is now 77 years old, with many age spots appearing on her tanned face. However, when recalling the memories of the days she joined the Youth Volunteer Force fighting in the fierce battlefield on Highway 15A through Dong Loc Intersection and the chance meeting with the late poet Pham Tien Duat, Ms. Nhi’s eyes lit up.

Meeting the

Ms. Nhi chatted with People's Armed Forces Hero La Thi Tam (right) during her visit to Dong Loc T-junction in July 2023.

With the typical accent of a coastal woman, Mrs. Nhi said: “I was born in 1946, in a family of 5 children, but besides the eldest sister and me, the youngest, the other 3 died early. In 1950, my father went to join the transport in Hai Phong and was shot dead by the enemy, leaving only my mother and I. In 1966, when I was just 20 years old, during the fierce war, I wrote an application to volunteer to join the Youth Volunteer Force and was assigned to Squad 4, Company 554 (Ha Tinh Youth Volunteer Force 55), directly fighting on Highway 15A”.

At that time, Route 15A from Lac Thien Junction (Duc Tho) to Khe Giao passing through Dong Loc Junction was a place that was continuously bombarded by the enemy, every day on average 5-7 times the enemy dropped hundreds of bombs, in an attempt to cut off the traffic artery supplying the Southern battlefield. Mrs. Nhi's unit was assigned the task of planting markers, clearing bombs, and clearing roads in the Bang bridge area (border between Phu Loc and Thuong Loc communes today). Occasionally, she and her squad were mobilized to support at Dong Loc Junction.

Meeting the

Mrs. Nhi and her comrades revisited the old battlefield at Bang Bridge, on Highway 15A.

At that time, on Highway 15A, along with Dong Loc Junction, Bang Bridge (about 20m long and 4m wide) was a traffic junction. Therefore, this was the main target of enemy bombardment. Together with her teammates, Ms. Le Thi Nhi's main task at that time was to fill bomb craters and make way for vehicles to pass.

In 1968, she volunteered to join the 6-member suicide squad of Squad 4 (at that time, each squad had a suicide squad). The job of the suicide squad was to take turns counting bombs, clearing bombs, and planting stakes in time-delayed bombs, so they could sacrifice themselves at any time. When her mother heard that she had volunteered to join the suicide squad, she went to the unit to "complain" to the unit about the fact that the family only had 2 daughters, one of whom was married, and if Nhi died, she would have no one to take care of her. "I encouraged my mother: don't worry, I can't die. If we don't fight the enemy, how can there be peace ?", Mrs. Nhi said.

Meeting the

Bang Bridge was once a key target of US bombing during the period 1965 - 1972. In the photo from left to right: Ms. Luong Thi Tue - former Deputy Commander of the Youth Volunteer Team N55 P18 Ha Tinh, Mr. Le Thanh Binh (poet Yen Thanh) and Ms. Le Thi Nhi.

Meeting the

Until now, Mrs. Nhi still remembers the brave fighting days of her and her teammates that year. She said: “My suicide squad consisted of 6 people: 3 men, 3 women taking turns. Every day, 3 people counted bombs and planted markers, while the remaining 3 worked on the road. At that time, the enemy dropped bombs during the day, and flares at night, death was always near, but I and many of my teammates were not afraid. Among many memories, I still remember the 2 times I almost could not return to my mother.

That was the time when we went with Cuong, a member of the suicide squad, to search for bombs to plant markers on an afternoon in August 1968. After discovering an unexploded bomb, the two of us held the two ends of the wire with a magnet in the middle to search, scanning back and forth but it did not explode. At a distance of about 20 meters from the bomb, we signaled each other to pull the wire and prepare to move forward to plant markers when the bomb suddenly exploded, rocks and dirt flew up and fell on us. A moment later, the two of us crawled up, knowing we were still alive. When we swam across the river to the unit, we saw the whole company standing on the shore, many of our friends hugged each other and cried, thinking we were dead.

The second time, I almost died when I went to search for bombs alone. At that time, I discovered a magnetic bomb lying on the road. After trying many ways but it did not explode, I decided to move closer to set up a target. I had just turned around about 15 meters when, as if having a premonition, I managed to lie down on the ground before the bomb exploded. At a fairly close distance, I was crushed by the pressure of falling rocks and soil. Luckily, Mr. Phuc (from Cam Xuyen) in the traffic team discovered it in time, rescued me, and carried me back to the unit.

Meeting the

A remaining Bang bridge pier from the anti-American war remains under the stream.

Meeting the

During the war years, Le Thi Nhi, like many other female Youth Volunteers, fought bravely, dedicating her youth to her homeland. But Le Thi Nhi was luckier when she had a “strange” encounter with a young soldier whom she later learned was poet Pham Tien Duat, author of the famous poem “To You, Young Volunteer Girl”.

Meeting the

Ms. Le Thi Nhi (third from left) and heroes and former Youth Volunteers offered incense at the Memorial to Martyrs of the Transport Industry at the Dong Loc T-junction Relic Site.

Mrs. Nhi said: “It was an evening in mid-1968, the enemy dropped flares all over the sky, as usual, our squad went out to fill bomb craters, I wore a fairly new blue peace shirt. While I was with some sisters setting up a fence around a bomb crater to warn passing convoys, a soldier with a northern accent came over. He asked everyone and then approached me: “And where are you from? I glanced over and then turned back while working and said: “I’m from Thach Nhon”. Everyone heard that and burst into laughter, making him bewildered “Where is Thach Nhon?” There was a reply: Thach Kim. He turned to me, why are you from Thach Kim lying to me Thach Nhon? I said “If Kim is not sharp, then what are its teeth?” Everyone burst into laughter again…”.

Mrs. Nhi did not expect that her fleeting encounter and her joking story with the young soldier would be the reason for the poem "To You, the Volunteer Girl" to be born, read on Voice of Vietnam Radio a year later and almost causing her to be disciplined : " Could it be that you are in love with me/A girl whose face I cannot see clearly/The youth company went to fill bomb craters/Your shirt seems to be the whitest.../You are from Thach Kim, why did you trick me into saying "Thach Nhon"/The cunning night blocked my gaze/You built a fence around the bomb crater/Your accent made you laugh out loud/The Ha Tinh accent sounds so funny...".

“When the poem was read on the radio, I was called up by Mr. Dao Vu Nghinh (former Captain of Company 4, 55th Youth Volunteers of Ha Tinh - PV) and told: Why did you deceive the soldiers so that now (they) read the poem on the radio? You have to be disciplined for doing that.” I was stunned, and only later did I remember the joke from a year ago. I told Mr. Nghinh, I was wrong and I will accept the discipline. You can let me go herd the sheep, but don’t make me go home, it would be embarrassing to my mother and the village. Luckily, later, the chief said that because Mr. Duat was a poet and not a cadre or soldier, I escaped punishment,” Ms. Nhi recalled.

Meeting the

The author talked with former Youth Volunteers Le Thi Nhi and Le Thanh Binh at Dong Loc T-junction.

After that story, Mrs. Nhi was only warned and continued to stay and fight until 1972. In 1973, she passed the entrance exam to the University of Physical Education and Sports (located in Bac Ninh). However, after studying for a year, due to her sick mother and no one to take care of her, she had to drop out of school and go home to take care of her mother. In 1999, through the efforts of Tuoi Tre Newspaper and the Thach Kim commune government, Mrs. Nhi and her mother were able to build a small house. From 2002 until now, after her mother passed away, she has lived alone, doing small business every day at Cua Sot fishing port.

In 2007, nearly 40 years after the poem “To You, the Volunteer Girl” was published, Mrs. Nhi had the opportunity to meet poet Pham Tien Duat again, before he passed away. Although the poet could no longer speak at that time, she knew from his eyes that he was happy to see the former Volunteer Girl again.

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Ms. Le Thi Nhi with her daily life at the grocery stall at Cua Sot Fishing Port (Loc Ha).

“My life, my youth was dedicated to the country, after the war I lived for my mother, that is my pride. Today, seeing my homeland increasingly changing, the Party and State paying more attention to those with merit, I feel satisfied with what I and my generation have contributed,” former youth volunteer Le Thi Nhi expressed.

Article and photos: Thien Vy

Design & Engineering: Huy Tung - Khoi Nguyen

4:27:07:2023:09:14

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