The immortal flowers

The Thai Nguyen sky was windy. At the foot of the 915 Company Memorial, the pure white flowers in full bloom were still swaying and smiling in the bright yellow summer sun. I silently watched those pure white flowers. Perhaps those flower buds swaying in the sun were the smiles of the 915 Company's youth volunteers who had fallen on this land. All of them had devoted their youth, love and future aspirations to create a heroic 915 Company.

Illustration: Dao Tuan

Speaking of the sacrifices and losses of the Vietnamese youth volunteer force during the resistance war against the US to save the country, there is not only the heroic sacrifice of the ten girls at Dong Loc Junction or the youth volunteers at Chuong Bon, but also sixty children of Thai Nguyen who fell on December 24, 1972, at Luu Xa Station while performing the task of loading and unloading goods. Sixty young lives, sixty people with many youthful aspirations were forever left at the age of 20. The youth of the brothers and sisters was absorbed into the soil so that the tree of life would be forever green.

The 915 Youth Volunteer Company was established in June 1972 with 102 cadres and members, three-quarters of whom were women aged eighteen or twenty. Most of them were children of ethnic minorities from Na Ri, Cho Don, Bach Thong (formerly Bac Kan ) and Dai Tu (Thai Nguyen).

When the 915 Youth Volunteer Company was established, it was tasked with repairing and upgrading National Highway 18 from Gia Bay Bridge to La Hien Commune. Then, the 915 Company switched to serving traffic on Route 16A from Chua Hang to Trai Cau. This was the route for transporting weapons, food, and goods to aid fraternal socialist countries. With this important position, the US imperialists often used aircraft to destroy fiercely in an attempt to cut off our vital route for transporting goods. The 915 Company always maintained the spirit of "Living on the road and bridge. Dying with indomitable fortitude!"

Early in the morning of December 24, 1972, the cadres and team members of Company 915 urgently carried out the task of loading and unloading 20,000 tons of food and defense goods that were still in the center of Thai Nguyen city. By dusk, the food and goods that were in the Luu Xa Station had basically been cleared. All day long, they carried and transported goods, military uniforms, and military equipment with great enthusiasm. They had not yet had dinner when the B52 bombers arrived. The devastating bombing devastated Thai Nguyen city, taking the lives of many people, including 60 cadres and members of the 915 Company's youth volunteers. Sixty youth volunteers remained forever in the motherland, their bodies not intact. They passed away in the sorrow of their families, comrades, and hometown villages. Your sacrifice is a great loss to the Vietnamese Youth Volunteers.

More than half a century has passed, but the loss of that Christmas night still haunts those who remain. They still live with painful memories that nothing can compensate for. I choked up and shed tears when I watched the clip of the old soldier sitting quietly beside his lover's grave, his wrinkled hands trembling as he placed them on the tombstone of the girl he loved. That girl forever stopped at the age of 20. Perhaps throughout his life he could not forget that beautiful and painful first love. There are deaths that become immortal. There are loves that are strong and timeless. That soldier carried the love of his youth with him for the rest of his life. That love is forever intact in his heart. There are people who sacrificed themselves at the most beautiful age without leaving a single photo for their loved ones. There is a mother with white hair, the war has been over for half a century but not even a day has passed since she stopped feeling the pain and longing for her beloved child. Sixty youthful lives, sixty 915 stories have dissolved into the mother earth. They lie together in the arms of comrades and the grateful affection of the Thai Nguyen people.

I stood before the portraits of sixty young volunteer martyrs. Looking at their radiant faces and bright smiles like wild flowers, I could not help but choke up. They were like light cranes flying to the white clouds, but the pain never subsided in the hearts of those who stayed behind. To have a prosperous and peaceful life like today, there were so many Vietnamese children who left forever and never returned, so many mothers and wives turned to stone, waiting for their husbands and children.

More than 50 years have passed, but the 915 fire will forever be an epic for today and tomorrow. You are immortal flowers, forever green at the age of twenty. The painful losses caused by war remind each of us to cherish every moment of peace today.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-nghe-thai-nguyen/202507/nhung-bong-hoa-bat-tu-ed52749/