My father and Dien Bien

Dien Bien - a remote border region in the Northwest corner, a poetic and lyrical land with xoe and dep dances, with hills and mountains blooming white with Ban flowers. Dien Bien is also the land of glorious victories, of shining milestones in history. And Dien Bien will always be the proud years of my father's generation - the National Defense soldiers who marched through long miles of resistance to create a Dien Bien Phu "famous in five continents, shaking the world"...

The Dien Bien soldiers left from the poor thatched roofs and mud walls of the hard-working villages in the lowlands, the fishing villages along the white sand coast or the midland countryside where the plowed land was full of gravel and rocks. Since 1946, my father had soon joined the National Defense Corps, which was full of enthusiasm in the resistance war against the colonialists, then marched and fought across the battlefields, from inter-zone 3, inter-zone 4, up to Cao - Bac - Lang, down to the midlands... and the final destination was Dien Bien Phu - the most glorious victory of our army and people, creating a "brilliant golden history".

The long miles of resistance, the days on the Dien Bien battlefield are still full of memories, preserved by my father throughout his life. When I was young, my father often told stories of the old battles, as if to ease his nostalgia for the battlefield, his nostalgia for his comrades. That was the march from Viet Bac, across the Lo River, the Thao River, over the Lung Lo Pass, through Co Noi... The nights of marching in the pouring rain, through slippery slopes, deep ravines. Those were the mothers who took care of the soldiers with each cassava, corn or handful of wild vegetables from the Northwest... That was the arduous "fifty-six days and nights of digging mountains and sleeping in tunnels"... The most thrilling and fascinating story was the story of attacking the fort on the hill or the time my father and his comrades charged into the enemy's fort in the Muong Thanh basin... My father's voice was enthusiastic when mentioning the victories, sometimes sad and emotional, when suddenly recalling the difficult days and the names of the comrades who sacrificed. It felt like my father's Dien Bien stories would never run out...

I still remember clearly the Dien Bien souvenirs that my father always kept. That is the "Dien Bien Phu Soldier" badge along with the medals and orders kept in a small chest, sometimes my father took it out to clean, then sat quietly admiring it. The "Dien Bien Phu Soldier" badge is round, as small as two fingertips, engraved with the image of a soldier raising his gun in a charging position next to a cannon, above is the red flag "Determined to fight, determined to win", behind are the mountains; the background of the badge is yellow symbolizing the warm and ripe rice fields of Muong Thanh... That is the faded garrison shirt with crisscrossing threads, forming regular diamond-shaped fabric squares. During the difficult years, my father often took that garrison shirt for my sisters and I to take turns wearing through the cold winters. Until now, I can still feel the warmth of my father's youth, the warmth of the thin layer of cotton absorbing the sweat and hardships of the life of a national defender. Another Dien Bien souvenir of my father that I was attached to during my childhood years was the captured parachute. My father tore the parachute into four small scarves, and gave them to my sisters and me to wear around our necks when going to school during the winter. Those scarves were thin and light, very neat, convenient and extremely warm...

My father - a Dien Bien soldier has gone to the land of white clouds for twenty-two years, but the glorious and heroic memories still live on; the simple but sacred relics are still cherished and preserved. Although time has gradually passed, my soul and that of today's generation are still nourished and enriched by stories, by Dien Bien relics, by hardships and sacrifices, and by glorious victories, so proud!