Memories of those who participated in sewing the Liberation Front flag

In the minds of the people of Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province in general, and the relatives of revolutionary martyr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh in particular, there is a feeling of emotion and pride in remembering the past historical journey with stories of sewing the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam - the liberation flag that was hung in important positions when Ninh Hoa was liberated on April 2, 1975.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich (63 years old, residing in Ninh Hiep ward, Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province), was born and raised in a family with a revolutionary tradition, her father is martyr Nguyen Kien Duong, her mother is Vietnamese Heroic Mother Le Thi Lon and her sister is Hero of the People's Armed Forces - martyr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh. Recalling the story of sewing the flag, she will never forget the memories of the proud days of the whole family, because those were the days when her family was in a "life-threatening" situation, sewing the liberation flag while strictly guarding against enemy ambushes outside.

Mrs. Bich said that in late December 1967, her family was assigned a special task by the organization, sewing two liberation flags measuring 3.5m long and 2.8m wide to hang at the headquarters of Ninh Hoa district (now Ninh Hoa town) with the belief that the General Offensive and Uprising of Mau Than 1968 would be victorious. Because the liberation flags had three colors, blue, red, and yellow, if they were bought in the same place and at the same time, they would easily be discovered by the enemy. Therefore, they had to buy fabric from many different places, buying a small amount each time and hiding it carefully. At that time, her house was a base for hiding revolutionary cadres, so day and night, enemy soldiers ambushed in front of the house gate and in the garden.

On the night of December 28, 1967, in the yard and on the porch, a puppet platoon lay out tarps. They turned on Saigon radio to listen to opera and gamble with each other. They shouted, argued, and cursed loudly. Inside the house, the doors were tightly closed, the lights were on. The family members were busy and hurriedly sewing to complete the task. At that time, everyone could only sew the flags at night, because if they turned on the lights during the day, they would be suspected, and if they opened the doors to get sunlight, they would be easily discovered. Both flags were sewn entirely by hand.

“The biggest difficulty was that the flag was too big, and the stars had to be positioned correctly. My mother and sisters, including martyr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh, measured carefully many times, because everyone believed that if even one stitch was off, they would feel guilty towards the country,” said Ms. Bich.

Because of her young age, at that time, Ms. Bich did not directly sew the flags but was assigned another task, which was to take care of and raise the dog to guard the family while they sewed the flags inside. The dog was trained by Ms. Bich to be extremely intelligent, and would immediately “send a signal” to the family at the slightest unusual movement from the enemy outside. “In such a difficult situation, it required the coordination of many factors to be able to complete the task,” Ms. Bich shared.

Mr. Nguyen Kien Hien, (71 years old, residing in Ninh Hiep ward, Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province), Ms. Bich's brother, recalled that when his family sewed the liberation flag, he was 15 years old and joined the revolution with the task of distributing leaflets in the area. When his family sewed the flag, he was assigned to guard and sound the alarm. The other family members, when carrying out the task of sewing the flag during the Tet Offensive in 1968, considered this a very sacred task and had to be kept absolutely secret. After urgently sewing the yellow star and completing the flag, everyone in the family was overjoyed.

“At that time, my sister (Hero of the Armed Forces - Martyr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh) folded the flag, smiled and said humorously: There is a strange thing, Saigon soldiers were sent to strictly guard so that the Viet Cong could sew the flag of the Liberation Front, only tomorrow night the flag will flutter on the flagpole of the Ninh Hoa district headquarters”, Mr. Hien recounted.

However, after the Tet Offensive in 1968, the two liberation flags were still unable to fly. The war for national independence continued, and the two flags were still carefully protected and preserved in the secret basement of Mr. Hien and Mrs. Bich's family.

In April 1975, the general offensive to liberate the entire South, wherever our troops went, liberated the area. On March 26-29, 1975, when the infantry units of the 10th Division were ordered to approach, forming 4 attack prongs against the enemy, determined to defeat the 3rd Airborne Brigade to open wide the "steel gate" on Phuong Hoang Pass (connecting Dak Lak - Ninh Hoa). On the night of March 29, "Phuong Hoang Pass was red with fire" was the signal for the infantry units of the 10th Division to attack.

Due to the nature of "the enemy is determined to hold, we are determined to occupy", the battle lasted for 3 days and nights. By the afternoon of April 1, 1975, a large part of the enemy troops had been destroyed, the puppet troops were demoralized and weakly resisted. Seizing the opportunity, the Division Commander decided to launch the final attack. That night, our troops bravely overwhelmed the enemy troops, quickly broke through the enemy's defense system from West to East, eliminated the 3rd Airborne Brigade with nearly 4,000 enemy soldiers, and captured all of their military equipment.

After only a few days, the enemy's "steel gate" on Phuong Hoang Pass was completely melted, opening the gateway for our troops to advance and liberate the delta. While the entire puppet army and government in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa were shaken and in turmoil, the morale of our troops increased greatly. On the morning of April 2, 1975, the 10th Division entered into coordination with local units to liberate Ninh Hoa (now Ninh Hoa town).

Every house hung the flag of the Liberation Front, some of the flags prepared for the Tet Offensive in 1968, for the occupation in 1972, were still brand new. On the day of the liberation of her homeland, Mrs. Bich and her mother - the heroic Vietnamese mother Le Thi Lon - went to hand over two liberation flags to the local government, with the joy of their homeland being liberated.

“Only 2 days after the enemy’s Phoenix defense line was broken (February 31 - April 2, 1975), Ninh Hoa district was liberated. At 2:00 p.m. on April 2, 1975, the moment when the 10th Division occupied and raised the flag at the headquarters of the puppet government of Ninh Hoa district was a great historical moment, ending the victory of 21 years of fighting against the US to save the country, 30 years of long-term resistance, full of hardships and sacrifices against colonialists and imperialists of the army and people of Ninh Hoa district…”, excerpt from History of the Party Committee of Ninh Hoa district 1930 -1975.

Nowadays, when mentioning the above event, many historical witnesses have rewritten it into books and memoirs. In the article “Teacher Oanh” by Mr. Tran Quoc Thong (former Propaganda specialist of Ninh Hoa District Party Committee) in the document “Ninh Hoa - Unforgettable Years (Volume 1)” published by Ninh Hoa District Party Committee’s Propaganda Department in 1995, it is said that the two flags that Mrs. Bich’s family sewed during the Tet Mau Than were fluttering on the day of the liberation of the homeland, right at the Ninh Hoa district headquarters.

Mr. Vo Bieu, Vice Chairman of Ninh Hiep Ward People's Committee, Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province said that to remind future generations of the contributions and sacrifices of previous generations, the ward has a street named after martyr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh. In gratitude activities, the locality always focuses on taking full care of families with revolutionary contributions, including the family of martyr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Oanh.