Be surprised on the legendary Ho Chi Minh street A Luoi district is located in the west of Truong Son mountain range. This is the revolutionary land of the Pa Ko ethnic group, a resistance base of the army and the Tri Thien people during the fight against the imperialism and independence for the nation. Back then, because the heavy consequences of the war could not be overcome, from Hue, if you wanted to get to A Luoi, you had to go back to Dong Ha (Quang Tri province), turn to the legendary 9th Street, through places like Cam Lo, Huong Hoa … then runs along Ho Chi Minh Road next to the majestic Truong Son range. A Luoi years after the reunification of 1975. (Photo provided by the author) A Luoi today has changed flesh. In the photo: Students come home from school on the streets of A Luoi town Our mission of about 40 people was assigned to remote villages. Morning on the road, Hue was very cold. Before that, we were told that this season, the climate in the mountains was very cold, so we had to bring enough warm clothes, blankets … When the cam-gong drove us across the Dakrong bridge – the suspension bridge was full. When the statue leads into A Luoi area, it rains heavily. The sky was overcast, and dark clouds hung in front of him. The cold air rushed in and out of the cold, unlike when it was on the plain. The majestic Truong Son range is hidden behind a hazy cloud. Large, deep and dense bomb craters on Ho Chi Minh Road were the result of enemy bombing. Every hole is full of water up to half a wheel. Small streams cut across the road, making the car ceaselessly tilting. On both sides of the road, there are houses on stilts of ethnic minorities curled up in the cold wind. Departing from 7 am but not until 5 pm, our delegation arrived at the district center. After a night of rest in the dormitory of a boarding high school, the next morning, I and 3 other colleagues were assigned to a commune nearly 80 km from the district center. It is Hong Van commune, a commune located deep in the Truong Son range. When I arrived in the commune, I was led by a young man named Ho Tau to hamlet 4. Anh Tau is also a teacher at the commune’s primary school. In the voice of the Kinh-speaking ethnic minority, he said: “We have to go through a forest road about 5 kilometers long to reach the residence of the people. In our village, there is only one trail. Only, I try to remember so that if there is a need, the commune will not get lost “. Hearing him say that, I was also a bit shy, Truong Son forest road, if I get lost, I know who to ask. I was brought by Mr. Tau to live in a long house on stilts owned by Uncle Ho Ha and his wife. Uncle Ha is in charge of the culture of the hamlet. His house is long and wide, divided into about 5-6 small houses for each family member to live and live in. In the middle of each apartment, there is a fire with very large sticks of firewood that are always red and buried in ashes. My apartment is on the outside. The center of the house is that of Uncle Ha and his wife, this is also the place where I “stand class”. The class consists of 6-7 tables with chairs, made of pine wood from cartons. After receiving the accommodation, the first thing I did was to send him some rice stamps and food stamps from the commercial level, but Uncle Ha refused. He said: “Whatever our family eats, you will eat it. You can keep these things for later!”. Literacy classes The first night of teaching, I was provided with a hurricane lamp, a blackboard and a chalk box. The first class starts around 7:00 pm. After Uncle Ha’s squeaking sound, from the trails, many small oil lamps scrambled, those were the students who brought lamps, exercises and pens to the “opening”. When I received the list of students, I was very surprised because they all wore the surname Hồ. It turned out to show respect for Uncle Ho, the people here took Uncle Ho’s surname as their surname. My class is about 10 students, most of them are women aged 30-40, only a few are men, most speak Kinh language very poorly and are a bit hard of hearing. Due to the prior instructions, I try to give the lecture very slowly, with a simple and easy-to-understand way of speaking. The first lesson was very fun with the voice of the ladies and uncles loudly reading in unison. Butter (shore), avocado ba. Mechanical, muscle a ca. Dirty, dirty … Then there were very hilarious laughter. Just like that, even if the rain is cold, every night the class will be crowded. In the free mornings, I often follow the practitioners to trim rice, pick corn, dig cassava (tapioca) … Upland rice can only grow one crop a year due to the lack of water. The people here cultivate on a large plot of land that has been cleared, one person goes first, holding two sharp-pointed sticks, walking while thrusting sharp stakes into the ground. The follower took the grain of rice from the small basket and put it in the hole and covered it with soil. But perhaps the most interesting is that according to Uncle Ha, he hunts small animals such as mites, hares, porcupines … or even boars come back to disturb the fields. Every time he hunted one, he shared it with his neighbors to improve the meal together. The food here is mainly corn, cassava, vegetables, dry meat … cooked together in a pot. At that time, the whole country was in the period of overcoming the consequences of the war, so the life of the people here was very difficult. After only 3 months of work, I have seen two students in the neighboring neighborhood get injured when digging up leftover bombs and ammunition. As a rule, on every Saturday at the end of the month, our group of teachers must go to the Commune People’s Committee to meet and report on difficulties and advantages in the working process. The first month I went to the meeting, because I had to go alone early, I was somewhat worried. But then went deep into the shady forest and followed the trail that Mr. Ho Tau took, so he was very confident and spoiled for the view of the mountains and forests. Through the third month, the curriculum reached its end. Students can self-rhyme for reading and writing. At that time, my wife was about to give birth to my first child, so I took 2 nights off to visit home. Uncle Ha gave me a bag of fresh corn to bring back to foster my wife. Hearing the news, Mr. Tau said: “Let me go with you, from childhood to big, I do not know where the street is!”. That morning, I got up early, Mr. Tau came to me and brought me some cassava roots wrapped in banana leaves for breakfast, then we both went to the national highway to take the cam-gong bus ride to Hue. Arriving at the street, I took Mr. Tau to Dong Ba market to eat Hue beef noodle soup. Seeing everything he is also interested, looking intently. I bought him a warm shirt, some scarves. He gave me back the dagger that he always had on hand while on the road. Three months of teaching here also ended. The day I broke up was very sad because I knew that there would rarely be a chance to reunite with everyone. I also know that due to the circumstances and life here, if students only learn to know without the conditions to improve, the risk of re-illiteracy can occur. I know that but how can it be! A Luoi district is not the same as before. The road up here now goes straight from Hue, the distance is only 1/3 of the distance we had to go more than 40 years ago. Now the people of A Luoi are no longer living in stilt houses, but instead are bricked red tiled houses. The village has been planned more neatly. Electric lights illuminate all over deep areas. Many places have become attractive tourist destinations. Thanks to the mechanization and expansion of irrigation, farming is much more efficient. On the two sides of the national highway, many shops sell all kinds of items that do not lack anything like in the town. The revival of this land has been soaked in blood, sweat, and tears of the people here. COMPANION UNIT

From a letter from a veteran

It is very dangerous to carry out this task for the flight crews, having to fly in the enemy’s control area at low altitudes to avoid detection radar, so it is easy to have accidents such as crashing into mountains or having fire. No, but the crew members were still determined to carry out the mission, they considered those flights as suicide flights. And in the end, 4 flights with 32 soldiers left without returning … But in the hearts of relatives and teammates, they were still alive.

One day at the beginning of June 2005, the Air Defense and Air Force Air Force received a letter to the Commander. The letter of Mr. Lai Van Vuong at 91 – Me Linh, Le Chan district (Hai Phong city). Mr. Vuong was formerly a soldier of Division 324 – for a long time he fought in the western part of Thua Thien – Hue. Mr. Vuong said that during his return visit to the old battlefield in May 2005 in A Luoi region (a mountainous district of Thua Thien-Hue province close to the Vietnam-Laos border) he happened to know a story about a The most likely plane of mine crashed in the woods near Hong Thuong commune. According to the Pa Ko ethnic people, when the plane crashed about 1965-1966 something, the body of the flight crew collected was buried in that forest by some ethnic minorities.

Mr. Vuong also said that at the house of Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan in Hong Thuong commune, A Luoi district, he still retains some artifacts of the plane mentioned above. As for the graves, decades earlier, they were still at the old place in the cold wilderness, no one came to visit, nor did any gathering come to find and pick it up.

Mr. Vuong also carefully took some photos with his automatic machine, when he returned he made photos and sent 5 photos with the letter to add bases, including a photo of Mr. Toan standing beside the machine. fly at home. Mr. Vuong said that it is very likely that this is our plane that crashed in the war without anyone knowing.

He wrote the above letter in the hope that such information would help the Air Defense – Air Force verify and if true, it is possible to find out the name of the flight crew and bring them back to their homeland.

In 1968, after the 4 flight crews did not return, the Air Defense – Air Force sent an dispatch to all units, provinces and cities to request coordination in searching and informing help, looking forward to finding an whereabouts. The planes went missing, but the incident fell silent and there was no response.

The fact that the fighter pilot in distress in the war could not find the body still happens, but in this incident it was too special, within 5 days all four planes were missing, including 32 people and nearly tens of tons of goods. without leaving a trace, it is very rare. The comrades who participated in the flight crews that were recognized as martyrs but did not know exactly where they were sacrificed, a bone fragment for their relatives and teammates’ peace of mind is also hopeless. For nearly 40 years, the relatives of the martyrs are still living in agony.

After receiving the above letter, the Air Defense – Air Force has organized to check the records, review the history and make a judgment, if the information is correct, it is very likely that it is 1 in 4. IL-14 flight crew went missing in February 1968.

Immediately after that, the Air Defense Force – Air Force announced and coordinated with Flight Corps 919 – was the host unit of the flight crew that disappeared in 1968, now under the Vietnam Aviation Corporation to enter A Luoi body. smart facts. After two trips, finding the place where the plane crashed and the forest where the brothers were buried as well as working with the local authorities, on July 11, 2005, the special mission of the Army Corps No – The Air Force and Flight Team 919 set out to Thua Thien – Hue to search for some artifacts and bring the remains of the martyrs to burial. The mission included Mr. Le Xuan Duc – a former suicide pilot that fortunately returned that day; Mr. Luong Huu Thuan, former technician of aircraft IL-14, 2 policy officers of Division 919; Mr. Hung – policy assistant of the Air Defense – Air Force and me.

* * *

A Luoi district is located right next to the new Ho Chi Minh road. Thanks to the help of the district military command, we continued to go to Hong Thuong commune and Phu Vinh commune to ask for help. In the area, most of the people who participated directly in the burial of the flight crew in 1968 have died. As instructed in the letter of Mr. Lai Van Vuong to the Air Defense – Air Force, we went to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan’s house. Thankfully, the clue has been found from here.

It is a Pa Ko family, despite having been involved in the communal work for a long time, but his voice and his family members are still dialects, so it is difficult for us to reach and find. understand the matter. Theo Toàn said: “At that time around 7 pm, I saw an airplane flying up from the direction of Hue city, after a while a very loud explosion rang out in the woods, then fragments of the plane splashed. to the place where my family lives “.

Mr. Toan’s house at that time was evacuated into the forest, right near the place where the incident happened. After that, he and some villagers came to the scene and found the plane wreckage a little flying everywhere, some weapons such as K54, AK rifles and most grenades with their entire box intact. The next morning, everyone told each other to search and found some parts of the pilot’s body scattered around unknown people, his liver and hair stuck on the forest trees, Toan had to climb up and down. He remembers a patch of hair that is a dull and slightly long color.

After that, Mr. Toan, together with a man named Bo Hieng and several others, organized a burial of what he found. On a wing nearly 3 meters long, nearly 1 meter wide in Mr. Toan’s family, Mr. Luong Huu Thuan found all 13 bullet marks. This piece of wing was taken by Mr. Toan, years ago it was used as a bed. Later it was used as a table, standing on 4 wooden legs beside a tree near the kitchen, his family still used to … chopping vegetables and pigs. There are also some other artifacts of the plane such as the military medical medicine cabinet equipped on the plane that still has the red color of the painted cross on the lid of the box, a battery container used by his family to hold clothes but gave her daughter a “dowry” when she got married in the next commune …

However, based on the artifacts, it is difficult to determine which of the four suicide crews did not return because the witnesses did not remember the date and month of the incident. Mr. Le Xuan Duc, the head of the search team, said that based on the narrative and some objects found, it is very likely that this is an IL-14 aircraft, bearing number 506 by pilot Pham Ke. At 17:00 on February 7, 1968 because in this crew, Nguyen Van Te, whose head was bald, often kept his hair long and then stroked his bald part, so it was quite consistent with Toan’s account that there was a patch of head. Long hair is dark, and the fact that hair color shows that in plane crashes, hair color change of the pilot and crew is common, there is a case of the pilot with dark hair, but when recovering the body, many The plate has become silvery white. However, that is just a prediction. At the end of the meeting with Mr. Toan’s family, we asked Mr. Toan and some local young people the next day to put him in the place where the plane crashed.

The next morning, we were at the gathering point on Ho Chi Minh Street in Phu Vinh Commune. Local youths were also present. Let’s go. We waded through many streams, crept in the trees, though carefully applied insect repellent, but after a while, I lifted up my legs and saw a few of them clinging to the calf to suck blood.

The local young people went ahead, cut down trees to open the way, they brought tools to search for the remains. Two hours of walking through the woods, when my feet hardly want to step anymore, it’s time to arrive. The place where the plane crashed was a high ridge, steep slope, so the aircraft’s parts were also widely dispersed: under the stream was the “stop” of the engine, mortar; Scattered from the top down the stream were pieces of parachute that had not been decomposed yet; by the rocky cavities and on some of the trees, there were still parachutes left; Scattered here and there were pieces of plastic with Russian words on it, a pestle grenade was left.

On the plane tire, the ethnic minorities have cut them all to make rubber sandals, only a little rubber is left close to the iron rim. Through what was left at the scene, Mr. Duc confirmed that this was the flight crew of pilot Pham Ke, because around the area the plane fell, there were still large parachutes to drop scattered cargo that has not been decomposed. Mr. Ke’s team is responsible for parachuting goods and weapons, so it needs a lot of parachutes). Deep below the stream bed are two new “acupuncture points” that are digged by scrap seekers for motives for sale, leaving the crater wide open.

Nguyen Van Hai, a young PaKo ethnic youth in Phu Vinh commune, who we asked to join the search team told, that last month he dug this tuocbin with dozens of bullets, all of which was more than 2 weights. sold to junk goods for more than 200 thousand dong. People of the local ethnic group pick up gold and dig for the parts that can be taken away; there remains large areas, recently a number of people in other places brought small saws away, up to now, large parts of steel and steel aircraft have been “paid” cleanly.

Looking ahead and looking after a while, repositioning the terrain according to memory, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan led the mission to the burial position. Only an empty lot, no old trees, but only wild trees, he nodded in motion. Two officers of Division 919 fell through the tree, creating a void, spreading out a piece of green plastic. A cardboard box is turned upside down and spread paper on to make a table, fruits and offerings are displayed.

Mr. Le Xuan Duc lit incense and bowed to him: “Dear souls in the martyrs’ nest of the Mau Than spring, I am Le Xuan Duc, this is your comrade. For the past 40 years, we and our unit have been searching for you and still have no credit. Now, thanks to our relatives, we can only help you to come here, hope you will pardon. You live a life of wisdom and death, let us meet, to bring you back to your family, with your teammates and your homeland … ”. After doing the spiritual procedures, the group proceeded to dig. About 20 minutes later, they found a round plastic wrap about 70 cm deep from the ground.

Mr. Toan confirmed that this is the wrap that he and the people buried in the past. However, when the cover was opened, only a few pieces of the umbrella and black earth remained, and everything was gone. Under theses when it appeared a pilot’s headset, sometimes a small piece of an airplane part had Russian words, sometimes a box of oil … Fifteen minutes later, under the shy of a young man, another bundle was revealed. People were gathered nervously, the soil was gently dug around, the plastic wrap gradually revealed. Mr. Duc’s hands trembled and held the blue bundle to the ground.

The wrap is carefully cut the lanyard and the plastic has been frozen, layer by layer opened. All embracing a silence. I feel that every single leaf of the Annamite forest tree is motionless. Without a breeze, only the rustle of the plastic was removed. Everyone in the delegation was almost dumbfounded when suddenly appeared two arm-length bones when everything was almost hopeless. These are two arm bones.

The search team together with the local youth continued to dig, but to no avail, Toan also confirmed that it was over. So the entire skeleton of 8 people flying together is only that much. The two bones and all found artifacts are divided into 8 parts, plastic pieces and parachutes … 8 symbolic remains covered with red cloth, lined up horizontally. Mr. Duc lit a big bunch of incense and put up the smoke of incense, green smoke curling among the green.

The whole working group stood seriously and bowed in silence. Mr. Duc expressed his thanks to the martyrs. At that moment, holding incense in front of 8 parts of the corpse suddenly burst into flames … Truong Son sunburst, drops of sunlight streaming through the tree canopy shone on 8 red cloths neatly before the incense smoke.

Upon returning to A Luoi, according to Hai’s instructions, we found a scrap collection point located in the town, and indeed saw some parts of the aircraft. Mr. Le Xuan Duc realized that a part of the IL-14’s engine and governor were mixed in the scrap of various types. The owner said that he bought the above objects for 700 VND 1 kg, if needed to buy it again … price 3,000 / kg. Mr. Duc was sitting down slowly, fiddling with the tuocbin leaves of the engine. I looked at the scrap that were parts of the suicide flight crew IL-14, looked at Mr. Duc, and felt deeply moved.