Le Anh Xuan and "The Stance of Vietnam"

Editor's Note: It is known that the Command of Military Region 7 is finalizing the dossiers to propose awarding the title of Hero of the Armed Forces to a number of officers and soldiers who had meritorious achievements during the anti-American war for national liberation. Among them are a number of artists and writers such as musician Hoang Viet, writer Nguyen Thi, poet Le Anh Xuan… and some other comrades. A noteworthy and interesting point is that Le Anh Xuan is being proposed for the title of Hero along with Nguyen Van Mao, the soldier who created the "Standing Stance of Vietnam," about whom Le Anh Xuan wrote a poem. We would like to introduce the article "Le Anh Xuan and 'The Stance of Vietnam'" by writer Dinh Phong, which tells about the "relationship" between two heroes involved in the same event, "The Stance of Vietnam." (Ho Chi Minh City Police Newspaper, Friday, February 18, 2011).Ca Lê Hiến and I marched south with the same group in 1964. Hiến was in the education department because he was teaching at Hanoi University. He was two years younger than me, but I liked him so I often chatted with him. On the day we entered the training camp, everyone had to change their names to maintain secrecy upon returning to the South, to avoid being discovered by the enemy as cadres from the North sent to the front lines. At that time, Ca Lê Hiến changed his name to Lê Lan Xuân because he had a girlfriend named Xuân Lan. Later, when he entered the battlefield, Hiến changed his name to Lê Anh Xuân. Crossing the Trường Sơn Mountains was arduous, and Hiến was weak, so he had to try very hard. With high spirits and determination, Hiến made it to the final station. He was assigned to the Education Subcommittee of the Central Propaganda Department. In May 1965, the Propaganda Department summoned journalists and writers to attend the First Congress of Heroic Soldiers and Emulation Fighters of the Liberation Army. Le Anh Xuan joined a writing team and was assigned to write about Hero Nguyen Van Tu – his fellow villager who had distinguished himself in using booby traps and wasps to fight the enemy. The account of his achievements was only a page and a half long, and Nguyen Van Tu had already died, but with his love for his homeland and his willingness to gather information from his comrades, he successfully wrote the story of Hero Nguyen Van Tu. In 1966, he and I participated in transporting weapons from the Vietnam-Cambodia border to the rear. With the support of the Phnom Penh government, a weapons transport line ran from Sihanoukville port to the border areas of Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc. Transport trucks dumped weapons and ammunition into the dense forests. We rushed out to carry them deep into Vietnamese territory. Lighter items like ammunition boxes were carried on our shoulders, while heavier items like gun crates required two or four people to carry. We ate meals in the forest and slept precariously under trees to bring weapons and ammunition back to the rear for the soldiers. One day at the end of 1967, I was transporting rice, taking a shortcut past the Political Training School of the Propaganda Department. Le Anh Xuan, who had been listening to a lecture inside the building, ran out into the street, grabbed my hand, and excitedly said, "I've been admitted to the Party! I'm attending the new Party member class." I congratulated Xuan. During the Tet Offensive of 1968, most of the Propaganda Department's agencies were deployed to the Saigon front. Le Anh Xuan and some other sick comrades had to stay home. Midway through the first phase (around March 1968), the comrades returned to the base from the Saigon front. Several reporters from the Liberation News Agency had been killed. The Propaganda Department gathered the political class to inform them of the situation and clearly state our determination to liberate Saigon as soon as possible. The leaders recounted a story that brought tears to our eyes: Uncle Ho, seeing the difficult situation on the Southern battlefield, was determined to train, carrying bricks and stones to prepare to go south to direct the fighting. The members of the Politburo reassured Uncle Ho that the entire Party and people were determined to fight to liberate the South as soon as possible so that he could visit. We reminded each other that we had to do everything we could to ensure Uncle Ho didn't have to cross the Truong Son Mountains to return to the South – because he didn't have the strength to travel like we did. In early May 1968, Le Anh Xuan and Hong Tan were assigned to "go to the streets" to participate in the second phase of the offensive. I went with them to the outskirts of the country. The battlefield was extremely fierce at that time, and many comrades had been killed. Comrade Tran Bach Dang, in charge of propaganda for the front, didn't want writers and journalists going to the battlefield for fear of casualties. He then requested that only those with a recommendation and guarantee from their superiors be allowed to go to the front. I didn't have a superior there, so I had to carry my backpack back to the rear. Comrade Mai Loc and Comrade Giang Nam, the heads of the Arts and Culture Subcommittee, signed the papers allowing Le Anh Xuan and Hong Tan to "go to the streets." They left the day before, and two days later I received news that both of them had been killed. When Le Anh Xuan and Hong Tan arrived at the battlefield, the American forces had already set up a base. Local guerrillas took them down to a secret bunker. This was a low-lying area, and every bunker was flooded, making it very difficult to breathe. Xuan and Tan had no experience in secret bunkers in the plains. According to regulations, sleeping was not allowed in a secret bunker; if there were two of them, they had to take turns staying awake. If they felt suffocated, they had to use a piece of wood from inside the bunker to poke a ventilation hole. However, they probably didn't dare poke a hole because the Americans were stationed right on top of the bunker. By evening, when the two men hadn't returned, their comrades ran to the bunker and called out repeatedly, but there was no answer. They had suffocated and passed away. After the first phase, Giang Nam returned from the front and recounted stories of the Saigon battlefield. He mentioned a soldier who had died while fighting at Tan Son Nhat airport, standing upright as if continuing to eliminate the enemy. Le Anh Xuan was deeply moved. He wrote a poem.Liberation ArmyHe read the poem aloud to writer Le Van Thao. Before going to the battlefield, he gave the poem to writer Anh Duc, who was in charge of the Liberation Literature and Arts magazine. The editors at the magazine discussed and revised the title of the poem.Vietnamese StanceIt was a rather interesting coincidence: When Le Anh Xuan returned to Long An, I happened to be in contact with Le Minh Xuan's 6th Binh Tan Battalion – composed entirely of soldiers from Binh Chanh and Tan Binh districts. Le Minh Xuan told me about the attack on Tan Son Nhat airport in December 1966. At that time, American planes from Tan Son Nhat were fiercely bombing North Vietnam. The Saigon army was deeply saddened and sought revenge, trying to prevent American planes from flying north. Le Minh Xuan, along with Nguyen Van Kip (aka Dong Den), was in charge of the F100 commando unit and planned to attack the airport. This coordinated attack, "revenge for Hanoi," created a huge sensation. Hundreds of American planes and tanks were burned. In that battle, one soldier was trapped in the airport all day the next day and fought to his last bullet. When he was seriously wounded, the enemy called for his surrender. He shouted, "The liberation army does not know how to surrender!" and then fired to his last bullet. Trapped amidst the wreckage of the plane, the soldier stood upright, leaning against it, causing the enemy to panic and fire at him until he collapsed. Because of the darkness, no one could recognize his face, so initially no one knew the name of this resilient soldier, or whether he belonged to Battalion 6 or F100. That's why Lê Anh Xuân wrote in his poem..."What is your name, my dear?"After liberation, both units re-examined the list of fallen soldiers and found that soldier. His name was Nguyen Van Mao, Deputy Platoon Leader of the reconnaissance unit of the 6th Binh Tan Battalion. His hometown was Vinh Loc B commune, Binh Chinh district. He still has an older brother living in his hometown. The yearbook of the armed forces of Ho Chi Minh City clearly states that the fallen soldier was Nguyen Van Mao, 6th Binh Tan Battalion, the unit that attacked Saigon three times, with the participation of Nguyen Thi, Ngoc Chau, Lam Tan Tai, Pham Khac… right in the street battles. Nguyen Thi sacrificed himself in the loving embrace of the soldiers of the 6th Battalion (*). When Le Anh Xuan wrote the poemLiberation ArmyThe soldiers had not yet discovered the real name of the soldier with the "Vietnamese Stance." Whether the soldier leaning against the plane was known by name or not, "Vietnamese Stance" remained an immortal song about the valiant liberation soldier standing proudly on the Tan Son Nhat runway during the "revenge for Hanoi" battle at the end of 1966.(*) In early 2010, the President of Vietnam awarded the title of Hero to the 6th Binh Tan Battalion - which included the soldier known as "The Stance of Vietnam".