History in memoirs
Those are the urgent activities of the supreme command, located at the Dragon's House in Thang Long Imperial Citadel, in the historic April days through the memoir "General Staff in the Great Spring Victory" by General Vo Nguyen Giap (Pham Chi Nhan performed, People's Army Publishing House published in 2006).
Or through the memoir "Spring Victory" by General Van Tien Dung (published by the People's Army Publishing House in 1976), readers also feel emotional and nervous when hearing the victory news of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign Command, which was then stationed at the forward command post - Cam Xe base in Minh Thanh commune, Dau Tieng district, Binh Duong province.
The memoirs of the generals also show interesting information when receiving the victory news.
The memoir "Decisive Years" (People's Army Publishing House, 2001, General Hoang Van Thai recounted): "Immediately after the victory news, officials of departments and offices, combat duty shifts, standing cipher teams, public service soldiers, guards, all in just a moment suddenly formed a rally. Old and young, plain clothes, military uniforms, superiors, subordinates, everyone was joyful and touched. The officers in the Politburo laughed and talked very happily".
A special detail on the day of total victory is recorded in the book "General Cao Van Khanh - Historical Memories", compiled by General Khanh's daughter - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cao Bao Van - (Tri Thuc Publishing House, 2017). That is, although the Ministry of National Defense had prepared long firecrackers to burn to celebrate the victory, General Vo Nguyen Giap instructed: "When you see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs setting off firecrackers, the Ministry of National Defense is allowed to set fire. The Ministry of National Defense is not allowed to set fire first". Later, the General smiled and explained to his brothers: "Because we are the People's Army, we should not do anything to make people mistakenly understand that we are making our own contributions first...".
And at that time, in the South, the atmosphere of celebrating victory at the campaign command post, according to the memoirs of General Van Tien Dung: "All of us in the Command Post jumped up, cheered, hugged and kissed each other, praising each other. Applause, laughter, cheerful voices, bustling, whispering, jubilant like the whole spring had come. An indescribable joyful scene.
Comrades Le Duc Tho and Pham Hung hugged me and all the officers and soldiers present. We were all choked up and moved by happiness. I lit a cigarette to smoke. Comrade Dinh Duc Thien, with red eyes, said: "Now if you close your eyes, you will be at peace". This sacred historical moment, this refreshment and jubilation, a lifetime, many new lives.
Moments that are "new to many lives
There were also many soldiers who directly went in the army entering to liberate Saigon at noon on April 30, history recorded the emotions and developments in their notes and memoirs. Typical is soldier Nguyen Khac Nguyet, who drove tank number 380 of company 4, armored brigade 203 in formation entering Independence Palace (Mr. Nguyet later retired with the rank of Colonel).
The story of the unit's journey has been truthfully recorded by Mr. Nguyet in the book "Tank Soldier's Notes - Journey to the Independence Palace". The developments in the book are the reality of life and combat of his own unit, only the character's name is taken from himself, he named Trang. Images of the moment of entering the gate of the Independence Palace recorded in the book:
About a few hundred meters away, Trang suddenly saw a 390 motorbike running from the right and then cornering extremely skillfully into the front of the main gate.
Behind car 390 were several cars of his company and company 3, including a K63-85 that waded through water and somehow got here. Trang breathed a sigh of relief. When two cars 843 and 390 approached the lobby, the next tank formation spread out in an arc shape on the grass, forming an encirclement to tightly embrace the palace, the gun barrels were still fiercely pointed straight at the palace, ready to fire, dozens of 550 horsepower engines were still roaring like a herd of war elephants still in a frenzy. A few seconds later, no movement was seen**, the** engine sound gradually decreased and then completely turned off, the door lids burst open. From inside the car, the filthy bodies...".
And when stopping the car in front of the Independence Palace at the moment of complete victory, his character Trang took out his torn "inseparable" notebook and quickly wrote down the verses, which were Mr. Nguyet's explosive emotions bursting out in the historic moment. These verses have been reread many times by Mr. Nguyet emotionally in storytelling sessions or recordings on TV:
When the tank stops in front of Independence Palace I am amazed - is this a dream? The last milestone - a long journey Is it coming? My eyes suddenly blurred
And Major General Hoang Dan - former Deputy Commander of Army Corps 2 - in his memoirs "From the Ben Hai River to the Independence Palace" (People's Army Publishing House, 2010), after telling about the historic moment when he entered the headquarters of the Saigon government at noon on April 30, told readers the true feelings of himself when handing over the Palace to representatives of Army Corps 4 that afternoon: "Comrades said, comrades had the task of occupying the Independence Palace but came late, now please allow it to be handed over again. We are happy to hand it over immediately. Actually, we also want to hand it over quickly to go out, grasp the situation of the units and rest a little for the time being. It has been 4-5 days and nights without a nap".
Just like tank driver Nguyen Khac Nguyet, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Cam, Commander of the 4th Corps, also felt "Already in Independence Palace but I thought I was dreaming!". He recorded this in a storytelling with author Phan Hoang in the book "Interview with Vietnamese Generals" (Tre Publishing House, 2000).
In particular, the book "Spring Great Victory" provides more interesting information: "On May 1st, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign Command celebrated the complete victory of liberating the South and the International Labor Day. Candy, cakes, and soft drinks were displayed on the table. And when they saw a bottle of wine, comrade Pham Hung was surprised and asked where the wine came from, and comrade Dinh Duc Thien said "revealing the secret": "Today is also the anniversary of comrade Van Tien Dung's birthday, this wine is from the "rear" sent to comrade".
In Hanoi, International Labor Day May 1st is also the birthday of General Cao Van Khanh.
The image of Major General Cao Van Khanh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, meeting his wife at the end of the victory day was also very touching, General Khanh's daughter wrote in the book: "That afternoon, my mother just came home from work. My father hugged my mother, saying: "From now on, you two brothers don't have to be apart anymore." My father's eyes welled up with tears on his haggard face after sleepless nights at the General Staff.
