Smoke and fire in every page of the diary

At a small coffee shop in the courtyard behind the Independence Palace, Mr. Hoang Kim Ngu gently opened a small box and placed it in front of me, the war diary of martyr Hoang Kim Lenh.

Mr. Ngu is an illustrator for the Ho Chi Minh City Police Newspaper. He has carried this diary with him for nearly 20 years, since he went to the South to work.

The diary has faded with time, but the lines and illustrations are still sharp, meticulously recorded by Mr. Hoang Kim Lenh from July 1967, the time he said goodbye to his family to join the army until the day before he lay down on the battlefield of Quang Da (present-day Quang Nam province and Da Nang city).

At the age of 20, when life's direction was already clear/ No matter how dangerous it was, he still set out... were the first lines Mr. Lenh wrote carefully in his diary, still smelling of gunpowder from the Quang Da battlefield filled with rain of bombs and storms of bullets.

Regarding this diary, veteran Hoang Kim Muoi, younger brother of martyr Hoang Kim Lenh, said that on August 2, 1974, before being taken to the frontline minor surgery station to amputate his entire right leg due to severe injuries, Mr. Lenh gave his diary and military equipment to his fellow soldier, Mr. Dao Xuan Dan, in Doan Khe village, Tien Dong commune, Tu Ky district (Hai Duong) and told him to bring it back to his family when liberated.

In June 1968, Mr. Lenh and his unit arrived in Quang Nam, fought at the Quang Da front, as a Squad Deputy, then Squad Leader, tasked with transporting food and ammunition, and fighting the enemy's sweep in the Dai Loc and Duy Xuyen areas.

"The situation became more and more tense, we only had 2 meals a day, each meal was 1 bowl of rice, sometimes 2 bowls of porridge. Many commandos went up the mountain, my unit was assigned to patrol and guard the Ong Thu slope area. This area was bombed with coordinates and artillery all day long. Before, trees grew densely, people were bustling, but now it was ruined, bare, at least 1/3 of the dirt was made of iron and steel... We celebrated Tet at the Doc Gio barracks. On New Year's Eve, everyone sat together in a buffalo pit. The last meal of the year was a bowl of corn stew. When Deputy Company Commander Thep talked about Tet, we missed our hometowns, some comrades were so tired that they lost their minds. Because I was so hungry and tired, I fell asleep without knowing when New Year's Eve had passed...", diary entry recorded at the end of 1969.

According to the diary, the shelter of Mr. Lenh and his comrades was Chau Ky hamlet. "Chau Ky is a small hamlet of Xuyen Hoa commune, Quang Da province, surrounded by flooded fields. The enemy could use this place to control the liberated areas of Xuyen Khuong and Xuyen Hoa communes, so they planned to occupy this position."

On January 29, 1973, after the Paris Agreement took effect, Mr. Lenh wrote: "The enemy was stationed outside and pretended to cease fire. I went out to talk to them. When I just got to the bunker, a series of mortars and artillery fired continuously. The artillery stopped, and they entered with their guns ready. 20 meters away, I opened fire. They fought back weakly, some carried out the bodies of their comrades, the rest took advantage of the high bank to avoid bullets. At 11 o'clock, they sent reinforcements. When the enemy approached, Hiep detonated a B40, some were killed, the rest fled and called for artillery to fire into the battlefield. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Hiep and Ngan were wounded...".

"... On February 1, artillery fire rained down on the battlefield. 7 M113s loaded with soldiers advanced. We fought for many hours continuously, almost out of ammunition, each person only had 1 magazine left, the B40 anti-tank gun was out but the enemy was still there. At this time, I only had 1 magazine and 4 grenades left. Seeing the enemy advancing, the gun only had 5 bullets left, I gave Sau 2 grenades, told him to guard that side, I will guard this side, if the vehicle comes, we would rather sacrifice ourselves than let them humiliate us. I immediately fired a signal flare in the direction of the command post. The enemy thought they had completely taken control, the guy in front carried a handgun, his eyes were wild. I aimed carefully, squeezing each bullet. Surprised, they rushed to run and I also ran out of ammunition. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion and the mortar support from the superiors, we crossed the rice fields and retreated to the 7 Xuyen Khuong area. The enemy's vehicle bullets chased after us. Holding the post for 4 days straight, we returned to the unit, now know still alive...".

The final battle

Mr. Dao Xuan Dan was the one who fought with martyr Hoang Kim Lenh until the last moments before Mr. Lenh lay on the battlefield.

Mr. Dan said that Mr. Lenh was thin and weak but always took turns carrying loads for his weaker teammates. Once, when carrying DKB ammunition for Artillery Regiments 575 and 577, Mr. Lenh carried both the artillery body and the ammunition, while walking and commanding the fight against the enemy. During peak periods, Lenh carried an average of 2-2.5 tons of ammunition and food each month.

In June 1968, his and Lenh's 7th and H7th Companies were added to the 140th Battalion of the 44th Quang Da Front, transporting weapons from the rear base to the plains of Dai Loc B and fighting to protect the rear base corridor. In the battle in September 1969, Squad 6 commanded by Hoang Kim Lenh set up a position to prevent the enemy from landing at the rear base and the weapons depot in Thanh My, destroying many enemy forces and protecting the positions. Squad leader Lenh himself killed 15 Americans and was awarded the title of Level 1 American Destroyer...

On July 26, 1974, Mr. Lenh was tasked with preparing the battlefield, conducting reconnaissance, and practicing on the sand table to destroy the Giang La stronghold.

At exactly 2 a.m., the unit opened fire but the enemy fought back fiercely, causing the entire 3rd Company to be sacrificed. Hoang Kim Lenh fired a signal flare to request support. Deputy Political Commissar of 1st Company Dao Xuan Dan and a comrade came to reinforce, used directional mines and explosives to open the door, and attacked straight into the center. By 5 a.m., our small number of people had taken control of the Giang La stronghold. Mr. Lenh was seriously wounded in the head, abdomen and thigh and was able to retreat to the forward minor surgery station. The nurse said that the wound was so severe that the leg had to be amputated in order to save his life. First, they removed the knee joint, which became infected, they sawed it "alive" but it became infected again, so the doctors decided to amputate the entire right leg.

As if knowing that he would not survive, Mr. Lenh called Mr. Dan in and told him: "I will not survive. Dan, stay here. I ask you for one thing, on the day of reunification, please bring this diary and my military belongings back to my hometown.

At around 8:00 a.m. on August 2, 1974, the minor surgery station began to amputate Mr. Lenh's leg. Mr. Dan recalled that sitting outside the tent, he only heard Mr. Lenh shout loudly, "Dan," then fall silent. Mr. Dan knew that Mr. Lenh had sacrificed himself when only a few months were left until the South was completely liberated.

In September 1975, Mr. Dan returned to the martyr’s family to give them a keepsake. At that time, the martyr’s younger brother, Mr. Hoang Kim Muoi, who was fighting in Laos, had returned home on leave and hid from the family the news that his eldest brother had died. It was not until August 1976, when the death notice was sent home, that the family found out.

Exactly 40 years later, Mr. Dan and Mr. Lenh's family had the opportunity to go to Quang Nam and were lucky enough to find the martyr's remains.

In 2012, the V25 Veterans Liaison Committee proposed the Military Region 5 Command, the Ministry of National Defense and the President to posthumously award martyr Hoang Kim Lenh the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces.

Martyr Hoang Kim Lenh, born in 1949 in My Hao village, Ngoc Lien commune, Cam Giang district (Hai Duong). To date, Mr. Lenh is the only person in Cam Giang district to be posthumously awarded this noble title. It is known that the locality once proposed to name a school or a road in the district after hero Hoang Kim Lenh.