“I and the group of veterans of Division 320 went to the Memorial House of the victory at Dong Du base, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City to burn incense for our comrades who fell here on April 29, 1975. When the car turned into the base, my heart suddenly felt strangely moved. I missed my comrades! I told the driver to stop and walked a short distance,” Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Mao emotionally shared.

According to Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Mao, Dong Du base used to be the barracks of the 25th Division, "American tropical lightning". Throughout its existence, Dong Du base was very solidly fortified, a "fortress", a "steel door" of defense guarding the northwest of Saigon at that time.

After the 1973 Paris Agreement was signed, American soldiers returned home. This base was handed over to the 25th Division of the Saigon puppet government. The base was structured into 4 lines, with the enemy force in the base at the time of April 1975 being about 4,000.

Major General Tran Vinh Ngoc, Party Secretary and Political Commissar of Military Region 7 (left) visited and presented gifts to Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Mao.

He said that his unit was the main unit of the Tay Nguyen Army Corps (3rd Corps) - the army that had just gloriously completed the mission of the Tay Nguyen Campaign, liberating the Tay Nguyen, taking advantage of the victory to attack the coastal plains of the Central region, liberating the provinces of Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Nha Trang town, dividing the Vietnam battlefield in two. From the Central coast, the unit was ordered to go to the Tay Nguyen, following Route 14 to Binh Long, to Ben Cat, then crossing the Saigon River to the "steel land" of Cu Chi, preparing for battle, taking charge of an attack direction in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

“Our regiment was the 48th Regiment, named Thang Long Regiment, of the 320th Division (Dong Bang Division). I had the honor of entering the battle, which I believed would be the last battles to liberate Saigon. The 320th Division was assigned to attack Dong Du base to open the "steel door" northwest of Saigon for the 10th Division to penetrate deep into and capture Tan Son Nhat Airport and the puppet General Staff. In my fighting career, I have never witnessed such a touching departure ceremony. On the banks of the Saigon River, the troops lined up in neat formation under the flag and portrait of Uncle Ho, the units took turns reading the letter of determination, then reciting the oath of determination to win the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign even if they had to sacrifice their blood and bones,” Major General Nguyen Huu Mao emotionally recalled.

He added that on the day of the departure ceremony, all officers and soldiers in the Regiment took out their newest uniforms to wear and all wore red armbands on their right arms symbolizing the spirit of "Determined to die for the Fatherland, determined to live". On the night of April 28, 1975, his unit marched to occupy the battlefield and at 5:30 a.m. on April 29, 1975, they started firing. As Deputy Regiment Commander of Regiment 48, he was assigned to go directly with Battalion 3, led by Comrade Nguyen Thanh Lich as Battalion Commander and Comrade Dao Xuan Sy as Battalion Political Commissar, with the task of opening the main door to destroy the enemy base.

When he opened the gate to capture the bridgehead, his direction was fiercely resisted by the enemy, causing many of our troops to sacrifice. When reporting the situation to his superiors, he was ordered by the Division Commander of the 320th Division to directly lead the troops to deal with the last layers of the enemy base's fences. At this time, the Battalion Commander of the 3rd Battalion proposed to carry out the task, but he firmly said: "The Division Commander assigned the task to me, you as the battalion commander must take charge of the troops, must prepare well, when I command to open the gate, must rush to capture the bridgehead immediately".

With combat experience in the Central Highlands Campaign, he commanded the explosive force to overcome the enemy's "storm of bullets", opening the layers of fences. When the last fence was opened wide, under the command of the Battalion Commander of Battalion 3, our troops attacked and captured the bridgehead. Immediately after that, the deep penetration force and tanks passed through the open gate one after another. He also followed the troops to attack the base, capturing one target after another. Along with other attack directions, after a few hours, Dong Du base was completely destroyed. As a result, our troops captured and eliminated thousands of enemy soldiers from combat, destroyed many vehicles as well as obtained many spoils of war.

Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Mao reunited with his old comrades in Division 320.

The Northwest Gate of Saigon was opened, creating conditions for the formation of the 10th Division, 3rd Corps to pass through Dong Du base, advance quickly to Saigon, and capture Tan Son Nhat Airport and the puppet General Staff. His unit completed the mission well. He said: “The battle was too fierce. In my mind, the image of the area of ​​the open gate filled with smoke and our soldiers sacrificing one after another still haunts me. Hundreds of officers and soldiers of the 320th Division sacrificed themselves right at the gateway of Saigon, before the day of the triumphant song celebrating the day of total victory. For the officers and soldiers of the 320th Division, April 29, 1975 is a day that will never be forgotten.”

Dong Du Base in the past is now the barracks area of ​​Division 9, Corps 34. Before the grand ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day, Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Mao remembered his comrades, who forever devoted their youth to the Fatherland, heroically sacrificing on April 29, 1975 so that April 30, 1975 would be recorded in history.

“Recalling the historic battle of the past is like offering incense to pay tribute to those who fell for peace and national unification. Peace is very precious!”, Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Mao confided.

HUNG KHOA (summary)