The last kilometer ends the long journey

During the great war against the Americans to unify the country, tens of thousands of young men and women from all over the country participated in defending the country, but history chose the young men of Hai Duong at that time as the ones associated with this once-in-a-thousand-years historical moment. And there were two people who could not be left out of these important days: Captain Vu Dang Toan, Political Commissar of Company 4, Armored Brigade 203, commander of tank 390; Second Lieutenant Nguyen Van Tap (from the same hometown of Gia Loc) drove tank 390 to crash the gate of the Independence Palace.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tap once talked about the heroic but arduous journey to the final victory day: "It was not easy for our tanks to reach the gate of the Independence Palace right away. How many soldiers and compatriots sacrificed so that we could reach the gate of the Independence Palace."

Mr. Tap said that when he entered Saigon, the cars were far apart, he told the driver, Mr. Toan: "Maybe our car is going too far. I immediately stopped and called a young man about 17-18 years old carrying a suitcase on the sidewalk and asked for directions. This person said he needed to back up a bit because he had gone too far."

Mr. Tap continued, from afar he saw vehicle 843 of Captain of Company 4 Bui Quang Than stuck at the left side gate of the Palace. Mr. Tap asked Mr. Toan for advice, "What should we do now, brother?", Mr. Toan ordered, "Go straight in."

Mr. Vu Dang Toan said that when entering the Independence Palace, the unit that entered first had the responsibility to plant the flag and not wait for the assigned unit, because it would lose the opportunity. Mr. Toan was about to jump down with the flag when Mr. Phuong, the Deputy Company Commander, said that Mr. Bui Quang Than was holding the flag and running behind, so Mr. Toan held the AK to support. Only about 10 minutes later, tanks from other squads, cars and infantry forces had filled the Palace yard.

Not long after that, at exactly 11:30 a.m. on April 30, 1975, Saigon Radio broadcast the unconditional surrender announcement of Saigon government President Duong Van Minh.

As soldiers of the heroic 4th Company, Mr. Toan and Mr. Tap had the same journey as Mr. Nguyen Khac Nguyet, gathered together in Vinh Phuc and received orders to march south.

Are you here? My eyes suddenly blurred.

Colonel and writer Nguyen Khac Nguyet wrote these poetic words to remember these days exactly 50 years ago.

At noon on April 30, 1975, Mr. Nguyet was the driver of tank 380 with the tank squad of Company 4 bravely entering the Independence Palace - the lair and the last symbol of power of the Saigon regime.

After 50 years, Mr. Nguyet is still diligently writing books. These include: "Journey to Independence Palace", "Tanks in the Vietnam War - History seen from the turret", or "Tank Major General Dao Huy Vu"... 17 books have been published, not only recounting the journey of tank soldiers, but also as a tribute to his comrades who fell on the journey to the final victory.

Mr. Nguyet was from Chi Linh (Hai Duong). In December 1971, he was one of 800 people from Hai Hung recruited into the Armored Corps (later the Armored Corps). At that time, each district and town formed a platoon, gathered in Ai Quoc commune (now Hai Duong city) and then went to Vinh Phuc. Training was still unfinished, in March 1973, Mr. Nguyet and his crew received vehicle 380 to begin the "spring tracks" on the journey to victory.

Until now, in the stories told, Mr. Nguyet has never stopped being proud because in 40 days, the heroic 4th Company moved 1,000 km to liberate 3 big cities including Hue, Da Nang, and Saigon.

Liberating Da Nang, the heavy tank unit of Company 4 marched rapidly to the South, crossing Long Khanh, Xuan Loc, through Nuoc Trong, Nhon Trach, Long Thanh... towards the Independence Palace.

During that journey, Mr. Nguyet's vehicle 380 had its turret shot through, the 12.7mm gun was overturned, and a machine gun was crushed. The 2nd gunner, Mr. Nguyen Kim Duyet (from Hanoi), was seriously injured and later died. The vehicle's commander, Nguyen Dinh Luong (from Thanh Hoa), was injured.

From that time until reaching the Independence Palace, tank 380 lost its fighting power because only Mr. Nguyet and gunner Truong Duc Tho (from Thai Binh) remained. However, tank 380 and its tank crew still rushed into Saigon.

Together with Mr. Vu Dang Toan, Mr. Nguyen Van Tap, Mr. Vu Khac Nguyet, we met many veterans from Hai Duong who were present at the Independence Palace at the historic moment of noon on April 30, 1975. Their achievements and contributions to the unification of the country are difficult to describe in words.