To prepare for the defensive campaign in 1972, Regiment 148 was deployed to Nonghet district, Xiang Khouang province to reinforce personnel and conduct training activities in several contents, such as political, technical and tactical education. This was an occasion for troops to take a rest after a long time of fierce fighting. Also, it was the time when the lunar New Year 1972 was approaching.
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Teachers and students in T78 Friendship High School celebrating Laos’ traditional New Year festival (Bunpimay) |
Stationed in Nonghet district, apart from reconnaissance troops of the regiment, higher levels sent a district-level female liaison officer to our company to help us closely follow situational developments in the stationed and surrounding areas. Her name was Sounthone Xayachack. She assisted us in many activities, especially grasping the preparation work in all aspects, including Tet celebrations for Vietnamese soldiers. At that time, I was Officer Commanding of Company 9, Battalion 6, Regiment 148, Division 316. Every day, Sounthone Xayachack and I discussed the situations of the enemy and the people.
In Nonghet district, my comrades and I were asked to strictly observe 12 disciplinary rules of the Vietnam People's Army as well as international relations regulations. If we violated international relations regulations, we would even be "tried in a military court."
Our unit was stationed in a village; however, there were hardly any locals. Sometimes, few people appeared. Moreover, the village was in wartime; therefore, the landscape looked bare. There were not even any types of poultry or livestock. Sounthone Xayachack suggested that we should look for something for troops to celebrate the Tet holiday. Thinking for a moment, I asked her if there were any delicious vegetables in the forest, then my comrades and I would go to the forest to collect them.
After that, I sent a group of soldiers and the company’s Deputy Political Commissar to go along with Sounthone Xayachack to find vegetables and conduct patrols by the way to follow the situations around the stationed area. As a result, after a day, they brought home baskets full of vegetables and bamboo shoots. That was also the last day of 1971.
During the lunar New Year 1972 in Xieng Khouang, apart from vegetables and bamboo shoots, we had canned meat and dry rations. Additionally, we had to build Hoang Cam smokeless stoves to cook food to avoid being detected by the enemy.
That was our Tet holiday in the Xieng Khouang - Plain of Jars Campaign 1972. No lights, no electricity, no alcohol, no cigarettes, no tea, no smoke, no fire. However, we enjoyed a warm Tet, as we regarded each other family members. Homesickness also lessened.
In early 2003, I was appointed as Director of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Ministry of National Defense. What a strange coincidence! Sounthone Xayachack was accredited as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in Vietnam. Learning about the news, I asked Lieutenant General Nguyen Huy Lieu, Deputy Defense Minister, for advice and then visited my old friend. Meeting again after a long time, Ambassador Sounthone Xayachack and I sat together and were immersed in unforgettable memories of the old battlefield and informed each other about our present life.
After the meeting, I directly reported to General Pham Van Tra, Minister of National Defense, also called Ba Tra, and asked for his permission to repair and upgrade the accommodation and working place of the Lao Embassy in Vietnam.
Several decades have passed and I am now already seventy years old while Sounthone Xayachack currently is a senior official of the Lao Party and State. The only thing that remains constant are the sentiments between the two peoples, two countries, two parties, and two militaries, as well as between soldiers like us.
The lunar New Year 2024 is drawing near, my heart was overflown with memories of the Tet holiday in Xieng Khouang in 1972.
Lieutenant General PHAM THANH LAN
(Former Director of the Department of Foreign Relations, Ministry of National Defense)
Translated by Quynh Oanh