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| Phu Van Pavilion flagpole in Hue |
Facing me was a kindly old man with a broad forehead and a gentle smile. In a soft voice, he unhurriedly recalled the spirited days of his youth. He was born into a scholarly family from Nghe An. His father, Pho bang (a Confucian degree just below the Doctorate) Dang Van Huong, once held the posts of Thi lang Bo Cong (Vice Minister of Public Works), Tham tri Bo Hinh (Vice Minister of Justice), and Tuan vu Ha Tinh (Governor of Ha Tinh) under Emperor Bao Dai, and was later conferred the honorary title of Thuong thu (Minister) upon retirement. After the August Revolution, he was invited by President Ho Chi Minh to serve as a Minister without Portfolio overseeing Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh.
During his youth, Dang Van Viet accompanied his father to Hue for his studies, where he gained renown as a gifted young gentleman of the imperial capital. After completing secondary school, in 1942, at 22, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at Hanoi University - the only university in Indochina then. He recalled that the institution offered disciplines ranging from medicine, pharmacy, law, agriculture, and forestry to public works, yet enrolled only 800 students in total.
On March 9, 1945, Japan ousted the French, leading to the closure of Hanoi University. Dang Van Viet volunteered with the Lam Son Senior Scout units, helping collect and bury the bodies of famine victims. Witnessing the sorrow and desolation, the young man came to feel the bitter humiliation of a lost nation and, once awakened, found it natural to turn toward the revolution.
Tasked with a new mission, Dang Van Viet, along with fellow members of the Hanoi Students’ Salvation group - Lam Ken, Phan Ham, and Vo Quang Ho - traveled to Hue to join the Frontline Youth School, to steer it toward the Viet Minh (Vietnamese Independence League).The school, initiated by lawyer Phan Anh, enrolled over 40 members, most of whom were students. From its ranks emerged many who would later become ministers and renowned generals, making big contributions to the revolution, such as Phan Anh, Ta Quang Buu, Phan Tu Lang, Cao Van Khanh, Lam Ken, Phan Ham, Cao Pha, Mai Xuan Tan, Vo Quang Ho, Dao Huu Lieu, and Doan Huyen.
Regarding the event of raising the flag atop Phu Van Pavilion, he did not recount it himself, but handed me a printed copy of his memoirs, saying that the account was fully detailed there.
In his memoirs, Dang Van Viet recounted that his covert Viet Minh group at the Frontline Youth School maintained close contact with leaders of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Party Committee, including Hoang Anh, To Huu, and Tran Huu Duc. On the morning of August 20, 1945, he was secretly invited to meet comrade Tran Huu Duc, who gave him a massive red flag with a yellow star - as large as an entire room - along with a direct order: “By tomorrow (August 21, 1945), you are tasked with raising it on the Phu Van Pavilion flagpole.”
It should be recalled that on August 20, 1945, the revolution had not yet broken out in Hue. Power still lay in the hands of the Japanese army, the Tran Trong Kim government, and the Nguyen court. Raising the Viet Minh (Vietnamese Independence League) flag atop the Phu Van Pavilion flagpole was therefore by no means a simple act but a highly perilous one.
After concealing the flag at the school, Dang Van Viet reported the mission to his Viet Minh cell leader, comrade Lam Ken. Following their discussion, the group enlisted the help of Nguyen The Luong. On the morning of August 21, 1945 — two days before the August Revolution broke out in Hue (August 23, 1945) - Viet and Luong rose early, dressed neatly, and with composure. They wore brand-new yellow khaki uniforms, gaiters, side caps, and, slung at the hip, a borrowed Barillet revolver with six dud bullets from comrade Lam Ken. The red flag with its yellow star, rolled up like a giant python, was strapped across two bicycles and pushed along the road.
By nine o’clock, they had reached the Flag Tower. While Nguyen The Luong kept watch, Viet advanced resolutely into the guardhouse. The post was manned by a squad of twelve soldiers, each armed with mousqueton rifles, commanded by a sergeant. Standing before him, Viet proclaimed: “On the authority of the Revolutionary Uprising Committee, we are assigned to hoist the red flag with the yellow star. Lower the Li trigram flag at once.” The sergeant offered no resistance, instructing his men to assist Nguyen The Luong in hoisting the new flag. The Nguyen dynasty’s Li trigram banner came down, and the red flag with the yellow star was raised aloft.
All was ready. Dang Van Viet shouted, “Salute the flag!” The guard detachment snapped to attention, rifles shouldered, while he and Nguyen The Luong raised their hands in soldierly salute. The red flag with the yellow star was slowly hoisted, setting the Imperial Citadel abuzz with excitement. When the task was done, Dang Van Viet commanded firmly: “No one is to lower this flag without orders,” and together he and Nguyen The Luong calmly pedaled away.
By August 23, 1945, the revolution triumphed in Hue. One week later, on August 30, Emperor Bao Dai declared his abdication. For ten days, the red flag with the yellow star had flown proudly over Huong Ngu; then it was lowered, only to be raised again in the formal flag-raising ceremony at a rally of tens of thousands. After Emperor Bao Dai read his abdication and handed the imperial seal and sword to Tran Huy Lieu, representative of the Revolutionary Government, the Li trigram flag of the Nguyen dynasty was taken down. The red flag with the yellow star was raised for the second time before the eyes of tens of thousands of people, who were overwhelmed by emotion, in the Ancient Capital.
That day, while attending the rally, a royal guard officer (Yellow Troop) approached Dang Van Viet and confided that on August 21, when he and Nguyen The Luong raised the flag, he had positioned 120 armed men at Ngo Mon, ready to fire at them. When Emperor Bao Dai was informed, he panicked: “No, no! Those are Viet Minh. If you fire, I will be the first to die!”
Subsequent to the outbreak of the nationwide resistance in 1946, Dang Van Viet joined the Liberation Army as platoon leader of Platoon No. 1 in Thua Thien Hue, stationed to guard Thuan An Gate. He commanded troops on the Route 9 Lower Laos Front and the Route 7 Upper Laos Front before being transferred to the General Staff. After a meeting there, General Vo Nguyen Giap called him to Lang Son and assigned him the task of “staying to fight the French” on the Route 4 Front.
The 174th Regiment, one of the first two key units of the Vietnam People’s Army under the command of Dang Van Viet as regimental commander with Chu Huy Man as political commissar, dominated Route 4, engaging in hundreds of battles that left the enemy in utter confusion. Just hearing his name struck fear into the opposing forces, who dubbed him the “Gray Tiger of Route 4,” while the people affectionately hailed him as the “King of Route 4.” He left the army in 1960 to serve in civilian positions and passed away in Hanoi in 2021 at 101.
This story was made public long ago. Some may know it; many probably do not. On the occasion of the nation’s 80th founding anniversary, it seems significant to bring it up again-to remember together, and above all, to enable younger generations to understand and take pride in the revolutionary tradition and the history of our country.