VietNamNet Bridge – The play Khoang Troi Con Gai (Girl’s Sky) will be performed at Dong Loc T-junction on July 12th to commemorate 10 young female volunteers as part of the 50th anniversary of the Dong Loc Victory.

Putting it on the page: Script writer Nguyen Si Dai (standing) at a press conference in the central province of Ha Tinh on June 27. Photo toquoc.vn

The play aims to offer a high-end war-themed performance to local people, according to organiser Nguyen Van Nga, head of the Ethnic Culture and Communication Research Institute.

"This will be a chance to recall a glorious time of the nation," said Nga. "Through the performance, we want people, including the youth, to get to know more about the sacrifice of 10 volunteers at Dong Loc T-junction to be proud of our history."

The Dong Loc T-junction at Dong Loc Commune, Can Loc District in the central province of Ha Tinh and located on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, is dedicated to the 10 female volunteers who sacrificed their lives to ensure the safe operation of the war supplies transport route linking to the southern front on July 24, 1968.

At that time, in order to keep traffic flowing to the southern front, all human resources were mobilised. At noon on the 15th day of bombing, a bomb fell very close to the mouth of the cave where the 10 transport volunteers, aged from 17 to 24, were while trying to level bomb craters to reopen the intersection. The bomb killed them all.

The play was penned by Nguyen Sy Dai, who has a doctorate in literature. It consists of two acts and nine scenes about the girls who devoted their youth to the cause of national liberation and reunification.

The title of the play was inspired by the poem Khoang Troi - Ho Bom (The Sky - Bomb Crater) by Lam Thi My Da.

"When I passed craters and looked at the puddles I thought about the sky in the girls’ eyes," said author Dai. "I wished that the sky in their eyes is blue forever and that these images will make people remember them always."

Silver screen: The sacrifice of ten girl volunteers at Dong Loc T-junction inspired veteran Luu Trong Ninh to make a motion picture with the same name in 1997. Photo toquoc.vn

Dai also added other memorable details to the script, such as a meeting between General Vo Nguyen Giap and the volunteers at Dong Loc T-junction, and the girls’ last afternoon.

About 70 performers from Nghe An Folk Theatre will perform the play.

The script writer Dai is a former senior journalist at the Nhan Dan (People) newspaper. He is currently deputy chairman of the Ha Noi Writers’ Association. He used to live with the volunteers and saw combat in Ha Tinh Province during the 1960s. He has been considering the theme of 10 girls’ war-time sacrifices for years.

The performance will take place on July 10 at the Ha Tinh Culture Centre, and on July 12 at Dong Loc T-junction. Many other activities are held on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Dong Loc Victory, including launching a drive for patriotic work emulation and a writing contest about the anniversary, a reunion of former volunteers and a song-writing contest.

After the national reunification day, the HCM Communist Youth Union Central Committee decided to build a monument at Dong Loc T-junction. The Dong Loc T-junction relic site was recognised as a national special historical relic in 2013. 

Source: VNS