Saigon commando weapons bunker

Saigon commando weapons bunker

The weapons bunker used to attack the Independence Palace was one of the bases of the special forces to prepare for the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of Mau Than 1968. This is a townhouse located in a row with the same facade structure. iron sliding door. The head of the household is contractor Tran Van Lai (also known as Nam Lai) and uses the house to both park his car and store construction materials. The house is located near the beginning of Tran Qui Cap alley (today Vo Van Tan alley). The apartment was purchased in early 1967 in agreement with the commander of Mr. Nam Lai's unit: Mr. Nguyen Van Tri, political officer of the Bao Bao unit of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Military Region. Mr. Nam Lai is an officer of this unit. After buying the house, Nam Lai started repairing it. Wearing the outer coat is a contractor named Nam U - SOM (Mr. Nam often goes to the US U - SOM agency to bid). While repairing the house, he secretly carried out a plan assigned by the unit: building a secret bunker. Therefore, under the floor, inside the chamber, there are two cellars next to each other. Each tunnel has a large sewer line that can fit people through, leading to the back of the house. The weapons bunker is 2m long, 1.2m wide, 2.5m high; The tunnel walls and floor are thickly cemented for waterproofing. As for the tunnel mouth, Mr. Nam personally installed it himself. Lid with screw latch. Use the latch to lift the lid up so there is enough space for one person to get under. In mid-1967, the tunnel was completed and was notified to the Guarantee unit (with code number J9 T - 700). After inspection, the unit commander ordered to continue implementing the plan. To transport a large quantity and many types of weapons (pistols, guns, AK bullets, B40, explosives... to a secret hidden bunker location. On the 29th of Tet Mau Than, in Loc Thuan commune, Trang Bang district (Tay Ninh province), a team of 5 special forces practiced preparing for the attack. On the morning of the first day of Tet, following the flow of people celebrating Spring, the soldiers of the 5th Special Forces took turns using many vehicles to gather at the house on Hoang Dao Street (now Tran Van Dang), Ward 11, District 3. Head of household is also a special forces soldier named Le Tan Quoc (alias Bay Rau Mong). At this time, the entire team of 5 commandos had 15 soldiers, including a female codename Chin Nghia, commanded by Truong Hoang Thanh. At 10 p.m., as planned, the entire team of 5 special forces moved to Nam Lai's house on Le Tan Quoc's 2 cars. Two cars parked on Tran Qui Cap Street, the soldiers of Team 5 got out and entered Nam Lai's house through the front and back doors. Then, under Ba Thanh's command, several team members went down to the basement to bring weapons, AK guns, grenades and explosives, checked them and put them in a car parked inside the house. At 1:30 a.m. on the 2nd day of Tet, we moved near the Independence Palace on Nguyen Du Street. Enemy guards discovered us and forced us to stop. The convoy kept moving forward, they shouted the alarm. The soldiers in the first vehicle opened fire to kill these guys and used explosives to break open the gate for the vehicle containing explosives to rush in. Unfortunately, the explosives did not explode due to technical problems. However, the breakout team managed to get inside. The enemy opened fire, two soldiers died, the rest had to temporarily retreat, two were injured. The enemy came from all sides inside and sealed the gates. At 4 a.m., another captain, Truong Hoang Thanh, died. Near morning, when there were only 8 people left, the brothers retreated to house number 56 Thu Khoa Huan and organized a defense on the 3rd floor. Hungry and tired amidst the enemy encirclement, 8 tenacious soldiers fought all day January 31, 2019. 1968 is the 2nd day of Tet. The brothers fought to the last bullet, removed their guns, threw them away, and used bricks, stones, and wood to block the enemy. Comrade Le Tan Quoc (Bay Rau Morning Glory) with an AK on duty blocking the stairs heroically sacrificed his life. (Martyr Le Tan Quoc was honored as a hero of the armed forces). After the attack on the Independence Palace by Saigon commandos made the enemy tremble in fear, they confiscated all property, hunted down and placed a reward of 2 million VND on Tran Van Lai's head. His entire family had to withdraw from Saigon, but he himself continued to operate and instructed the remaining bases of the Thanh Rangers to continue strengthening and building their forces. In 1972, he was captured by the enemy and detained in Son Tinh prison (Quang Ngai), but they did not know that they had captured the special forces soldier who had contributed greatly to the battle that directly attacked the enemy's brain in 1968. The house number 287, alley 70, Nguyen Dinh Chieu has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a national historical and cultural relic and its former owner became the custodian and conservator. Source: People's Committee of District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

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