Located in a small alley on Tran Cao Van Street in Da Nang, the 'Mother Nhu and 7 Thanh Khe Heroes' site has been one of the popular ‘red addresses’ to education young generation about revolutionary traditions of the army and people of the city.

Simulation of a secret tunnel in the 'Mother Nhu and 7 Thanh Khe Heroes' site. Photo: H.L

Covering an area of 636m², the site includes a memorial house, the graves of Mother Nhu and her husband, and a stele recording the great sacrifice of Mother Nhu and the 7 brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the fight against enemies on December 26, 1968.

Mother Nhu's real name is Le Thi Danh. She was born in 1912 in a poor fishing family in Thanh Khe Village. In 1967, she dug two secret tunnels in her house which served as safe and reliable shelters for the Second District's special forces soldiers.

On the evening of December 23, 1968, after the Phu Loc security station was attacked by the enemy, a number of special forces soldiers from Second District were taken to the houses of Mother Nhu and Mother Hien.  

However, enemy troops surrounded and controlled the entrances to Mother Nhu's house around 5:00am on December 26, 1968 after receiving intelligence information from Lu Hung.

At Mother Nhu's house, they burst in, arrested and interrogated Pham Phu Long, her son, but couldn't get anything out of him, so they beat him until he was unconscious and then put him in the car to take him away. Then, they turned to beat and interrogate Mother Nhu. After a while of not being able to exploit anything, they decided to kill Mother Nhu with gun to show off their strength.

At that time, three soldiers, namely Nguyen Thi Tam, Tran Van Hue and Tran Thanh Trung, who were in the tunnel in Mother Nhu’s house, opened the bunker lid, jumping up to fight, and killing many enemies.

Meanwhile, at Mother Hien’s house nearby, four other soldiers: Tran Chi, Nguyen Van Muoi, Nguyen Dinh Nam, and Nguyen Van Phuong began to fight back fiercely and killed many enemies.

Unfortunately, two soldiers Tran Chi and Vo Van Nam, while trying to escape to the base, were arrested by the enemy, and then were imprisoned and exiled on Con Dao.

The counterattack by the abovementioned 7 special forces soldiers was a typical battle of the revolutionary forces that took place right in the enemy area, causing them many losses.

In 1985, on the foundation of the old house, the locality built a memorial house for heroic Vietnamese mother Nhu.

The 4-grade memorial house features many typical artifacts related to Mother Nhu, the 7 Thanh Khe heroes, and the counter-attack map of the special forces soldiers.

Located to the east of the house is a stele recording the event on December 26, 1968, and the graves of Mother Nhu and her husband.

Up to now, the Mother Nhu’s house has been upgraded and embellished many times by the municipal authorities. Most recently, over VND1.7 VND has been poured into the restoration and embellishment of the 'Mother Nhu and 7 Thanh Khe Heroes' historical site in Thanh Khe Dong Ward, Thanh Khe District to celebrate the 55^th Victory of Mother Nhu and 7 Thanh Khe Heroes (December 26, 1968 - December 26, 2023).

The 'Mother Nhu and 7 Thanh Khe Heroes' site was recognised as a national historical relic site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2009.

Reporting by HUYNH LE - Translating by M.DUNG