In April 1945, the 17-year-old joined the workers’ group for national salvation, beginning his revolutionary career. He and his comrades were assigned to hand out leaflets along Trang Tien and Trang Thi streets and on Phuc Tan shoal along the Red River.

Four months later, when the August Revolution broke out, he joined the Liberation Army to take over Hanoi and maintain security for the grand meeting at Ba Dinh Square on September 2, proclaiming the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He also encoded President Ho Chi Minh’s appeal for the national war of resistance against the French colonialists in 1946.

When the resistance entered a particularly fierce period, the main force of the Vietnamese Liberation Army was ordered to withdraw from Hanoi and only Inter-Zone No1 soldiers stayed to tie down French colonialists. Thanks to his extensive knowledge of the city, Doanh was assigned to open a road from the Liberation Army-controlled area to Hanoi through Long Bien Bridge to supply ammunition to their comrades. 

Doanh recalls that he was very happy when he heard that he would be returning to Hanoi to support his soldiers.

“When it got dark, we crept under Long Bien bridge to carry ammunition to our comrades secretly stationed in Hanoi,” Doanh says.

He says his life was linked to military supplies in almost all the campaigns including Ha Nam Ninh, Hoa Binh, Tay Bac, Upper Laos and Dien Bien Phu. After a short training course at the Viet Bac Revolutionary Base, Doanh and his soldiers were assigned to establish a military supplies station to serve Division 308 as soon as it returned to regain the capital. 

Receiving the order, Doanh and some of his soldiers left Viet Bac for Son Tay town – about 35km from Hanoi – where they worked with the local administration on food supplies. From Dien Bien, Vietnamese soldiers secretly marched to the suburban areas of Hanoi along the Day River, waiting for the order from the National Liberation Front to take over the capital.

“At that time, our task was to supply vegetables, food and fuel to the soldiers. It was not an easy task because most local people had evacuated, leaving behind empty houses and gardens. Even when food was found, it required skills to camouflage and transport it to the soldiers. “

He says he owed a lot to the local people because “without their support and assistance, I could not fulfil my task.”

He recalls that with local people’s help, he contacted female traders who bought boiled grease in Hang Buom street and stored it in 20-litre steel containers. In the evening, these containers were transported to the liberated area, and they were able to distribute about a tonne of grease to Vietnamese soldiers for daily use.

He also worked with a lorry driver from Ha Dong town – a gateway to Hanoi - to voluntarily  transport wood to the soldiers who were in dire need of fuel. Together they transported hundreds of cubic metres of wood to the inner city without being discovered by the French.

On October 10, thousands of Vietnamese soldiers marched towards the capital and took over it. Unlike his soldiers, Doanh had to stay on the outskirts of Hanoi to finish his work. Two days later, he was allowed to return to Hanoi. Dressed in a uniform, he sat on the CMC lorry loaded with wood travelling by the vast rice fields and empty houses. Though nobody stood on the sides of the road waving flags as they did two days earlier, he still felt overjoyed.

He cannot hold back his emotion when he speaks, “I am very proud to be a Hanoian. I never forget our comrades and residents who sacrificed their lives to conceal and support us during wartime. Without them, we would have found it hard to complete our tasks.”

When the war of resistance against the US began, he joined the logistics team to open the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail and establish stations to supply food and other necessities to the southern battlefield.

After the war ended, he returned to Hanoi and worked for the Hang Bai Ward, Hoan Kiem District, for 11 years. He was elected Secretary of Hang Bai Ward Party Organisation and President of the ward’s War Veterans Association. He was awarded dozens of certificates of merit in recognition of his significant contributions to the ward.

As a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam for 63 years and serving in the army for 45 years, the 83-year-old soldier hopes that he will remain healthy so he can make more contributions to society. He says he remembers late President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching that a Party member is a pioneer and an exemplary role model.

“I always teach the young generations that they should work hard to overcome difficulties and fulfil tasks to build a strong and wealthy nation as desired by late President Ho,” he says.