Soldiers of the Military Command of An Điền Ward in Bình Dương Province’s Bến Cát City sundry paddy after harvesting the grain on fields belonging to the command -- a testament to the self-reliant and resilient spirit of Bình Dương’s armed forces. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyên Khôi

The Phú Lợi Battalion was a source of immense pride for the military and people of the formerly Thủ Dầu Một Province (now Bình Dương Province) throughout its establishment and combat history.

Founded on June 5, 1965, in Vườn Trầu in Hố Mên Hamlet (a liberated zone of Long Nguyên Commune in Thủ Dầu Một Province’s Bến Cát District), the Phú Lợi Battalion was the province’s first mobile main force unit of the South Việt Nam Liberation Front. It comprised more than 500 officers and soldiers.

The battalion was named "Phú Lợi" in tribute to the patriotic fighters who were imprisoned and executed by the US-backed Sài Gòn regime in Phú Lợi Prison.

This name served as a constant reminder for every officer and soldier to uphold the spirit of being "determined to fight, determined to win".

It achieved resounding one victory after another, contributing hugely to the cause of national liberation. These included major battles such as Đồng Sổ, Đồng Chèo, Nhà Tây, and Bông Trang Lò Gạch.

The most remarkable battle was Bông Trang Lò Gạch on August 25, 1966. It saw the Phú Lợi Battalion launch a powerful attack, inflicting heavy losses on three US battalions of around 700 troops, destroying 16 tanks and armoured vehicles, and shooting down an aircraft.

In April 1975 the entire nation was engulfed in the fervour of the Spring General Offensive and Uprising. The Hồ Chí Minh Campaign to liberate the South had entered its decisive phase, with rapidly advancing forces pressing towards Sài Gòn, tightening the encirclement.

In Bình Dương, the battlefield blazed with decisive clashes. Liberation forces pressed forward, shattering enemy defences one by one, clearing the way for relentless advances and the steady liberation of areas under the control of the Sài Gòn administration.

On April 29, 1975, under orders to advance and pave the way for liberation, the Phú Lợi Battalion launched decisive attacks on the last enemy strongholds in the province. Despite fierce resistance of the Sài Gòn troops, the battalion pushed forward relentlessly.

Nguyễn Ngọc Dưỡng, former commander of the Phú Lợi Battalion’s Company 3. — VNA/VNS Photo

"We fought harder with every battle, and with every victory, our strength grew," Nguyễn Ngọc Dưỡng, former commander of the Phú Lợi Battalion’s Company 3, recalls.

On the morning of April 30, the Phú Lợi Battalion received orders to advance straight to Sài Gòn. Travelling in military vehicles, they passed through Thủ Dầu Một, heading towards Vĩnh Phú Bridge and Lái Thiêu, the gateway to the city.

This was a strategic route for coordinating with other forces in the final offensive against the enemy’s last stronghold.

However, part of the battalion was ordered to halt in Lái Thiêu to secure logistics and maintain control of the border area.

When Bình Dương was fully liberated, another section of the battalion immediately joined forces with Army Corps 1, rapidly advancing into the heart of Sài Gòn and striking directly at the General Staff Headquarters of the Sài Gòn forces, the enemy’s last defence.

By midday on April 30 the liberation forces took full control of the entire city of Sài Gòn.

At exactly 11:30 am Dương Văn Minh, president of the Sài Gòn administration, announced an unconditional surrender.

"We embraced one another, overwhelmed with joy at the complete liberation of the country," Dưỡng recalls.

After fulfilling its mission in the war against the US, the battalion continued to take part in combat missions to protect the country’s southwestern border and carried out the honourable international duty of helping Cambodia escape the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Entering the era of national construction and defence, industrialisation and modernisation, the battalion was reorganised and made part of the province’s Infantry Regiment 6. But the name Phú Lợi Battalion has never faded, and remains deeply etched in the memory of the armed forces and people of Bình Dương.

Heroic spirit

Nguyễn Thị Một recounts the moment she hoisted the flag of the National Front for the Liberation of South Việt Nam in Thủ Dầu Một, Bình Dương Province, on April 30, 1975. —VNA/VNS Photo Dương Chí Tưởng

Half a century has passed, but Nguyễn Thị Một, 69, of Thủ Dầu Một City vividly remembers the moment she personally raised the liberation flag atop the Phú Cường administrative office, a symbol of the Sài Gòn regime’s authority in Thủ Dầu Một.

As a secret liaison for the revolutionary force, she was assigned a special mission: to hoist the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Việt Nam atop the office. After receiving the order on April 28, she navigated multiple checkpoints and faced numerous dangers.

"I had already prepared answers in case I was seized and questioned by the enemy, such as going to the market to buy peanuts for my father to plant or picking up my grandmother to take her back to the countryside where the whole family was waiting,” she says.

“Every step was taken with caution. The Sài Gòn troops checked my identification card and asked questions, but in the end I managed to enter Thủ Dầu Một’s centre just before the liberation."

At dawn on April 30 she and her comrade Mười Nhung rode their bicycles towards the centre of Thủ Dầu Một.

Near the Bình Dương six-way intersection, she suddenly saw a liberation flag with a five-pointed golden star proudly waving on top of a flagpole. It was a symbol left behind by the advancing liberation forces.

Upon reaching the Phú Cường administrative office, with support from a liberation fighter, she cautiously climbed to the rooftop and successfully hoisted the flag.

"Thủ Dầu Một was finally liberated," she says with emotion.

At the time Một was just 19 years old, and was a courageous young woman who played a pivotal role in a defining moment of history.

After reunification, she continued to serve in various positions as a public employee in Thủ Dầu Một.

Now retired, Một retains the revolutionary spirit of her youth. She is not only a living witness to history but also an enduring symbol of loyalty and dedication to the nation. VNS