War veteran Phung Van Quan and his legendary Truong Son stick.

War veteran Phung Van Quan was born in 1942 into a farming family. He joined the army in 1961 and fought in the southern battlefield. After 5 years, he was wounded and discharged for medical treatment. When he recovered, he wrote a letter to General Vo Nguyen Giap expressing his desire to continue fighting. In 1970, Quan had to leave the army due to severe wounds and exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin.

During the war, hundreds of youths from Hoa Xa commune joined the Truong Son army corps. While marching through Hoa Binh province, Phung Van Quan and two of his friends cut down a tree to make a walking stick. The stick proved to have many useful functions, supporting soldiers while crossing rivers, serving as a clothes rack, and used as a weapon during the fighting. The stick soon became famous among the soldiers.

Mr. Quan recalled: “On our marches, when it rained and the roads became slippery, I thought of making a stick to make it easier to walk. The stick was made of bamboo and wood. It was an intimate and memorable procession during my time on the battlefield”.

The stick was then sent back to the village and displayed in the communal house of Hoa Xa commune as a reminder of the revolutionary tradition. The stick inspired musician Pham Tuyen to write a song called “Truong Son stick”.

“I heard the song on the Voice of Vietnam. The song “Truong Son stick” by Pham Tuyen encouraged a nationwide movement to join the army. In my home village, the stick is given to young people to be enlisted to remind them of their duty,” said Mr. Quan.

One of Quan’s two comrades died on the battlefield and the other died after being exposed to Agent Orange/dioxin. The stick has been returned to Mr. Quan and is kept beside his ancestal altar in commemoration of his fallen comrades.

“I guard the stick very carefully to remind my children and grandchildren of our glorious history and revolutionary tradition,” Mr. Quan said.