Priceless artifacts involving the main character of “Biet dong Sai Gon” movie to be given to museum
PSNews-Various documents and objects featuring Tran Van Lai-Hero of the People's Armed Forces, a prototype of “Biet dong Sai Gon”, will be presented to the Thai Binh Museum.
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The Volkswagen car, which was bought by Mr. Lai and used for his secret service, has been preserved by his family. |
Tran Van Lai’s family has decided to hand a series of objects and documents related to Lai’s career and life, including the car he used for his covert operations, to the Museum of Thai Binh, as confirmed by Tran Vu Binh, a son of Tran Van Lai.
Tran Van Lai – titled “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces”, was born in Thai Binh, joined the revolutionary cause very early. He was trained and became a special task-force officer. He was tasked to get a high position in the enemy ranks, to gather intelligence about the enemy’s situations, and to help other forces transport weapons into the city. He was also the "manager" of many underground hideouts to cover revolutionaries and weapons in the heart of Saigon under the control of the US military forces and Saigon regime.
The lives and careers with outstanding achievements of Tran Van Lai and his first wife, martyr Pham Thi Phan Chinh, have been depicted in many literary works and movies. Of them the movie series "Biet dong Sai Gon” (The Saigon Special Force) is the most successful work, which features Tran Van Lai and his wife as the owners of a large paint company in South Vietnam during the war.
In 2015, Tran Van Lai was posthumously conferred the title “Hero of Armed Forces” by the State. The same entitlement for martyr Pham Thi Phan Chinh and his second wife, Mrs. Dang Thi Thiep, are also under consideration by authorities of Ho Chi Minh City.
Many artifacts and materials related to the life of this "family of spies" have been donated to various museums. A series of weapons bunkers, secretly built during the resistance war, have now become historical sites.
The Volkswagen car, which was bought by Mr. Lai and used for his secret service, has been preserved by his family.
In January, Vu Duc Thom, Director of the Thai Binh Museum, wrote to Dang Thi Thiep to persuade the family to donate the materials, objects and images related to the revolutionary cause of Tran Van Lai, including the Volkswagen mentioned above.
