Le Ba Hai, Chairman of Hac Thanh Ward People's Committee, Thanh Hoa province, announced that Ngo Thi Tuyen passed away shortly after 9 a.m. on 4/7 at her home on Truong Thi Street. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on 5/7 at her residence, after which she will be laid to rest at Cho Nhang cemetery in Thanh Hoa province.

Ngo Thi Tuyen was born in 1946 in Nam Ngan ward, now Ham Rong ward, Thanh Hoa province. In early 1965, as the US Air Force heavily attacked Ham Rong Bridge to cut off supply lines from the North to the Southern battlefield, she joined the Nam Ngan militia, fighting to protect the strategic bridge.

During a battle on 4/4/1965, when the anti-aircraft position urgently needed ammunition, the 19-year-old female militia member asked her comrades to place two tightly bound 37 mm artillery ammunition boxes, weighing 98 kg, on her shoulders. She then braved the bombing to deliver them to the position. At that time, she weighed only about 44 kg.

The image of the small girl carrying ammunition boxes more than twice her body weight quickly became a symbol of the will and courage of Ham Rong's military and people.

Female militia member Ngo Thi Tuyen, a girl from Nam Ngan village who weighed only 44 kg, carried two ammunition boxes totaling 98 kg on her shoulders to supply her comrades fighting the US and defending Ham Rong Bridge. *Archival photo*

After two days of fighting, the military and people of Ham Rong - Nam Ngan shot down 47 US aircraft, ensuring the safety of Ham Rong Bridge and achieving one of the exemplary victories of the Northern anti-aircraft forces.

For her exceptional achievements, on 1/1/1967, at just 21 years old, Ngo Thi Tuyen was awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces. She was the first woman in the North to receive this title.

Hero Ngo Thi Tuyen also received two third-class military exploit orders and the Ho Chi Minh badge, and had the honor of meeting President Ho Chi Minh three times.

After the war, she continued her studies and worked at the Thanh Hoa Provincial Youth Union before transferring to the Military Command of Thanh Hoa town, and later to the Provincial Military Command. In 1998, she retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Le Hoang