Page 359 - Xuan Giap Thin 2024 FINAL 2

returned to the county to sleep the night for safety. Only the militia guarding the road

held the bridge on the road. People disguised themselves as Cambodian soldiers dressed

in military uniforms and cloth hats and rode in Honda cars toward Siso Phon on the
border. Since the day of the war, the city has been bustling. People come here to deliver

contraband. Vietnamese soldiers came here to tell the story and buy souvenirs.
Cambodian soldiers come here carrying people and goods for food. Thai girls and

Vietnamese girls come here to work without capital. People crossed the border in search

of freedom. Spies and counterintelligence come here for information and sabotage. All
kinds of people and tricks are concentrated here, a city prosperous because of the war.

We approached Siso Phon and saw electric lights twinkling like rays of light, signaling

good news. Suddenly, folding the broken bridge, obstacles were placed in the middle.
The guide spoke up and demanded that the struggle be removed. Militiamen rushed to

the sides of the blockhouse, talking and talking. A person came to ask in Khmer, of course

I didn't understand and couldn't answer. They demanded to see the papers. I don't have
an ID. Seeing the revelation, the guide tried to escape smoothly. My father and son were

arrested! That night, they locked us in a bunker, and now and then, someone would come

and check our belongings. We didn't understand what they were saying, and we couldn't
explain it to them. In each search, they took one item, and my child and I ended up with

only our clothes and an empty bag. All night, hungry and cold, thinking about the future
tired me. I love my 11-year-old child, who has endured many hardships. He was only

two when he was dehydrated. The school entrance age is slowly dyed red. The eight-

year-old went to prison to visit his father. The eleven-year-old followed his father across
the border and was arrested.

Hopes of finding freedom on New Year's Day were dashed. A new prison step in the
new year loomed before thousands. The following day, the militiamen locked us in a

small leafy house in the middle of the field, about 100 yards from the road. They warned

me not to leave the house because there were many mines and traps, and they could also
be shot. Every day, they bring us two meals, 2 cups of com each, one dried fish, and one

bowl of spring water. The dry spring had only stood water, all eating, drinking, bathing,
and washing with that water. Around the stream, looming behind grass and stumps,

there were buried mines, anti-personnel mines, and jump mines. The path to escape was

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