The ceremonies, held between 1969 and 1972, were organized in secret by Party cells under the extreme surveillance.
Scraps of discarded paper were collected to form makeshift banners, while tiny hand-drawn Party flags and portraits of President Hồ Chí Minh served as sacred symbols during the oaths.
At her modest home in Quy Nhơn, 76-year-old Huỳnh Thị Chính still vividly remembers October 15, 1969, when she was admitted to the CPV after months of testing and observation by fellow prisoners.
Captured in 1967 while serving as a guerrilla liaison, she had been detained in several prisons before arriving at Phú Tài.
“Being admitted to the Party right in prison, among fellow revolutionaries, was sacred and immensely precious,” Chính said.
Following her induction, she served as a Party cell member and Youth Union Secretary until her release. After reunification, she built a career in the medical sector and later led a liaison group for former female inmates.
Another survivor, Thái Thị Đào, born in 1952, was inducted on October 30, 1972, inside a cramped cell.
Previously a liaison in Hoài Phú commune, she had been captured while protecting secret documents and tortured in custody.
“For me, the Party induction ceremony was an incredibly meaningful moment. Being admitted to the Party gave me faith and strength to continue dedicating and fighting,” Đào recalled.
After liberation, she was recognized as a war invalid, awarded the Third-Class War Resistance Medal and continues to preserve her faded Party membership card issued in 1980.
Trần Thị Cảm, born in 1947, was inducted on March 8, 1970. The ceremony was guarded against enemy patrols and the Party flag she embroidered by hand became a treasured emblem for subsequent events.
“Under the Party flag, I swore loyalty to the Communist Party of Vietnam and vowed to sacrifice to the last drop of blood to defend the country,” she said.
Even in captivity, she noted, monthly Party cell meetings were held at night. Today, three of her four children are CPV members.
All three women emphasized that their oaths of loyalty, taken in prison more than half a century ago, remain a guiding force in their lives.
Their stories highlight the resilience and unity of female revolutionary prisoners who turned Phú Tài Prison into what they describe as an “unyielding fortress.”