Bui Ninh Ba was born in 1929 in the area of Van Ninh, Quang Ninh, near the Chinese border. He first describes the history of this area and his youth as a fisherman. After 1945, he joined the local militia and transported food and weapons, including artillery pieces, from China back to Vietnam. He talks about his service in the dan cong (civilian labor/mobilized workforce) during the Cao-Bac-Lang border battles and describes the conditions during the long marches and transportation of supplies. He also talks about the binh dan hoc vu classes, and the meetings and political training sessions he participated in as a member of the militia and youth association, learning about Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, and the Russian Revolution. Bui Ninh Ba mentions Hoang Quoc Viet several times, as he was apparently active in the area at the time (though he does not give precise dates). He also talks about the local ethnic minority groups, especially the Nung and the Ngai peoples, some of which collaborated with the French during the war.