Pham Van Hong was born in 1908 and was an early adherent to the Communist Party, officially joining in 1931 and first working with the peasants’ association (nong hoi). He was arrested shortly after and was in prison until 1934. In 1945 he became a member of the Ninh Binh provincial committee and worked setting up revolutionary bases in the area, especially among the local Muong ethnic minority. He describes the disarming of Japanese troops and the taking of power during the August Revolution. Immediately after the establishment of the new local government, he was made district chairman of Yen Khanh (Ninh Binh) after meeting with Van Tien Dung, who was then the provincial chairman for Ninh Binh. He participated in setting up a guerrilla and militia force for his district, and also talks about competition with the Democratic Party in 1945-1946, which included the killing of one member of the latter. During the war he worked in various positions in several areas like Nam Dinh and Thanh Hoa, and in 1952 was made secretary of an administrative resistance committee (Uy ban khang chien hanh chinh) in Ninh Binh. He also briefly mentions the Catholics in the Ninh Binh area, among which propaganda, mobilization and contact in general were quite few.