Võ Thị Sáu was born in 1933 in Phước Thọ Commune, Đất Đỏ District, in what is today Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province of southern Vietnam. She was born into a poor family; her father, Võ Văn Hợi, worked as a horse-cart driver transporting passengers, while her mother, Nguyễn Thị Đậu, sold food at the local Đất Đỏ market. The family lived modestly and young Sáu began working at an early age to support her parents.

As a child, she experienced firsthand the harsh realities of colonial rule. The reoccupation of Đất Đỏ by the French in late 1945 profoundly shaped her worldview. Many of her brothers, neighbors, and relatives joined the Việt Minh resistance movement, which sought to liberate Vietnam from French control. Inspired by their example, Sáu left school and began secretly helping her brothers by carrying supplies to guerrilla fighters.

At just 13 years old, she followed her elder brother Võ Văn Me into the resistance, initially serving as a courier and scout. By the age of 14, she had officially joined the Đất Đỏ Guerrilla Force, where her courage, sharp instincts, and loyalty quickly earned her respect among the fighters. She soon participated in direct sabotage missions and grenade attacks against French patrols, becoming a full-fledged guerrilla fighter rather than just a messenger.

From 1947 to 1949, Võ Thị Sáu carried out a series of grenade attacks and assassinations targeting French soldiers and Vietnamese collaborators. Her most infamous action came on 14 July 1949, when she was given a grenade to use during French National Day (Bastille Day) celebrations in her hometown of Đất Đỏ. She managed to kill a French captain and critically wound 12 other soldiers. The attack shocked the French authorities, and although she escaped undetected, it cemented her reputation as one of the boldest young guerrillas in southern Vietnam.

In December 1949, during the Lunar New Year celebrations, Sáu attempted another assassination—this time targeting a pro-French canton chief notorious for handing over Vietnamese youth suspected of being Việt Minh sympathizers. Armed with only one grenade, she attempted the strike in the crowded marketplace of Đất Đỏ. The grenade failed to explode, and she was immediately captured by French troops.

Following her arrest, Sáu was held in Đất Đỏ prison and later transferred to Bà Rịa Prison before being sent to Chí Hòa Prison in Saigon. In April 1950, she was tried before a French military tribunal. Despite her being a minor, aged only 16 or 17 at the time, she was convicted for the killing of one French officer and the deaths of multiple Vietnamese collaborators. Her defense team argued her age should exempt her from the death penalty, but the tribunal sentenced her to execution. The sentence caused outrage both in Vietnam and abroad, with anti-colonial groups in France itself condemning the ruling.

For nearly two years, she languished in Chí Hòa Prison. In January 1952, the French secretly transferred her to Côn Đảo Prison, a notorious penal island reserved for high-risk political prisoners.

On the morning of 23 January 1952, at only 18 or 19 years old, Sáu was executed by firing squad. Witnesses reported that she refused to be blindfolded, declaring:

“There’s no need to blindfold me. Let my eyes gaze upon my beloved homeland one last time, so I can look straight into the barrels of your guns!”

Defiant to the end, she sang “Tiến Quân Ca” (the Vietnamese national anthem) as she was led to the courtyard. Thousands of fellow prisoners inside Côn Đảo Prison also raised their voices in song as a final farewell. When asked if she had regrets, she replied:

“I only regret that I could not destroy all the colonial invaders and their treacherous lackeys.”