Journalists and relatives of martyr journalists nationwide cannot forget that in the sacred month of July, the year of the Rat, the national media system almost simultaneously reported, published articles and photos of the grand requiem mass at Da Pagoda (Vinh city, Nghe An) for more than 500 martyr journalists, including 6 journalists from Nghe An who sacrificed their lives in the resistance war against France and America, protecting the Fatherland, volunteering to perform the noble international duty for the Land of a Million Elephants and the Land of Golden Pagodas.
The event, imbued with the traditional moral values of the Vietnamese people for thousands of years, "When drinking water, remember its source"; "When eating fruit, be grateful to the person who planted the tree" was solemnly held at Au Lac Pagoda (Da Pagoda), a nearly 400-year-old pagoda located in Hoa Tien hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city, Nghe An province on July 27, 2020, leaving an indelible mark. July, the full moon day, in everyone's mind, still carries the heavy moral of remembering ancestors and deceased relatives.
The humane idea of the pagoda was happily shared by the Vietnam Buddhist Association of Nghe An province, including the content and form of the ceremony, in accordance with the sentiments and wishes of many press agencies, central and local, and Buddhists around Vinh City. The name "Requiem for revolutionary martyr journalists" itself carries the meaning of ensuring the enthusiasm and responsibility of the representatives of the People's Committee office of Vinh province and city, Nghe An Newspaper, Nghe An Journalists Association, representatives of the Party Committee, government, and mass organizations of Hung Loc commune, the people of Hoa Tien hamlet, the Director of Saigon Eye Hospital, and a large number of medical staff of Saigon Eye Hospital, Nghe An Radio and Television Station, etc. The press agencies all sent to the "Requiem for revolutionary martyr journalists" the most capable and dedicated reporters to work the fastest, and publish the most touching articles about an activity to pay tribute to the heroic generation of journalists in the difficult and fierce times of war.
The first martyr of the anti-French resistance was journalist Tran Kim Xuyen, who died on March 3, 1947. Journalist Tran Kim Xuyen was born in 1921, from Huong Son, Ha Tinh, and was former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Information Agency, now the Vietnam News Agency. The last martyr of the anti-American resistance was journalist Nguyen Duc Hoang, born on April 8, 1942, from Tan Yen, Ha Bac, and the head of Loc Ninh branch who died on August 6, 1974. The only journalist who died in February 1978 in the volunteer army helping the Cambodian people to destroy the Pol Pot genocide was Vu Hien, from Thuy Nguyen, Hai Phong, a reporter for the Navy Newspaper. The journalist who died in February 1979, protecting the Northern Border was reporter Bui Nguyen Khiet, Hoang Lien Son Newspaper. Journalist Nguyen Nhu Dat, People's Army Film Studio. To get a piece of news, a report, a photo, a war film, a reporter must pay with his life.
From 1960 to 1975, Vietnam News Agency had nearly three hundred journalists who died on all fronts, battlefields hot with bombs and bullets, the most fierce being the Central Highlands, Zone 5, Southeast, Cu Chi steel land, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, 81 days and nights defending Quang Tri Citadel. Vietnam News Agency reporter Luong Nghia Dung, later awarded the title of Hero of the Armed Forces by the Party, State, and National Assembly, died on the battlefield defending Quang Tri Citadel. Journalist Luong Nghia Dung fell bravely like more than three thousand officers and soldiers of Division 320, Division 304, Regiment 48 and Regiment 27 named after Trieu Hai, most of whom were children of Nghe An.
Before 81 days and nights of fighting with the enemy, fighting for every inch of land blackened by smoke and bullets, two liberation army film reporters Le Viet The and Nguyen Nhu Dung sacrificed their lives at the same time on the tank turret of Brigade 203 when advancing to liberate Hai Lang sub-region. The strip of land, the intestine of the Central region from Duc Pho (Quang Ngai) to Dong Ha (Quang Tri), during the years of the liberation war was soaked with the blood and bones of 15 martyr journalists. Among those brave faces was writer and journalist Duong Thi Xuan Quy, a young mother who left her 2-year-old daughter Duong Huong Ly in the rear, crossing Truong Son to the arduous and fierce zone 5. The only remaining relic of martyr journalist Duong Thi Xuan Quy is a hairpin found where she "lay in the good land of Duy Xuyen" in Quang Nam (Poem Song of Happiness by poet Bui Minh Quoc, in memory of his beloved wife Duong Thi Xuan Quy).
Journalist Le Doan, former Secretary of the Editorial Board of the Vietnam Women's Newspaper, also suppressed many feelings of regret and longing, and had to leave her two children, the oldest 6 years old, the youngest 4 years old, and then followed the sea liaison line to return to her hometown Ben Tre, taking on the important responsibility of Vice President of the Women's Liberation Association and Editor-in-Chief of the Women's Liberation Newspaper of the South. Journalist Le Doan sacrificed in My Tho after a carpet bombing. Her resting place was deformed by "swarms of artillery and bombs". After the liberation day, relatives and comrades could not find her remains. Her two children cried and scratched under the black soil, only finding a piece of Hue purple wool that their mother had brought to the South in 1966 when she left Hanoi. Journalist Pham Thi Ngoc Hue sacrificed in the Laos battlefield. After many years of searching, they only found a penicillin bottle containing a discolored piece of paper with the name Pham Thi Ngoc Hue, Truong Son Newspaper, on the old battlefield, Ang Kham Valley, Forward Command Headquarters of Group 559.
The ultimate pain of war not only fell on the fragile and small fate of Ms. Le Doan and Duong Thi Xuan Quy, but also on the reporters, editors, and telegraph operators who were female journalists who died on the battlefields of the Southeast, Thua Thien Hue, Dong Thap Muoi, Zone 8, Zone 9, and the Central Highlands. They were journalists Pham Thi De, Tran Thi Gam, Nguyen Thi Kim Huong, Nguyen Thi Moi, Truong Thi Mai, Le Thi Nang, Pham Thi Kim Oanh, Ngo Thi Phuoc, Nguyen Thi Thuy, Doan Thi Viet Thuy, Nguyen Thi Mai, Le Kim Phuong, Nguyen Thi Nhuong, Nguyen Phuong Duy... all of whom had their graves and remains never found.
The time of sacrifice may be different, but the burial place is always at the hot front of the war, under the sky of bombs and bullets. The reporter of the Central Liberation News Agency, Le Van Luyen, from Nghi Trung, Nghi Loc, Nghe An, sacrificed at the Que Son front (Quang Nam) in 1970. The body of journalist Le Van Luyen was placed at the foot of Liet Kiem mountain, nearly two thousand meters away from the front line, thought to be safe but was carpet-bombed by B52 bombs several times, plowed up and crushed, the martyrs' cemetery was only dense with bomb craters. The son Le Van Son graduated from university, volunteered to teach in Que Son (Quang Nam), hoping to find the remains of his father Le Van Luyen. For four years, he traveled back and forth across many cemeteries in Quang Nam but to no avail. Le Van Son had to console his mother and siblings whose father had passed away into the land of the country.
Having been persistently, resiliently, and steadfastly accompanying the nation for thirty years in defeating the French colonialists, the American invaders, and the Saigon puppet regime's lackeys, helping Laos gain Independence in 1973, helping the Cambodian people escape genocide, and defeating the Northern invasion, the Vietnamese revolutionary press lost more than 500 journalists in blood and bones. Nghe An alone has martyr journalists: Dang Loan, Tran Van Thong - Western Nghe An Newspaper; Nguyen Con - Army Cinema; Le Duy Que, Le Van Luyen - Liberation News Agency; Nguyen Khac Thang - Southeast Liberation Army Cinema; Ho Tuong Phung - Voice of Vietnam Radio.
Vietnam News Agency lost over 200 journalists. People's Army Cinema suffered nearly 40 casualties.
Voice of Vietnam Radio and Voice of the People's Liberation Revolution Radio sacrificed more than 50 editors, reporters, announcers, and technical staff.
They are excellent journalists, talented and creative technical experts, well-trained in the great rear of the North and matured and tempered in the battlefield, steadfastly holding out even in the vast waters of Dong Thap Muoi. Overcoming fierce hardships, having their bases repeatedly bombed and shelled, they regularly spread the voice of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, patriotic and progressive organizations and forces fighting for Independence and freedom, calling on the whole world to fight against invasion, against unjust wars, calling on progressive people to support Vietnam in gaining independence, unifying the country, and protecting peace.
After the victory on April 30, 1975, the country was reunited. Beyond the loss of human lives, there was a lingering, unforgiving obsession because the graves and remains of hundreds of journalists who sacrificed their lives were still not found, scattered across the fronts and battlefields.
For nearly a century, among the one million two hundred thousand martyrs nationwide, you journalists are clouds, mist, smoke, land, trees, but you cannot be a fairy tale, cannot be the past, but shimmer with countless loves covering the human mind. Then one day, in the sacred space, the fragrant incense spreads to the Three Jewels of Da Pagoda (Au Lac Pagoda), one of 15,000 pagodas nationwide, including nearly 70 pagodas in Nghe An, proving the spirit of "Buddha's light shines everywhere", a grand ceremony was held to pray for the souls of 511 heroic journalists and revolutionary martyrs of Vietnam. Venerable Thich Dong Tue, abbot of Au Lac Pagoda, Venerable Thich Dong Bao, and Venerable Thich Dong Tu solemnly performed the ceremony to invite the souls of heroic martyrs and journalists to attend the grand requiem mass on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day, expressing the concern, gratitude, and responsibility of the Party, State, and Organizations to care for generations of people who have made great contributions to the Fatherland.
Night of requiem. The space of Au Lac Pagoda was bright, shimmering with thousands of candles. Students from universities and colleges, members of the Au Lac Pagoda Club, Ha Pagoda, elegant in their brown meditation robes, respectfully carried the memorial tablets of heroes, martyrs and revolutionary journalists from all over the country to the altar to pay their respects, and burn incense forever and ever.
The red incense sticks smell fragrant every day. The bells ring every morning and evening, lulling the souls of martyr journalists to the afterlife.
There is a journalist whose Buddhist name is Minh Tri, who used to be a war correspondent against the US. He spent nearly 20 years searching for and piecing together information about martyr journalists who fell on all fronts and battlefields from 1947 to the war to protect the Northern Border to fulfill his noble international duty, so that in 2019 he could complete the list of 511 martyr journalists to be included in the Vietnam Revolutionary Journalism Museum and worshiped at Da Pagoda (Au Lac Pagoda). After the Canh Ty year's memorial service, every day, regardless of the sun, rain, storms, he quietly and diligently went to the pagoda to offer incense in memory of heroic martyr journalists across the country.
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