Mr. Pham Quyen wrote the letter of wishes. Photo: PXD [/caption] In 1968, there was an American cinema event related to the Vietnam War that many people knew about. That was the release of the feature film The Green Berets , which recreated the image of the American special forces. The film was professionally invested, up to Hollywood standards, so it was very "popular". The filmmakers of The Green Berets chose to film at the McNamara electronic fence in 1967. One of the special things about this film is that there are 2 Vietnamese people appearing in different scenes. The first person is the famous singer Bach Yen - a famous name, singing in the film. The second person is a boy from the border countryside who is almost unknown because almost no one knows him. The Vietnamese child actor entered the film innocently, acting without knowing he was playing a role, that is Pham Quyen. He himself quickly forgot about this because his fierce childhood in the border area and the front line had many other things... In 2008, when he became an American citizen after reuniting with his relatives, Mr. Pham Quyen (now 65 years old) lived in Washington DC, working at Walmart supermarket group as an import goods inspector. He often went online to watch movies to entertain himself after work. The keyword he liked to type when searching for movies was "Vietnam War". One time, after he typed in the search, the American movie The Green Berets appeared. Oh my, why is the scene so familiar! And who is like me? He rubbed his eyes and watched the movie over and over again. The boy in the movie was exactly him. The childhood of bombs, smoke and fire rushed back to the image of Gio Linh countryside. Pham Quyen was silent and moved. The inner urges kept surging up endlessly... He told this story to his American friends... In Washington DC, American veterans who fought in the Vietnam War often held meetings. One time, hearing that a group of soldiers who had been stationed at the McNamara electronic fence were meeting, Mr. Quyen quickly went to listen. Waiting for the confidences to subside, Mr. Quyen boldly asked to speak... Then Pham Quyen explained to the veterans that he wanted to recreate the images of the military bases in Con Tien, Doc Mieu... to carry out a nostalgic tourism project there, to look back at the war and try to maintain peace, so that the two peoples of Vietnam and the US can understand each other better and come closer together... One, two, then a series of arms of American soldiers were raised in agreement and applause. Each person promised to help in their own way. One promised to send photos of the military base so that there would be a basis for the reconstruction to be similar to the original. One pledged to call for some military uniforms and equipment of the US during the Vietnam War to support this unique tourism project... From then on, Mr. Pham Quyen went back and forth to Vietnam like a shuttle to promote the project. Old age, declining health, busy work, and not easy and expensive to travel back and forth, but he still pursues it with incredible perseverance. He confided: In the US, I have a stable job, a decent income, a decent house, and I won't be able to spend all my pension in the future, and when I'm old, my needs aren't many. My children can take care of themselves, so making a living and earning money isn't urgent. Besides, I'm near death, why bother carrying a burden? But I do this because my soul and spirit guide me. Even though I'm sometimes very tired, whenever I think about the future of my hometown Quang Tri having a tourist area like I dreamed of, I can't give up..." Excerpt from People from the Border, https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su/nguoi-tu-gioi-tuyen- May 31, 2020. [caption id="attachment_664230" align="aligncenter" width="400"] 
Mr. Pham Quyen's Letter of Wishes. Photo: PXD [/caption] I happened to know Mr. Pham Quyen, a Vietnamese expatriate who has lived in the United States for a long time, now over 65 years old. He is from Thanh An commune, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province. Before 1975, his house was near the McNamara electronic fence in Gio Linh district, so he knew many American soldiers stationed there. Later, when he came to the US, he had the chance to meet them again and recognized each other through their wartime stories. He himself had the idea of implementing a project to restore part of the McNamara electronic fence model to serve nostalgic tourism, for peace and friendship, and mutual understanding. It is also a way to contribute to poverty reduction for the people of Quang Tri, first of all in Gio Linh district. This idea was enthusiastically supported by many American veterans who later became generals and politicians, who promised to support wholeheartedly for a wish full of goodwill for peace and humanity. He once met with the leaders of Quang Tri province to present his idea and was approved in principle. Unfortunately, for many reasons, this idea could not be implemented... He is also the main character in the reportage contest "People from the borderline" which won first prize in the reportage and memoir contest of Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper in 2020, which I have just introduced above. But the story just mentioned is not the main content of this article, it only illustrates a few things about a Vietnamese person who is deeply attached to his homeland. After getting to know each other and gaining trust in each other, he confided a story that kept him awake many nights. The first time I heard it, I felt like electricity ran down my spine... THE STORY THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REMEMBERED IN LIFE AND BEEN TAUGHT WITH ME WHEN DIE He said: "This story sounds unbelievable at first, but to me it is 100% true. During a conversation after we became close, several American veterans thoughtfully told me a story that they should have lived to remember and died with. That was after a battle, they got a part of a soldier's body, one kept it, and then brought it back to the US when his term of service in Vietnam ended, specifically at the unit stationed next to the McNamara fence in Gio Linh, Quang Tri. Later, when they were old and didn't know when they would die, they wanted to return a part of the remains to the Vietnamese side peacefully but didn't know who to find. They considered me a close friend so they confided in me... But the matter was too difficult, too tense. You are a journalist, so how do you think we should solve it?" I was speechless because the story was too unexpected, beyond my imagination and the problem was also beyond the reach of a reporter. Since then, for many years, I have been struggling, struggling to find a solution to a problem that for me was too difficult and could also be quite troublesome. But then everything was still at a standstill. TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT... In March 2023, Mr. Pham Quyen returned to visit his hometown. We met for coffee. The conversation wandered and then returned to the topic of remains that had been lost for more than half a century, halfway around the world. With determination after much contemplation, I contacted a leader of Quang Tri province to present the matter, asking to meet Mr. Quyen in person to present the matter. But at that time, the locality was having a meeting of the Provincial People's Council for several days, and Mr. Quyen could not wait to return to the US. After discussion, Mr. Quyen wrote a letter and gave it to me. The entire content of the letter is as follows: " WISH LETTER . My name is: Pham Quyen Date of birth: January 10, 1958 Hometown: Truc Kinh, Thanh An, Cam Lo, Quang Tri Currently residing in the United States I had the opportunity to get to know many American veterans who fought in Vietnam before 1975. Many American soldiers were stationed in my hometown, along the McNamara electronic fence. When I came to the US, I met them again. A group of American veterans told me that someone brought a skull of a soldier's remains from Quang Tri to the US when they left Vietnam. That happened more than half a century ago. Now the American veterans are old and weak, they want to return a part of the soldier's remains to the Vietnamese side but do not know how to do it. The story is sensitive and important, related to spirituality, so it is not easy to tell. They only told me. And I told this story many times to journalist Pham Xuan Dung, who is currently living and working in Quang Tri, asking for his support in bringing the soldier's remains back to Vietnam. The story is too difficult and too important, so I do not know how to solve it, so I write these lines here to confirm that I have heard the story and have witnessed the skull with my own eyes. I sincerely hope that this content will be made public and sent to the competent authorities to review the information so that it can be handled. Since this is a humanitarian and spiritual issue, I respectfully request that the two countries of Vietnam and the US cooperate to resolve it. I am now old, and I only hope to do something for my homeland, including the matter mentioned above. I sincerely hope that journalist Pham Xuan Dung will somehow inform the Vietnamese government to find a way to bring the remains back. I hereby certify that what I have written is completely true. I would like to sincerely thank everyone and hope that the story has a happy ending. Quang Tri, March 28, 2023. Signed: Pham Quyen "Right after the Provincial People's Council ended its session, I boldly went to the headquarters of the Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee. Mr. Ha Sy Dong, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, received me and listened to my story as well as read Mr. Pham Quyen's heartfelt letter. He also took Mr. Pham Quyen's phone number in the US and said that he would try to find a way to verify and handle it within his authority and responsibility. He added that if this is indeed a part of the remains of a martyr, then we must find a way to reunite them with their families as soon as possible. He said he would direct the provincial authorities to promote this. It has been almost a year since then, but the story seems to have made no progress and those who know are very anxious. In 2020, while writing my article, Mr. Pham Quyen provided me with initial information about this matter, and I included it in the conclusion of my article about him: “ As I write these lines, I received new news from Mr. Pham Quyen. A group of American veterans who were stationed at the McNamara electronic fence said they trusted him and wanted him to be a bridge so that the two countries could continue to do a better job of searching for and returning the remains of soldiers when conditions allowed. Mr. Quyen said he had not considered this yet, but first of all, he recognized their goodwill - American citizens who held guns during the Vietnam War and, whether they wanted to or not, had suffered a lot of mental trauma. There are many things about youth that people think back on when they are older. Perhaps all sides wish for a reunion between the two hemispheres, sincere, tolerant and emotional, without boundaries... "This time I would like to borrow his wish to temporarily conclude this article. Hopefully the upcoming story will have a happy ending...Pham Xuan Dung
Source of Literature and Arts No. 3/2024
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