'Martyr' wandering for 45 years suddenly finds family

In 1987, a skinny young man, dressed in rags, wandered around the market in Cho Moi district (An Giang), begging for food. When he met the young man, Mr. Tran Van My in Tan My commune, Cho Moi district did not ask too many questions. With just a sympathetic look and a sigh, he took him home, starting a relationship of raising him that lasted nearly four decades.

At that time, Mrs. Huynh Thi Hang - Mr. My's wife, could not understand her husband's decision to "bring a stranger home". But then looking at the young man shivering with malaria, his eyes bewildered as if lost in life, she could not bear to let go. The boy was called by the family by the simple name "Tong" - becoming the eighth adopted child in an already poor family.

The Amnesiac Soldier – Memories from Fragments

At that time, Tong said he had been in the army and fought in Cambodia. But when asked about his unit, hometown, and family, everything was a blank for Tong. Only the persistent malaria and fragmented memories still clung to his body like wartime scars.

For many years, he lived quietly, herding cows, working for hire, helping his adoptive parents' family. Once he got lost, the whole family rushed to look for him, his sisters cried for fear that he had gone missing.

Mr. My tried many times to get personal papers or to add Tong's name to his family register, but was unable to do so because he had nothing to prove his identity.

His siblings grew up and got married. Tong remained single with his adoptive parents and his uncle, who had no wife or children. The day Mr. My passed away, he was absent-minded for several months.

In the memories of Mr. My's descendants, "Uncle Tong" was a diligent, neat, loyal person who always burned incense for his deceased adoptive father.

Mr. Tong, whose real name is Nguyen The Long, has now found his family after 45 years of wandering. Photo: Family provided

A few years ago, his uncle passed away, Mrs. Hang went to work in Binh Duong, Mr. Tong stayed home alone, not bothering anyone, even saving every penny of his salary to send to his nephew who lived far away. Although he had no identification papers, and was not listed in the household register, in the hearts of this large family, he was a part of their flesh and blood.

As time passed, memories that seemed to have faded away suddenly came flooding back. One day in early April 2025, Mr. Tong whispered: "My name is Nguyen The Long. My house is near the sea, Quang Hai commune, Quang Xuong, Thanh Hoa. My mother's name is Cuc, my brother's name is Kim...".

Unexpectedly found family thanks to social networks

Minh Vuong, the 19-year-old adopted nephew, did not hesitate for a moment after hearing his uncle's words. He searched online, texted the Quang Hai commune police and received a reply from Mr. Hoang Chien, the commune police chief. The data from the video Minh Vuong sent was compared by the Quang Hai commune police. The curtain of memories gradually matched each detail.

Confirming with VietNamNet, Mr. Hoang Chien, Chief of Quang Hai Commune Police, said: "This story is completely true. I was the one who verified the information about "martyr" Nguyen The Long. After that, I advised the Commune Chairman to organize a meeting for the two families to receive their relatives."

According to Mr. Chien, Mr. Nguyen The Long was born in 1959, joined the army and went to the battlefield in Cambodia in 1976. In February 1980, a death notice was sent saying that Nguyen The Long had died.

Mr. The Hai, 41 years old, the son of Mr. Long’s eldest brother, who is living in Hanoi, also choked up, confirming that the living person was his uncle. Mr. Hai’s family had set up an altar, searched for the grave… while Mr. Long still lived quietly, worked for hire and worshiped his adoptive father in a faraway place in the West.

Mr. Hai said that as soon as they heard the news, his extended family from Thanh Hoa, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City rushed to An Giang. They went to meet Mr. Long's adoptive mother in Binh Duong, then returned to the place where he had lived for 38 years as a person of unknown origin. That tearful and smiling reunion was not only the return of a person, but also the return of faith, of blood relatives thought to have been lost.

Ms. Huynh Thi Hang (left cover), adoptive mother, talks with Mr. Tong's biological parents from Thanh Hoa on the evening of April 11. Photo: Kim Nam.

Now, Mr. Long remembers every house pillar and tree in his old hometown. But when asked, “Do you want to go back?”, he sometimes nods, and sometimes says, “I can go for Tet.” To him, any hometown is home, a place where there are people who love you and you love them back.

Mr. Long’s nearly 40-year journey is not only the journey of a returning soldier, but also a miraculous testament to the vitality of humanity, family love and patience. While the death certificate has been covered with dust, a roof in the West has become a place to shelter and protect a returning soldier.

Reunion in Thanh Hoa - Mr. Long's hometown on the evening of April 15. Photo: Family provided

Now, Mr. Long will have papers, a pension, and relatives who cried because they thought he was gone. But above all, he has a second homeland, where whether he is away or at home, he is called family.

Today, Minh Vuong, Mr. Long's adopted grandson, said that his extended family in An Giang has reunited with Mr. Long's family in Thanh Hoa after 45 years of wandering.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/liet-si-luu-lac-45-nam-bat-ngo-tim-lai-duoc-gia-dinh-2391367.html