People from Ha Tinh

"We are comrades of Uncle Luong, soldiers from Ha Tinh . Please don't look for us. Just call us people from Ha Tinh, that's all, Uncle!"

I have a friend named Dang Minh Son, a civil engineer, who lives on Le Van Luong Street in Hanoi . Son and I met and became close friends when we were both studying at university. Although we attended different schools, our encounters on the football field sealed our friendship. We became even closer when I learned that he was the son of a fallen soldier. Son's father was a Vietnamese volunteer soldier who bravely sacrificed his life in the attack on the Muong Moc stronghold in Xieng Khouang province, Laos, in 1972.

People from Ha Tinh

The nation honors the heroic martyrs who sacrificed their lives for national independence and for noble international missions.

Last year, I was invited to a meeting of outstanding collaborators of the People's Army Radio Program, and I had the opportunity to visit Son's house. Unexpectedly, it was the anniversary of his father's death. When the last guest said goodbye and left, Son and I sat together in the spacious living room. Son's voice was tinged with sadness:

- I have something that's really bothering me, you know. Today is the 50th anniversary of my father's death. Half a century has passed, and my wife and I still don't know where his grave is!

I looked at you with concern and quietly asked:

Why don't you go look for it?

- My father died on the battlefield in Laos. I'm the son of a war hero, and I'm an only child. All I know is sitting in school. Laos is so far away, I heard it's all mountains and forests, and you need all sorts of paperwork to go there. I've never been in the army, so how am I supposed to get there?

Sơn coughed a few times, his voice fading into the silence:

- Lately, I've occasionally dreamt of a soldier wearing a Laotian liberation army cap, rubber sandals, and carrying a backpack. Sometimes the soldier seems right in front of me, but at other times he's close, sometimes far away, and I can't see his face clearly. Strangely, when I look at the soldier, I have a feeling I've met him somewhere before. Maybe my father has "come back," you know.

Son lit an incense stick. In the solemn smoke of the incense, Son's voice lowered:

- You used to be a special forces soldier who fought on the Xieng Khouang front. You also worked at the Military Region Newspaper, and you traveled to Laos quite a bit. My wife and I wanted to ask for your help…

I nodded silently.

- It's difficult! But I'll try! Anyway, we'll try to find Uncle Ho's grave. I think he died in Laos, and I'm sure his remains have been brought back to Vietnam by now…!

On my way back to my hometown, I went to say goodbye to Son. Respectfully lighting three incense sticks on the altar, I gazed at his portrait and murmured a prayer: "Uncle Luong, I'm going to find you on Son's behalf!" The incense sticks flickered red, as if foretelling a good omen. At the Nuoc Ngam bus station, as we parted ways, Son handed me a bundle of money wrapped in newspaper, pleading:

- Take this! I'm not paying you. But finding relatives in the deep forests and mountains, in a foreign land, isn't something that can be done in a day or two. You'll need to ask others to help you search. And then there's the money for train, bus, food... you'll need that too!

I shook my head and waved my hand away from Son:

- Don't do that! We're not only best friends, but we're also teammates!

People from Ha Tinh

The Vietnam-Laos International Martyrs Cemetery was built in 1976 on an area of nearly 7 hectares in Anh Son town (Anh Son district – Nghe An province ) and is the largest cemetery gathering the graves of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos. Photo: QĐ (Lao Dong Newspaper).

I shook his hand firmly and got into the car. All the way there, I scrutinized the piece of paper Sơn had given me, which had the address: “Martyr Đặng Minh Lương, hometown Quỳnh Hồng commune, Quỳnh Lưu district, Nghệ An province. Unit: 20th Special Forces Company, 4th Military Region. Died on April 18, 1972, at the Xiêng Khoảng front, battlefield C.” as if searching for something hidden behind the page. The car arrived at Bỉm Sơn, and several passengers disembarked. The passenger sitting next to me also got off. I was engrossed in admiring the hazy mountains and forests of Thanh Hóa province in the early morning mist when I heard a very polite voice with a Hà Tĩnh accent:

- Excuse me, sir, may I sit here?

I turned around. It was a soldier with the rank of lieutenant, wearing a backpack, standing as if waiting for my opinion. I nodded: "Please feel free!" The soldier propped his backpack up on the rack and sat down next to me. He was a young man, about 24 or 25 years old, with a bright, slightly tanned, and resolute face. My first impression of the soldier was his eyes. They shone with a clear and honest gaze. Suddenly, I blurted out a question:

- Where are you from (I've replaced "comrade" with "nephew")? Are you on a business trip?

- Yes, I'm from Huong Khe, Ha Tinh province. My unit is stationed in Nghe An. I came to Thanh Hoa to verify the backgrounds of some comrades who are about to join the Party.

We fell silent again. Suddenly the soldier turned to me and asked:

Uncle, you seem very pensive. Are you thinking about something?

For some reason, looking at the soldier, I completely trusted him. I immediately told him everything about Uncle Luong. When I finished speaking, the soldier calmly said:

- Near my unit, there are many cemeteries where Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who fought in the C battlefield are buried, Uncle!

I was overjoyed:

That's great! I was planning to go back to my hometown for a few days and then look for Uncle Luong's grave. Could you tell me where that cemetery is located?

The soldier frowned, and after a long pause, he hesitantly said:

"How about this, Uncle? Let me go look for him first! Just give me Uncle Luong's full name, unit, hometown, date of death, and your address and phone number. Back at the unit, I'll discuss it with my platoon members; many of them are from Ha Tinh. We'll take advantage of our days off to go to the cemeteries and search for his grave. I'll call you if I find anything...!"

I was so moved. I kept shaking the soldier's hand. Then, suddenly remembering something, I asked:

- You're so careless! You haven't even asked for my hometown or address!

- Yes, my name is Nguyen Van Kinh, I'm from Huong Khe. My phone number is 089292… but never mind, I'll call you next time and you'll have the number right away…!

Back home, I waited and waited but Kính didn't call. I sighed, preparing to set off to find him, when one afternoon, exactly two months after meeting the young soldier, I received a call:

- Keeping my promise to you, upon returning to the unit, I immediately discussed with my comrades the search for Uncle Luong's grave. There are many martyrs' cemeteries in this area, so to be sure, we went to every cemetery we heard of that contained Vietnamese volunteer soldiers, searching all the tombstones, but we couldn't find him. We thought he must have been reinterred at the Vietnam-Laos International Martyrs' Cemetery (Anh Son District, Nghe An Province), so I and three other soldiers went to look. The cemetery was vast, with countless tombstones. Around noon, we finally found Uncle Luong's name on grave number 6, in row 5, section E. The name, the commune, and the unit all matched the document you gave me! I've attached a map of the cemetery via Messenger for your convenience.

I opened Messenger, and below the cemetery map was a message from Kính: "We are comrades of Uncle Lương, soldiers from Hà Tĩnh. Please don't look for us. Just call us people from Hà Tĩnh, that's all, Uncle!"

I was stunned! So these soldiers were the kind who "did a favor but didn't expect anything in return." Thinking that, but overjoyed, and feeling certain I could trust Kính and the soldiers, I immediately called Sơn.

People from Ha Tinh

The Vietnam-Laos International Martyrs' Cemetery is the resting place of nearly 11,000 martyrs from 47 provinces and cities across Vietnam who sacrificed their lives on the battlefields of Laos, including many graves of unknown martyrs. Photo: QĐ (Lao Dong Newspaper).

A few days later, Son brought his wife and children to my house. Following Kinh's map, we took Highway 7 straight to Anh Son and then to the Vietnam-Laos International Martyrs' Cemetery. The afternoon sun shone brightly, illuminating the countless gravestones of the fallen soldiers. Son and I were speechless when we saw the freshly burned incense sticks and neatly arranged bunches of sim flowers on the graves. Son whispered, "Those are for the soldiers from Ha Tinh!" then knelt down and embraced his father's grave, weeping uncontrollably. Son's wife and children also knelt down and burst into sobs.

- Dad, I couldn't find you for 50 years. The soldiers from Ha Tinh found you and brought you back to me, Dad!

July 2023

Nguyen Xuan Dieu

Source