Nguyen Luong Bang - The exemplary father

In 1952, comrade Nguyen Luong Bang married a girl from Dong Anh (Hanoi) named Ha Thuc Trinh when he was 48 years old.

Kind and serious

In the afternoon, in a house in a small alley of Hanoi Capital, Mrs. Nguyen Tuong Van, the eldest daughter of comrade Nguyen Luong Bang, told us many stories and memories about her father. The impression that remained with us was the image of a simple, gentle, and serious father of his four daughters.

Ms. Van said that when she became Vice President, her father still told her children to learn how to do housework skillfully to be independent and take care of themselves. "My father often said, 'Our house is like other people's houses.' Even though we had a housekeeper, if we wanted to eat something new, we had to figure it out ourselves in the kitchen. The housekeeper only helped with a certain step, but there was no way to ask or demand service. The same goes for other things," Ms. Van recalled.

Comrade Nguyen Luong Bang and his two daughters Nguyen Tuong Van (left) and Nguyen Viet Lien (right) when they were children.

In Mrs. Van's memory, comrade Nguyen Luong Bang never raised his voice at his wife and children. When she was young, there was a time when Mrs. Van was stubborn and did not want to go to school. Comrade Nguyen Luong Bang did not scold her but kindly explained the benefits of studying to her. "My father said if you do not study chemistry, later on you will take an iron pot to hold salt and it will break. Study physics so that if the light bulb breaks and does not light up, you have to find out what is broken instead of waiting for a repairman, wasting time. Study literature so that when you are hungry, you can say that you want to eat, and express a sentence that does not need to be beautiful but is complete and meaningful," Mrs. Van said.

Close and intimate

Vice President Nguyen Luong Bang with his wife and four daughters in 1972.

Regarding other matters, comrade Nguyen Luong Bang also meticulously analyzed the pros and cons so that his children could consider and make their own choices without ever imposing anything.

The same thing happened to Ms. Van when she joined the army at the age of 18. "Back then, there were two consecutive years of general mobilization in 1969 and 1970. My father called me in and said he had something to discuss with me: "We don't have any sons. I want one of them to join the army, and you're the oldest. Waiting for your younger siblings might be too late. Now that we're in general mobilization, it might be easier for you to join, my son," Ms. Van said.

Having been trained to be independent since childhood, Mrs. Van did not hesitate when hearing what her father said and volunteered to join the army even though her health was not very good at that time. After 3 years in the army, seeing that her son was often sick, comrade Nguyen Luong Bang advised her to apply for a transfer to work in the museum industry so as not to affect his work and bother everyone.

As the eldest daughter of Mr. Nguyen Luong Bang, Ms. Van was told by her father: "You are the leader bird, you must fly in the right direction to lead the birds in the flock in the right direction." He only mentioned it once, but Ms. Van always remembered and reminded herself of it.

Ms. Van said that even when she grew up and was preparing to get married, her father was always worried and gave her meticulous advice. "Seeing that I had a strong personality, my father told me that in family life I needed to be more gentle, know how to listen, sympathize, and share," Ms. Van emotionally recalled.

Dad is my dawn

Vice President Nguyen Luong Bang and his wife revisited the old war zone in Vinh Quang commune, Chiem Hoa district (Tuyen Quang) in 1974.

Flipping through the pages of the book "Big Brother Nguyen Luong Bang", we realized that in almost every photo, the comrade was smiling brightly. Mrs. Van said that although work was always busy and stressful, her father was very cheerful and humorous. "During meals, my parents often talked humorously and laughed a lot. Whenever we saw that they didn't talk or laugh much during meals, my sisters and I would whisper and guess that my parents were angry with each other," Mrs. Van recalled.

Ms. Van said that she only guessed that her parents were less humorous, but she had never seen the two of them quarrel or raise their voices at each other in front of their children. Normally, Nguyen Luong Bang and his wife got along very well. "The father would usually be the one to come up with ideas and policies, while the mother would be the one to carry them out with high consensus. The return of the house to the Party and State after the old man passed away was also carried out by the mother according to the father's wishes," Ms. Van said.

Comrade Nguyen Luong Bang was always friendly and approachable to those who served him. Mrs. Van said that one day the driver was nearly an hour late picking him up because he had a stomachache. Knowing the reason, the comrade did not scold him but told the driver to go for a medical check-up immediately to know exactly what disease he had.

Thinking back to her family when her parents were still around, Ms. Van said that her family seemed very high but also very low. Although comrade Nguyen Luong Bang held many important positions, the life and lifestyle in the family were not very special. "My father often taught his children to always live sincerely, closely, and simply. He said, "Our family is like the people's house. What is close to the people must not be strange to our family," Ms. Van said.

Telling us about Vice President Nguyen Luong Bang, Ms. Nguyen Tuong Van affirmed that the dawn of her life was the example of her father and mother.

SNOW WIND

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