Writer Dang Vuong Hung: 'The more I collect war letters, the more I feel indebted'

During the exchange “Pages from the battlefield” on May 6 to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory at the National Book Center, writer Dang Vuong Hung said that at first the opportunity to collect wartime letters came naturally, but later he felt more indebted.

Writer Dang Vuong Hung has just released the book Vietnam Wartime Letters . This is a continuation of the series Vietnam Wartime Letters and Vietnam Wartime Diary that he initiated in 2004. The Truth National Political Publishing House, in collaboration with the Forever 20 Club and the Soldier's Heart Club, organized an exchange with a large number of readers, especially many students and young readers.

Writer and journalist Dang Vuong Hung confided that he had spent many years in the army, holding guns and fighting at the northern border, and many years writing newspapers and books for the armed forces, so this sympathy and valuable source of information came naturally.

Writer Dang Vuong Hung (second from right) shares about the process of collecting battlefield letters.

The opportunity began in 2004 when a collector of wartime letters in the US came to Vietnam to meet Dang Vuong Hung. Sharing the same idea of ​​collecting letters and diaries related to the war, Dang Vuong Hung initiated the collection of letters and diaries of our soldiers during the resistance wars.

Vietnam Wartime Letters (National Political Publishing House Truth) includes 200 letters selected by writer Dang Vuong Hung from millions of letters sent back. The letters could have been written hastily during rest stops between marches, before entering battle, some were written in verse, some were written on behalf of the person whose name was written because he was illiterate...

In 2005, he published his first book about battlefield letters, along with the book publishing projects Forever 20 and Dang Thuy Tram's Diary .

Later, many veterans joined hands with the author to launch and maintain the Forever 20 bookshelf. For nearly 20 years, Dang Vuong Hung has published 4-5 volumes of battlefield letters.

“The authenticity of letters is unmatched. Letters and diaries are private matters, so they are almost completely honest and objective because no one would think that decades later the pages of letters would be published in books. In letters and diaries, they confide about love, family, and even do not hesitate to talk about death and mention the pain of their comrades,” said writer Dang Vuong Hung.

Many veterans who fought in many old battlefields gathered for the exchange.

He introduced a series of veterans who had buried their comrades on the battlefield many times, and who are now actively participating in visits to old battlefields, giving gifts to meritorious families and comrades in difficult circumstances in all regions. They are veteran Ha Minh Son (author of the book Nam chinh Bac chien ), Mr. Le Duc Nghinh...

From collecting to verifying and selecting to print books is not easy, because many letters sent back do not have any explanation about the sender, recipient or for other special reasons become anonymous letters. Therefore, the number of letters sent back is tens of thousands, millions of letters but the number used and printed in books is not much.

Vietnam Wartime Letters have just been published on the occasion of Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day 2023.

Sharing more about the opportunity to pursue collecting war letters, writer Dang Vuong Hung confided that at first it was due to his expertise requiring him to research documents related to war documents.

“Then, from chance to debt. The more I do, the more indebted I feel,” he said. He sent his gratitude to the veterans, many families and individuals who constantly encouraged him to continue writing books about letters and wartime diaries.

At the meeting, Ms. Tran Hong Dung - Permanent Vice President of the Forever 20 Club shared emotional memories of hundreds of trips to the old battlefields and the feelings of veterans coming to remote areas. She tearfully recalled the memory of visiting a veteran with special circumstances in Ha Giang. That person longed to see his comrades before closing his eyes, in his eyes, only those in military uniforms, not those who fought together, were comrades.

Colonel, writer Tran Trong Gia - Standing member of the Management Board of the Soldier's Heart Club shared his emotional memories on the battlefield and the activities of the Soldier's Heart Club.

Tienphong.vn