I, the soldier returning from war

As a missile control officer in the resistance war against America, after April 30, the country was unified, in September 1975, I was discharged from the army and became a reporter for Tien Phong newspaper.

When I went to the newsroom, I often wore my military uniform and carried my pith helmet with me wherever I went. Someone at the newspaper office at that time told me: Well , put those things away… you’re a journalist now… I just laughed. For me, there are unforgettable memories of that military uniform and pith helmet.

That time my unit marched north, staying overnight in some abandoned houses next to Bach Mai airport. At that time, American planes often bombed this area, so I told the company commander: “Why are you spending the night in this dangerous place?!”. The company commander said: “The most dangerous place is often the safest place!”. I let out an “ah” and rang the alarm for everyone to dig a tunnel. It was almost 2am, I was tired and sleepy so I hesitated… The company commander said: “Why don’t you hurry up… do you want to die?”. I said: “As a soldier, what is there to be afraid of…!”. The company commander took my hand: “There is no death… But we must live to fight and win!”. I seemed to wake up from the commander’s words.

Quickly grabbing the shovel from my backpack, I ran out into the garden. There was an old, half-dug hole, only knee-deep.

I dug hard, up to my chest, I stopped, grabbed the shovel and the pith helmet, ran to the water tank, took off my uniform and left it on the edge of the tank to use, the pith helmet to scoop water for bathing... While pouring water, the plane alarm sounded. The sound of the plane rumbled overhead. I ran to the bunker without time to get my uniform, only wearing my wet shorts and the pith helmet in my hand.

As soon as I jumped into the bunker, the bomb exploded. Shrapnel flew around… A peach tree that was in bloom next to the bunker fell down. The shrapnel cut through the tree trunk and stuck into the pith helmet I was wearing. I touched my hand and found a small scratch on my head, blood oozing out… Perhaps it was the peach tree trunk and the helmet that blocked the shrapnel. How lucky… From then on, I always carried the pith helmet with me as an inseparable item!

During the war, my family had three brothers who went to war. My younger brother Duong Xuan Viet enlisted before me. He died in the Quang Tri battlefield in 1972, and his grave has not been found yet. My brother-in-law Le Dinh Nhu also enlisted before me, was a disabled veteran, and held the rank of colonel.

I was probably luckier, after being discharged from the army, I became a journalist… During my time as a journalist, I met many friends who had the same wish as me, during the war we had to live to fight and defeat the invaders. After the war we had to defeat poverty and backwardness…

Businessman Tran Dinh Chin is from the same hometown as me. He has a younger brother named Tran Dinh Triem, who studied with me for three years in high school (10-year program). After graduating, while waiting for the university admission notice, a bomb dropped by an American plane hit his house. Triem passed away, leaving his family and friends in mourning…

Tran Dinh Chin confided: “After being discharged from the army with nothing, I applied to study at a construction vocational school, where I met my future wife. After graduating, I applied to work at Dai Thanh brick and tile factory... That was how I started to rise. From a worker with nothing but two empty hands, with the will to live, to overcome difficulties, to make honest money... My hometown was too poor, everywhere was plowed by bullets and bombs, my family had two younger siblings who sacrificed their lives in the war...”.

Tran Dinh Chin has been successful in the hotel business. He now owns the famous Tran Vien Dong Hotel in Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa).

The owner of GELEXIMCO Group, who lives next to my house and is investing thousands of billions of dong in many large projects across the country, recounted his days after being discharged from the army. “No house, no door, no place to rely on, nothing to cling to…”. After graduating from the Military Technical Academy, Vu Van Tien transferred to the National Economics University. “I am the eldest child in a large, very poor family, from a poor rural area of ​​Thai Binh. I left with nothing, with the will of a soldier determined not to succumb to difficulties, hardships, not to succumb to poverty, accepting sacrifice…”, businessman Vu Van Tien confided.

He said that once, when he visited his friend's house and saw his friend's newborn baby fainting from thirst for milk, Vu Van Tien felt a sharp pain in his heart... From then on, Vu Van Tien promised himself that he would try to rise up to escape poverty, so that his child and other children like him could have milk to drink, and live a life worth living... The will to live, the will to escape poverty, the will to truly become rich also began from such situations. Common situations after the war.

Leaving the army, businessman Vu Minh Chau applied to work as a worker at the Hanoi Food Company. Working at a gas station, working as a porter... Vu Minh Chau dreamed of having a three-wheeled food truck that he could drive himself. Then, people also gave Vu Minh Chau an old car, which was about to be liquidated. Too passionate, working day and night to fix it, Vu Minh Chau turned the old car into a delicious three-wheeled food truck. Businessman Vu Minh Chau said that he was the one who opened the first workshop to produce and repair three-wheeled vehicles in Hanoi. His workshop has made more than a dozen three-wheeled vehicles to transport passengers...

When the State had a policy of allowing private individuals to open gold shops, he went to learn the trade of metallurgy and gold smelting. With the help of his mother, in 1989, he opened his first gold shop with a loan of three taels of gold. And now Bao Tin Minh Chau gold, silver and gemstone company is famous nationwide.

From a brave soldier on a ship without a number, businessman Dao Hong Tuyen recalled the day he returned from the battlefield, wandered around Ho Chi Minh City looking for work, and one night slept on a bench in Tao Dan flower garden when a thief stole his Tien Phong plastic sandals, his only possession. From the days of cleaning pigsties for a family of cadres from the North, Dao Hong Tuyen thought of intellectuals looking for work like him, gathered them together, discussed together, and then contributed their efforts and labors... to establish production groups. Danh Thanh mineral water and Binh Dien laundry detergent were born from that. Dao Hong Tuyen also rose from there...

Businessman, Labor Hero, Colonel Nguyen Dang Giap - the brave driver on the Truong Son route, "carrying bombs" back then, returned to real life with countless difficulties and challenges... Nguyen Dang Giap always understood the saying of the children of Nghe An: "The eel father does not dig holes for eels to live in". He turned an old factory into a prosperous corporation: 36 Heroes Corporation.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army, I write these lines. To me, the army is a great university...

Written at Soc Son garden house 12/2024.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/toi-nguoi-linh-tro-ve-sau-chien-tranh-post1703135.tpo