I asked for directions and found Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan's house. As soon as I met her, I felt very familiar, even though I had never been to Duc Vinh hamlet, commune.Hung Loc (Vinh City), and he had never met a journalist. After talking, it turned out that he was the daughter of Heroic Vietnamese Mother Nguyen Thi Hai, the eldest sister of seriously wounded soldier Nguyen Minh Duc, currently the Chairman of the Provincial Association for the Blind.
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Mrs. Loan and her husband when they were young. |
At only 16 years old, Loan left her mother and volunteered to join the Youth Volunteer Corps 8 and 9 stationed in Ninh Binh. From Ninh Binh, the unit continued to march to the South. Kilometer 34, Road 12, near Cha Lo border gate in Quang Binh province, was where Loan and her comrades fought, performed to encourage the soldiers, her comrades in the information and engineering units... The deeper they marched, the more she missed her mother. At the same time, she heard that her younger siblings had also volunteered to join the army. Knowing that her mother was always worried, waiting for her every step, but there was no way to contact her. Feeling sorry for her mother who worked hard day and night in the fields, and also longing for her children, she told herself to fight even harder for the country to be at peace, to soon return to her mother. In the spring of 1968, which was also the first Tet on the Quang Binh front line, she wrote a letter in verse "Spring in Truong Son to Mother". The poem has the lines: "This year I cannot go home for Tet. I send you a few affectionate words. In the new year, I wish the whole family to be active. Together with the whole people, make many achievements. Produce a lot of food to feed the army... I am far from home, sacrificing myself for the Fatherland. I will be happy when spring is victorious"... The poem was sent. It was not until 8 years later, in 1973, because of serious injuries, that she had to be transferred to the rear for treatment. When she met her mother, she did not see her mother mention the poem, she did not ask, she only felt immense happiness that even though her mother was much older, her health was not as good as before, she was still there, in the house of 8 sisters, some still alive, some dead...Mother Hai's eldest daughter is now retired and lives with her only daughter's family in Duc Vinh hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city. Her happiness is that her mother is still healthy and clear-minded. "Xuan Truong Son sent to mother" has never been read to her by her uncle. That's her personality, she loves a lot, but she is not used to expressing it...
Article and photos: Nguyet Anh
