'Collection' of battlefield memorabilia from Luong region.

In his house in Hamlet 6, Trang Son Commune (Do Luong District), veteran Tran Anh Yen (born in 1948) dedicates a small room to preserving his belongings.souvenirsHe considered war to be his most valuable asset.

“On occasions when friends, comrades, neighbors, or family members gather, everyone wants to hear me introduce the origin, purpose, and memories of each artifact. I can give a presentation for an entire session, even a whole day, about my collection of war relics, because each artifact is associated with a memory, a story of a soldier's life, with those arduous years…,” Mr. Yen said.

Mr. Tran Anh Yen enlisted in 1968, at the age of 20. Initially, he served as an engineer in the 22nd Regiment, 4th Military Region, before being assigned to the 271st Regiment, 302nd Division. The young soldier marched and fought alongside his unit on the Upper Laos front, and a year later, he served on the Route 9 – Khe Sanh front (Quang Tri).

In 1971, Mr. Yen's unit marched into the battlefields of Southeast Vietnam and Southern Central Highlands, participating in many fierce battles where life and death hung in the balance, and he witnessed many times the sacrifice and injury of his comrades.

On April 30, 1975, Mr. Yen's unit advanced southwest (Long An province) to contribute to the liberation of Saigon. After the liberation, Mr. Yen continued to fight with his unit in the Cambodian battlefield. He retired in 1988.

Returning to his normal life, Mr. Tran Anh Yen always cherishes the items he brought back from abroad.battlefieldSuch as the cello, cassette player, flashlight, parachute hammock… Whenever he revisits the old battlefields, Mr. Yen often makes an effort to collect war relics.

Whenever he visited friends, comrades, and acquaintances, he would ask for or buy any war-related items they had. Thanks to this, after many years of diligently collecting, his collection now comprises dozens of artifacts that are carefully preserved.

In the corner of the yard, Mr. Tran Anh Yen stands the casing of a cluster bomb dropped by the American army on Luu Son commune (Do Luong district) in 1965, during the early days of the bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The bomb serves as a reminder of a fierce period when the people of North Vietnam fought and worked to support the battlefields in the South.

The collection also includes a bicycle dating back to 1946, which Mr. Yen's father used as a civilian laborer to transport supplies to the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, and which his cousin later used to transport goods to the Upper Laos front.

CollectionMr. Yen's collection includes many artifacts brought back from the battlefields of Southern Vietnam, such as a shovel and pickaxe used for digging trenches and fortifications; a saw and axe used for felling trees to build barracks; a flashlight used for marching and at night in the forest; and an oil lamp used in deep underground bunkers...

Mr. Yen also enthusiastically recounted stories about the canteen and water bottle – items essential for daily eating and drinking, familiar and indispensable in a soldier's equipment. In particular, he considered the unit's political officer's radio the most meaningful memento for a soldier, because during marches, especially in the Truong Son mountains, with days of travel and nights of rest, and heavy loads of weapons and ammunition on their shoulders, the soldiers still tried to stay close to their political officer to listen to news from all over the country broadcast from the radio.

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Mr. Tran Anh Yen is an active and exemplary member, leading the way in the Association's movements. Currently, Mr. Yen owns a valuable collection of battlefield memorabilia, contributing to the education of traditions for members and the general public, especially the younger generation.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Chairman of the Veterans Association of Trang Son Commune