The unusual story of the wedding of two martyrs in Nghe An

“Youth left behind on the Golden Ferry for a thousand years…”

Coming to Nam Son commune (Do Luong), visitors are often told by the locals about a strange wedding, the wedding of twomartyrsacrificed 50 years ago. The bride is Nguyen Thi Dien (born 1947), born and raised in Nam Son. The groom is Dang Van Cu (born 1946), from Dong Lo commune, Hiep Hoa district, Ha Bac province (now Bac Giang).

Born in two different hometowns, they were destined to work in the same unit and died together on a ferry crossing the Do Vang River (Quang Binh). Then, half a century later, the relatives and families of the two martyrs found each other and decided to hold a wedding for the two deceased.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuong next to the portrait of his sister - martyr Nguyen Thi Dien. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

We went to hamlet 2, Nam Son commune, and visited the house of Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuong (younger brother of martyr Nguyen Thi Dien) with the hope of knowing the origin of the story aboutweddingof the two martyrs. With tears in his eyes, Mr. Tuong tried to hold back his emotions: “The wedding of Ms. Dien and Mr. Cu was held in early April. Behind that is a long story associated with the journey to find the remains of the fallen…”.

After a moment of silence, Mr. Tuong suddenly read a few lines of poetry from the poem "Journey to find sister's grave" that he composed: "The old people passed by in a hurry/Leaving youth behind on the Golden Ferry for a thousand years/The afternoon sky is white with clouds and fog/The cold wind blows in my ears/The long journey is full of thorns/Who can I rely on when I go looking for my sister?...".

As Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuong said, the story is very long, spanning half a century and spreading from Nghe An to Quang Binh and all the way to the "lychee land" of Bac Giang. In 1968, when the war against the US entered its fiercest phase, the girl Nguyen Thi Dien put her studies on hold, said goodbye to her family to join the Youth Volunteer Force, operating in the mountainous areas of Quang Binh province.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuong and his nephew next to the relics of martyr Nguyen Thi Dien. Photo: Cong Kien

After a while, Ms. Dien was transferred to the Company.Railway769, operating in Tuyen Hoa district (Quang Binh). Here, Ms. Dien met and fell in love with Mr. Dang Van Cu, 1 year older than her, working in the same unit. In a letter to her parents and siblings, Ms. Dien told a lot about the son of the "lychee land" of Ha Bac and promised to bring him back to meet both families and organize a wedding in a short time.

But then, on the morning of December 29, 1972, Mr. Cu and Ms. Dien were on a ferry crossing the Do Vang River when suddenly American planes came and dropped bombs. The boat rocked, swayed, and sank to the bottom of the river. Mr. Cu and Ms. Dien were swept away by the rushing water…

In the afternoon, the unit coordinated with local people to search and retrieve the bodies of the brother and sister in the river below.burialon the shore… Since then, the two graves have been cared for and burned incense by the family of Mr. Nguyen Phong Vu (Ms. Dien's family staying there while on duty).

Special wedding in the countryside

Returning to Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuong's family, upon receiving the death notice of Ms. Nguyen Thi Dien, all relatives were devastated, the pain seemed inconsolable. Especially for Ms. Dien's parents, the pain and longing for their daughter was unbearable until she left this life.

Although he knew that his sister's grave was in a "foreign land", life was still difficult and hard, and his siblings did not have the opportunity to visit. Until 1994, when he retired, Mr. Tuong determined to go to Quang Binh to find his sister's grave.TripFinding Mr. Tuong's grave has quite thrilling events and details, really difficult to explain in the usual way.

During her work, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dien was repeatedly commended by her superiors. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuong's journey can be briefly described as follows: Boarding the train, leaving Vinh station for Quang Binh, arriving at the North of Do Vang bridge, the train company gave him special permission to get off between the two stations. Getting off the train, Mr. Tuong was guided by the train guard to Tuyen Hoa District Team and was lucky to meet Mr. Nguyen Phong Vu, who has been taking care of Ms. Dien and Mr. Cu's graves for more than 20 years.

When Ms. Dien lived with her family, Mr. Vu was in 6th grade, and when Mr. Tuong met him, he was a District Military Officer. Mr. Vu said that for more than 20 years, he andfamilyalways took care of the incense for Ms. Dien and Mr. Cu, considering them as family members. A year ago, he informed the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs of Quang Binh to organize the collection of remains to the cemetery, but the Department has not reported which cemetery they were buried in.

Mr. Tuong hurried to Dong Hoi city to findDepartment of Labor, War Invalids and Social AffairsQuang Binh province and fortunately with the help of many people, finally found Ms. Dien's grave at Hai Thanh ward cemetery, next to Mr. Dang Van Cu's grave.

“I cannot express all the emotions and joy when I found her grave after so many difficult days. Under the grave are her bones, but I feel like I met her in person, just like the day she set out on her journey…”, Mr. Tuong confided.

The two families held a ceremony at the graves of martyrs Nguyen Van Cu and Nguyen Thi Dien before holding the wedding ceremony. Photo: GĐCC

In early 2022, Mr. Nguyen Sy Ho, a retired teacher in Binh Duong, spent time going to cemeteries to help families of martyrs find their loved ones' graves and posted information about the grave of martyr Dang Van Cu on social media. Fortunately, martyr Cu's family read it and recognized the grave of their loved one.

Even luckier, the family of female martyr Nguyen Thi Dien also read the information from Mr. Ho's Facebook account and contacted the family of martyr Cu in Bac Giang. Connecting with each other, the two families decided to organize a wedding for the two martyrs, something they had planned for 50 years ago but had to die before it could happen because ofbombof the enemy.

The groom's family from Bac Giang came to Nghe An with betel, wine, and phu the cakes to tie the knot. Before the wedding, the two families went to Quang Binh to hold a ceremony to announce the graves of Cu and Dien. A special wedding took place in the joy ofemotionof two families.

The wedding even had a flower car made of paper mannequins, and the bride and groom were also mannequins, but all the attendees felt that Ms. Dien and Mr. Cu were present somewhere, very close, as if holding each person's hand to express their gratitude.