Celebrating Southern Liberation Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1): Heartfelt words before the Day of Total Victory

On April 30, 1975, when the whole country was jubilant with flags and flowers, celebrating the great victory of the nation liberating the South and unifying the country, my youngest son was born crying.My child's cry seemed louder and more resonant than his siblings'. Because his life was tied to the new history of the nation. He would grow up and mature with the progress of the nation and the country.

My husband and I named our son Toan Thang - Le Toan Thang. Toan Thang can drink his mother's milk right in the blue sky of the Fatherland, without the savage roar of planes and the deafening explosions of bombs. He can lie in the soft cradle of the windy and sunny land, no longer hanging in a shack or a basement full of mold and humidity. When he grows up, he will no longer have to eat rice mixed with cassava, sweet potatoes, sometimes only corn and noodles. He will no longer have to wear a straw hat when going to school, or sit in a thatched hut with shabby tables and chairs, covered in a bombproof earthen rim. Winter is cold because of humidity, summer is hot like sitting in a furnace. Every night, he will no longer have to study under the light of bean lamps, hidden in bamboo tubes to avoid the prying eyes of American planes... He will know absolutely nothing about war, bombs, death, hunger and poverty of a time of sacrifice and hardship. He can sit in a windy high school. He can study and do his homework under the bright electric light. Being able to play freely on the green fields with the kites of childhood, singing fresh music in the peaceful summer afternoon. Perhaps, it only knows about that heroic and sacrificial war partly through lessons, books and movies. Even in the family, how did parents and siblings live and fight, it has no idea!

Now he is an agricultural engineer, knowing how to bring science and technology to the fields for farmers to earn 5-7 tons of rice/ha. But during his junior and senior high school days, he was very fussy, demanding everything. My wife and I were extremely worried about the danger that our son would become spoiled. He knew how to crave money, but did not know how to appreciate money, the sweat and tears of his parents. In addition to contributing to the school, he asked his parents for money for all kinds of reasons. Whatever money he had, he followed his friends and spent it all at the shops. On days when the school organized field trips, he often refused to go because he had too little money in his pocket. He asked for more money, but his parents did not have any. When I told him to try to go with his friends, he would grumble that his friends had a lot of money, and kept paying for him, and that if he did not pay for them, he would be ashamed and looked down upon. Sometimes he even went to karaoke until 11-12 pm. Then he drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, had coffee with hugs... He changed his clothes all the time. He compared and demanded his parents to the point of suffering. Many times I was afraid he would be spoiled, so I beat and scolded him. Beating him made my heart ache. Luckily, he still didn't fall into drug addiction like some of his friends, who pawned and sold their cars, stole their parents' money, and ran away from home.

During happy times, I sat with him and talked a lot about my family's situation and told him that my grandfather was a veteran revolutionary who participated in demonstrations during the Nghe-Tinh Soviet period (1930-1931). My father was also a soldier who fought in the Dien Bien Phu battle and then went to the South to fight in the Quang Tri Citadel battlefield. Bombs and bullets were flying high, tearing up every inch of land. Luckily, the bombs and bullets were spared, my father was only wounded in the hip and had a few broken ribs. When the wind blew, I saw my father still writhing in pain, lying paralyzed for days. My mother was a Youth Volunteer who had leveled roads and filled bomb craters under enemy bombs and bullets; and had dug up to find the bodies of 10 girls who died at Dong Loc T-junction. My siblings and I had also had to go hungry, wear ragged clothes, and go to school without even a single page of writing paper. But now they have both graduated from university, are government officials, and are party members who work hard and effectively, and are loved by their superiors and friends. Mom and Dad, you and your siblings lived such a beautiful time! And now you are living in a peaceful environment, with your parents taking care of you, your older siblings helping you, studying well, and lacking nothing in life. Our family, looking up, is not as good as anyone else, but looking down, many people are more deprived than us. Think carefully to study hard, not to be inferior to your friends, and to maintain the family tradition. What is special and also a great honor for you is to be born on the great Victory Day of the nation. Mom and Dad named you Toan Thang. Surely you understand the meaning of your name and be worthy of that name! During those heart-to-heart talks, he sat quietly and thoughtfully, his smooth forehead showing lines of thought. Since then, I have seen his demanding and spending less and less. He also studies harder. However, the lure of bad friends and the influence of society are great. He has not been able to give up drinking and smoking. Many nights I came home with the smell of alcohol and a cigarette still lingering in my mouth. I was very angry and wanted to scold my son. But thinking back, I couldn't be hasty in educating my son. Besides, he wasn't a bad boy. He was still studying hard and was a pretty good student. When he got home, he knew how to help his father dig the soil and take care of the vegetable garden and fruit trees. His older siblings also often advised him and took care of his books and clothes. And they really set a good example for him in terms of working and studying. His thinking gradually changed, he gradually moved away from bad habits and his friends who played around, and focused on studying.

I think, my children are like many other young people, they are like young branches that need to be skillfully bent. They must understand the heroic tradition of their homeland, their country and of the previous generations. Because tradition is the stepping stone for generations to make great achievements. April 30 is the day that the whole nation has built with blood and bones, creating a glorious monument in the history of the nation. It is the responsibility of each family, school and the whole society to make the children understand that beautiful, heroic tradition. But the important role is the Youth Union. Because the Union understands the youth and its generation better than anyone else. Educating the young generation to have dignity and soul, as a scientist said: "The goal of life is not happiness but dignity" and "a person with a rich soul is the most beautiful person". How can the young generation be worthy of their fathers and brothers, making the country more and more beautiful, richer, fairer, more democratic and civilized?!

From my child, on April 30, I would like to send my heartfelt words to parents!

Journalist Minh Nho (Recorded according to Colonel Le Van Dai's story)