The story of a veteran from Nghe An who single-handedly searched for information on hundreds of fallen soldiers' graves.

“Recently, information about the graves of fallen soldiers in cemeteries across the country has mostly been posted online, making it much easier for relatives to find them. However, the parents or wives of the fallen soldiers are often elderly, and some live in remote villages with limited access to the information. Therefore, I thought I should go to the locations myself to request the lists and diagrams of the graves and find a way to send them to the families,” Mr. Trien confided.

While on the battlefield, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien was awarded the title of "Hero of the Anti-American Struggle." Returning to civilian life, Mr. Trien and his comrades frequently visit the old battlefields to pay respects at the graves of their fallen comrades. (Photo: Provided by the interviewee)

Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien (born in 1949), from Minh Son commune (Do Luong district), enlisted in 1967 and was assigned to Regiment 1 - Division 324, primarily fighting on the Tri-Thien front and in the Laotian battlefield. Brave and courageous in combat, this soldier achieved many victories, receiving 4 Military Merit Medals and the title of "Hero of the Anti-American Struggle" 5 times.

In 1973, during a battle, Nguyen Tat Trien was hit by shrapnel from an artillery shell that penetrated his abdomen and lodged in his intestines, requiring surgery to reconnect the wound. Unable to continue fighting, he was transferred to work at the 4th Military Region Command and retired in 1989 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After retirement, Mr. Trien continued to participate in social work, serving as a neighborhood committee officer, a member of the Veterans Association, and later as the Party Secretary of Trung Do Ward.

Recently, whenever he feels well, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien arranges his work to travel to Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue, visiting large and small cemeteries to request lists and locations of martyrs from Nghe An province. His method involves requesting copies of the martyr lists, then going to the cemetery to compare and record the location of each grave in vertical and horizontal rows.

Since the beginning of 2019, Mr. Triển has made three trips to Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên - Huế provinces to search for the graves of his comrades. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

Back home, he organized the list of fallen soldiers he had found by hometown (district, commune), unit, date of death, and grave number. It's also noteworthy that despite his advanced age, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien still learned and mastered the skills of computer-aided document creation and organizing the list in a logical and scientific manner.

Each time a new list is compiled, Mr. Trien prints multiple copies, sends them through the Provincial Veterans Association to the district-level associations, and then forwards them to the communes, seeking to contact and connect with relatives and families. Over the past three years, he has made numerous trips and compiled and categorized nearly 800 graves of fallen soldiers from Nghe An province scattered across cemeteries in the Quang Tri - Thua Thien Hue region.

In 2018 alone, Mr. Trien made four trips to cemeteries in Huong Tra, Phong Dien, A Luoi (Thua Thien Hue) and Hai Lang (Quang Tri), and from the beginning of 2019 until now, he has made three trips to former battlefields to search for his comrades. As a result, he has compiled a list of 246 graves, sent it to the localities, and is awaiting a response.

The search for the grave of Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien has initially shown promising signs, as thanks to his information, several families have found and brought the graves of their loved ones back to their hometowns. These include the family of martyr Bien Van Thanh in Minh Son commune (Do Luong district), and martyrs Nguyen Thi Huong and Nguyen Thi Hoa in Vinh city.

Visiting war cemeteries, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien categorized the found lists of fallen soldiers by hometown (district, commune), unit, date of death, and grave number. He then printed multiple copies, sent them through the Provincial Veterans Association to the district-level associations, and asked them to forward them to the communes, seeking to contact and connect with their relatives and families. Photo: Cong Kien

And several families in various districts and towns have contacted him to express their gratitude, because thanks to him they learned where their loved ones are resting so they can visit them. In the future, he will continue his search, expanding his efforts to remote areas near the Vietnam-Laos border.

“As time went on, my heart constantly urged me to repay, in some way, the debt of gratitude I owed my comrades. In the battlefield, participating in hundreds of battles, sometimes while eating or on the march, someone next to me would suddenly be hit by shrapnel and die. Returning home to my family, having a happy home with many children and grandchildren, I felt as if my comrades had fallen to give me a chance to live.”

Veteran Nguyen Tat Trien