The story of a veteran from Nghe An who went to find information for hundreds of martyrs' graves

“Recently, information about martyrs’ graves in cemeteries across the country has been put on the Internet, making it much easier for relatives to search. However, the parents or wives of martyrs are all old, and some people in remote villages will have little access and access to look up. Therefore, I think I have to go there to ask for a list and diagram of the graves and find a way to send them to the family,” Mr. Trien confided.

While still on the battlefield, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien was awarded the title of American-killing hero. Returning to normal life, Mr. Trien and his comrades often went to the old battlefield to visit the graves of fallen comrades. Photo: NVCC

Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien (born 1949) was from Minh Son commune (Do Luong), enlisted in the army in 1967 and was assigned to Regiment 1 - Division 324, the main combat area was the Tri - Thien front and the Lao battlefield. Brave and courageous in combat, this soldier had many achievements, was awarded 4 Military Exploit Medals and 5 times was awarded the title of Brave American Destroyer.

In 1973, during a battle, Nguyen Tat Trien was hit by a piece of artillery shell that penetrated his abdomen and lodged in his intestines, requiring surgery to reconnect them. Unable to continue fighting, he was transferred to work at the Military Region 4 Command and retired in 1989 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After retirement, Mr. Trien continued to participate in social work, working as a block cadre, Veterans Association, and then Secretary of the Trung Do Ward Party Committee.

Recently, whenever he felt his health was stable, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien arranged his work to go to Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue, went to large and small cemeteries to ask for the list and graves of martyrs from Nghe An. His method was to ask for a record of the list of martyrs, then went to the cemetery to compare and record the location of each grave in vertical and horizontal rows.

Since the beginning of 2019, Mr. Trien has visited Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue three times to find his comrades' graves. Photo: NVCC

Back home, he divided the list of martyrs he found by hometown (district, commune), unit, date of death and tombstone number. Another thing worth mentioning is that despite his old age, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien still learned and mastered the skills of writing documents on the computer and arranging the list in a reasonable and scientific way.

Every time there is a new list, Mr. Trien prints many copies, sends them to the district-level Veterans Association through the provincial Veterans Association and asks them to be sent to the commune, and tries to contact and connect with relatives and families. Over the past 3 years, he has made many trips and counted and classified the locations of nearly 800 martyrs' graves from Nghe An scattered throughout cemeteries in the Quang Tri - Thua Thien Hue region.

In 2018 alone, Mr. Trien made 4 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 3 trips to the old battlefield to find his comrades. As a result, he has counted and compiled a list of 246 graves, sent them to the localities, and is waiting for a response.

The search for the grave of Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien has initially shown positive signs when thanks to his information, a few families have found and brought the graves of their relatives back to their homeland. That is the family of martyr Bien Van Thanh in Minh Son commune (Do Luong), martyrs Nguyen Thi Huong, Nguyen Thi Hoa in Vinh city.

Going to the martyrs' cemeteries, Mr. Nguyen Tat Trien divided the list of martyrs he found according to their hometown (district, commune), unit, date of death and tombstone number, then printed many copies, sent them through the provincial Veterans Association to the district-level association and asked them to be sent to the commune, and tried to contact and connect with relatives and families. Photo: Cong Kien

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

“As time went on, my heart always urged me to repay some of the “debt” of gratitude to my comrades. On the battlefield, participating in hundreds of battles, sometimes while sitting down to eat or on the march, suddenly the person next to me was hit by shrapnel and sacrificed. Being able to return to my family, having a happy home, many children and grandchildren, I felt like my comrades had fallen to save my life.”

Veteran Nguyen Tat Trien