The emotional reunion

(Baonghean.vn) –After more than 6 years, thanks to the media and the Memory Search Center, the wounded soldier found his comrade's wife and children as promised before his comrade died.

Promise to teammates

Readers of Tien Phong, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, Veterans, Nghe An newspapers, etc., and the people of Hung Dung ward (Vinh city - Nghe An) are no strangers to that soldier - wounded veteran. With a disability of 81%, he received a salary from the State, and had a caretaker regime, but for him, "disabled but not useless", because for him, as long as he had health, he could still work. Working as a rickshaw driver, he sweated and shed tears, saving money to put in bamboo tubes to pay for long trips back to the old battlefield in Quang Tri to search for graves in the hills, and to burn incense to visit his comrades. He is Dang Sy Ngoc - author of the diary "Blue Sky Without Borders" and the itinerary to Quang Tri to find his comrades' graves.

In mid-April 2013, at Mr. Ngoc's private home in Trung Dong block, Hung Dung ward (Vinh city), there were Mrs. Luu Thi Hong Phuong and her son, residing at 61 Thai Binh street (Loc Ha ward, Nam Dinh city) and her son named Nguyen Quang Binh residing in the resettlement area of ​​Bac Thanh Chau (Phu Ly, Ha Nam). They went to Nghe An to meet Mr. Ngoc, a comrade and sworn brother of her husband and father during the fierce days in the Quang Tri battlefield in 1972 - martyr Nguyen Thanh Minh.

Mrs. Phuong and her children (both sides) and Mr. Ngoc and his wife

The story begins with a fierce battle with the enemy in May 1972, in which Mr. Ngoc (at that time the deputy company commander) commanded the battle, a cluster bomb fell on the battlefield, Mr. Ngoc was buried and seriously injured, Nguyen Thanh Minh and his teammates dug him up and took him to the north for treatment. When they reached Vinh Chap (Vinh Linh), before returning to the unit, Mr. Minh gave Mr. Ngoc a photo of a woman holding a child under 1 year old and said: "This is my wife and child (Mr. Minh is 5 years older than Mr. Ngoc), the battlefield is so fierce, I don't know if they will come back alive, I give you this photo to keep, if I die, you are still alive, try to find my wife and child, okay...". Behind the photo is the line "November 14, 1971, address Limestone Enterprise No. 1 Kien Khe - Thanh Liem - Nam Ha".

While being treated at Vinh Chap, Mr. Ngoc heard that Minh had died. The pain of losing his sworn brother made Mr. Ngoc sad and he had to hide from the military medical station to return. His comrades took him to Minh's grave, which was buried near the military supply depot in Ai Tu. Minh was confirmed to have died on May 27, 1972. In early July 1972, in another battle, Mr. Ngoc was seriously injured and had to leave the battlefield to return to the rear to treat his wounds.

Mr. Ngoc had broken legs, arms and a head injury, with a disability rate of 81%. After the war ended, Mr. Ngoc returned to his hometown but his health became increasingly weak. He missed his comrades but could do nothing because life was so difficult at that time. He was always concerned about Minh's advice, but he could not find his grave so Mr. Ngoc still could not contact his family. He still carefully kept the photo of Minh's wife and children with the thought that he would find his grave...

Returning to Nghe An, while riding a motorbike, he broke his leg for the third time. Mr. Ngoc sent a letter to the address listed behind the photo but received no response. Through many wars, lost many letters and souvenirs, but strangely, the photo of the martyr's wife and children was not lost. Mr. Ngoc printed the photo and related information and sent it to the Veterans Newspaper, the Army Newspaper, the Ha Nam Newspaper, the Central Television Station and the program "Returning to Memories" to help find the wife and son of Martyr Nguyen Thanh Minh named Phuong and Binh. After many months and years, the search reached a deadlock when, that time, when he reached the old addresses in Ha Nam, he lost track. Mr. Ngoc was disappointed and thought he had to give up when suddenly, Ms. Thu Uyen's assistant called to inform him that he had found Martyr Minh's wife and children. Mr. Ngoc cried with joy. When he had information about Mr. Minh's wife and children, Mr. Ngoc called and informed him of the events between him and Martyr Minh when he was still on the battlefield in Quang Tri.

Reunion in Vinh City

Back to the story of the wife and children of martyr Nguyen Thanh Minh. In mid-1972, receiving the death notice of unit C10 D15 E284 F367, comrade Nguyen Thanh Minh had died while on duty. At that time, Binh was just over a year old, Mrs. Phuong was a worker at a forestry farm in Ha Nam province. Hearing the news that their only son had died, Martyr Minh's parents were extremely sad, having given birth to only one son, following the sacred call of the Fatherland, their son joined the army to kill the enemy. They thought the country would be at peace, their son would return to take care of his parents in their old age, but unexpectedly, their son remained forever on the battlefield. Thinking of the eldest grandson of the family, the grandparents discussed with their daughter-in-law to take their grandson home to raise.

Pained by her husband's sacrifice, but feeling sorry for her old parents-in-law who waited day and night for news of their son, Mrs. Phuong held back her tears and gave her son to her grandparents and returned to work at the forestry farm with peace of mind. But the day she returned to visit her son, her grandparents had taken Binh away. After searching for every clue for more than a year without finding him, knowing that her grandparents were afraid of losing their grandchild, so they took him away, Mrs. Phuong had no choice but to return to work and marry a worker at the same workplace.

While in middle school, Binh was seriously ill with a high and persistent fever. Because his grandparents were old and weak, lived far from the hospital, and during wartime, and could not receive timely treatment, Binh was paralyzed on one side of his body and had to drop out of school around 7th grade.

When Binh was 17, his grandfather became seriously ill and passed away. The two of them relied on each other with a portion of the pension from his mother, a martyr. In 1994, his grandmother was awarded the title of "Heroic Vietnamese Mother" by the State (Binh's grandfather was also a veteran revolutionary cadre). She was too old and weak to take care of her, so Binh was sent to the Rehabilitation Center in Ba Vi (Hanoi). She was taught sewing, but her left hand was paralyzed, so she could not sew clothes. Pitying Binh's disability, the 27/7 Enterprise accepted Binh as a part-time security guard to earn an income to sustain his life. While still living in the Center, by chance, a friend gave him information about his mother. Overjoyed, Binh was determined to find his mother, but he had no money and was disabled. A kind woman, seeing that Binh was disabled, took him home, fed him, cared for him for a while, and then married her first daughter to Binh.

Two years after his grandmother passed away, Binh found his mother. Life has stabilized, although he is still poor. Today, in the middle of Vinh city, meeting his father's comrades, Binh and his mother were moved to tears. Although his father's grave has not been found yet, for a disabled child like Binh, meeting his father's comrades and hearing about his father's fighting days on the battlefield is also an encouragement and consolation to overcome his disability and live well, worthy of his father's sacrifice.

(Recorded according to the story of Mr. Dang Sy Ngoc and Mrs. Phuong and her son - Mr. Binh)

Ha Linh