In a cozy house in Dung town (Thanh Chuong district), sitting next to her husband and biological mother - Nguyen Thi Luc (83 years old this year), Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoa was moved to tears when reading the messages in the War Diary left by her father - martyr Nguyen Quang So. The diary was printed by Mr. Le Tien Dung (in Vinh city), a member of the Volunteer Group to find graves and relocate martyrs' remains, and handed to her - the only daughter of the deceased.
Although it was just a relic printed from a film copy, to Mrs. Hoa it was a priceless gift from her beloved father who had sacrificed himself more than half a century ago, and now suddenly returned to her like a dream. Tears of grievance, of longing and of happiness when receiving her father's relics kept falling on the kind face of the woman who had now become a grandmother.
Mrs. Hoa choked up and shared: I will never forget that evening (the evening of March 25, 2024) when my husband and I were watching TV and received a call from my son saying that a family nephew had sent information about my father's diary (martyr Nguyen Quang So - PV) posted on Mr. Le Tien Dung's Facebook page with the content of finding the martyr's relatives and shared by a Dong Huong Thanh Chuong page. That same night, I connected with Mr. Dung and he sent me a photo of my father's diary online to read first.
“When I opened it right at the cover page it said “War Diary, Volume 1, Thanh Chuong. Sent to my brother: Nguyen Quang Dong, Nha Giap village, Thanh Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district”with my father’s signature, my body trembled and I was sure that it was my father’s diary. Because Nguyen Quang Dong is the name of my paternal uncle (younger brother of martyr Nguyen Quang So – PV), the address written on the diary is my hometown. I stayed up almost all night to read each page of my father’s diary, the more I read, the more tears fell. When I reached the earnest call “Hoa con!”, my heart felt like it was tightening, I missed my father so much…” – Mrs. Hoa choked up and expressed.
According to the memoirs of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Luc - wife of martyr Nguyen Quang So, he was born in 1941 (his military enlistment record stated he was born in 1944). Before being ordered to fight in the South on October 31, 1967, martyr Nguyen Quang So spent time studying in Phu Tho. At this time, Mrs. Luc also left her hometown Thanh Chuong to follow her husband here, working as a worker in a brick and tile factory. Their daughter was born in Phu Tho. Her name, Nguyen Thi Hoa, was given by him - a flower crystallized from the love of the couple. When martyr Nguyen Quang So received orders to go to the battlefield in the South, their daughter was only one year old. Since marching to the battlefield, he has never seen his daughter again, but the father's love for his little daughter is expressed through the pages of his diary filled with emotions.
In his diary dated September 19, 1968, martyr Nguyen Quang So confided: “Dad lived very intensely! Dad never feared hardship. Dad lived according to his soul and dreams... No matter who tried to stop him, Ba was determined to push them aside to reach his goal... One of Ba's biggest dreams was to become a Communist Party member and to live as a true Communist Party member. That's why the Party assigned Ba to manage a battalion in the North, and Ba resolutely asked to go to the front line in the South to test himself with hardship and fierceness. Ba went because he thought there was no time worth living more than this period of fighting the Americans - and if you want to test yourself, you have to go to the front line. Otherwise, you will regret it later. Living in a historical period and not rolling into the center of the revolutionary storm, you are not a person who loves the history of the nation...".
According to the death certificate, martyr Nguyen Quang So died on the southern front on February 26, 1969, but it was not until 1971 that his family received his death certificate. During his years of fighting, he only visited his hometown Thanh Chuong once for about an hour, but only to meet relatives because his wife and children were in Phu Tho at that time. In addition, he also sent a letter with a few brief lines informing that his unit was on a march through the Central Highlands. Perhaps, he had a premonition that he could not return.“NIf I die, this is my last wish.”Martyr Nguyen Quang So spent 4 pages in his Diary to confide in his daughter about the duty of young people to their compatriots, the Fatherland, and the family tradition:“Father needs to embellish the family tradition…Dad wants you to be proud of your resume – having a dad who fought against the Americans. Dad wants your mother to have the right to be proud like any other wife and never have to regret about Dad… Dad wants to go with the country, to walk along the Western Truong Son range. That’s why Dad rushed into the most difficult and fierce places.”In the last lines written to his son, with all the heart of a father, martyr Nguyen Quang So advised:“Hoa, my child! Remember, don't let your father down. When you grow up, you will go to school, don't rush into getting married...When you grow up, become a true Communist Party member! I wish you success! Kisses!
Her father died, after a while, her mother remarried, and had 3 younger siblings. Nguyen Thi Hoa's childhood was full of hardships and difficulties. After finishing high school, she worked as a factory worker and then opened a small bookstore to make a living. Luckily, her husband, Mr. Nguyen Van Phu, who used to work at the cinema team and later the Thanh Chuong District Cultural Information and Communication Center (now retired), loved and supported her, and their children grew up.
“My father joined the army and died when I was still young, so I have no memories of him. The diary, which I returned to after 56 years of wandering, helped my wife, children and I fully imagine how our father and grandfather lived, fought and sacrificed. What was his love for his family and relatives like? Each page of the diary warmed my heart, comforted and soothed my love, longing and resentment over the years. Although I only read my father’s advice today, throughout my life I have always kept in mind that as the child of a martyr, I must live a good and useful life to be worthy of my father’s sacrifice…”- Ms. Hoa confided.
The precious diary pages of martyr Nguyen Quang So reached Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoa and her family members thanks to the gratitude, efforts to search and connect of those who "bridged" memories. First was engineer Lam Hong Tien, born in 1975 in Hanoi - a member of the Association for Supporting Families of Vietnamese Martyrs - who found a copy of the diary of martyr Nguyen Quang So and information related to the martyr's sacrifice in the massive archive of documents about the Vietnam War stored on the website of Texas Tech University, USA. Accordingly: On the morning of February 26, 1969, Vietnamese special forces attacked the northwest corner of Cu Chi base (Dong Du), which was the base of the US 25th Division. After the battle, in an underground bunker in the southeast of Dong Du base, the US army seized a number of documents showing the insignia of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion. Specifically: A notebook, recorded from December 30, 1967 to October 7, 1968, by comrade Nguyen Quang So, manager of unit D3 B16 Group 129 (ie Battalion 3, Special Forces Department of the Region).
Mr. Tien posted information related to martyr Nguyen Quang So on the website kyvatkhangchien.com and connected to transfer documents to Mr. Le Tien Dung (in Vinh city) - a person who is also very passionate about searching and connecting information about martyrs. Very quickly, through policy officers and social networks, Mr. Dung found information about relatives and contacted the martyr's daughter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, who is currently living in Dung town (Thanh Chuong).
The diary of martyr Nguyen Quang So impresses right from the cover with its graceful handwriting, carefully and cleanly recorded despite the rain of bombs and bullets. There are diary pages recording emotions along the march, hardships in the resistance war and the oath of determination to fight the enemy. Many pages record the advice and images of Uncle Ho, revolutionary poems by famous authors (To Huu, Giang Nam...) and even the poem "Waiting for you to come back" by Soviet poet Simonov:“Baby wait for me to come home/Wait for me forever… The war is over and I'm back home, my brother..."The martyr wrote it as a gift to his beloved wife in the rear, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Luc.
In particular, martyr Nguyen Quang So expressed his love and respect when writing about his superiors, comrades and teammates in the trenches with him. For example, in his diary on the night of August 22, 1968 in the mountains of Tay Ninh, the soldier wrote: “Never before have we carried such a heavy burden on our marches as this time… I love you so much! Loving your comrades cannot be expressed by words or written in a diary, but must be shown in our service. From now on, with the spirit of a logistics soldier and the character of a Communist Party member, we will wholeheartedly serve our comrades.…”. When talking about Captain Nguyen Thanh Lam, who is from Trung Son commune, Do Luong district, his fellow Nghe An native Nguyen Quang So felt:“Mr. Lam is hot-tempered but simple, sincere, and has a deep love for his class and comrades. His style is decisive, urgent, and his lifestyle is liberal. He is truly a military commander.…”. He also experienced emotions “sad, regretful, emotional"Before the passing of Chief Le - Battalion Commander D8, B16,129:“If you had the spirit of revolutionary attack to the end, then that late night, the chief would not have groped and crawled into the enemy's fort. Hearing this, I burst into tears. I vow to follow the Chief, to follow the beloved Chief.”…”!
Throughout the march, martyr Nguyen Quang So also confided about missing his parents, his wife and children, and about the indescribable emotion of "joy and sadness" when he was able to return home to see his relatives, as expressed in his diary dated August 27, 1968:"Dong came to the gate to welcome me, then my mother, then my grandfather... Dong is so grown up, his mother is very old, and his grandfather is blind... I tried to hold back but the tears kept coming out.….
Although he was reluctant and reluctant, the soldier still put his spirit and sense of discipline above all else:“The clock hands are running so fast, I haven't met so many uncles, aunts, brothers, relatives yet, but at 5 o'clock we were already marching, the spirit of discipline urged me to cut off all attachments and cycle away... Thinking about that precious hour now makes me happy.”. Another time on the march, stopping in Nghe An, hearing the familiar voice of his homeland, the soldier far from home was moved and sad:“…I went to Nghia Dan district, Nghe An… This place is mostly Hung Nguyen people who came to open up the West. How touching, after many years, now I hear the sound of Nghe An…”.
In his diary, when confiding with his relatives, martyr Nguyen Quang So always confirmed his attitude towards sacrifice in a calm manner. The diary pages written for his parents, wife, and young daughter of martyr Nguyen Quang So were dated September 19, 1968, after he had gone through“A very interesting dream. During the days I was sick, the images of my parents, wife, children and Dong kept appearing before my eyes… From then until morning, I could not sleep…”.He sent a message to his parents: "If I have to sacrifice, before saying goodbye to my parents, I will send them a message: Your child is very worthy.”.
He also sent instructions to his wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Luc:“Luc, I've been thinking about you these past few days, the more I think about you the more I love you!”…If I should sacrifice myself in the struggle with the cruel and savage enemy, this is my last word to you... You should boldly find someone to go home with you morning and night... Please fulfill your duty as a good mother to our Hoa. However, she will stay with her grandparents, But watch me grow up until I become a man. Tell me about your life, educate me…”.
The greatest wish of martyr Nguyen Quang So before his death was that his little daughter would be raised to be a good person. And despite the hardships, the “little flower” of martyr Nguyen Quang So grew up, lived an honest life, normal but not ordinary.
Holding her father’s diary in her hands, tears in her eyes, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa shared that, until now, she has always been worried because the war has been over for nearly half a century but her family has not yet found his grave to bring him back to his hometown for burial. However, finding the diary of the deceased is a great consolation, lighting up hope for her and her relatives “like a thread connecting the present and the past, like my father’s soul is returning to reunite with his family”…
