'Decoding' a love story before the liberation of Saigon

Historical relic site of the Central Bureau of Southern Vietnam base. Photo: Tay Ninh Newspaper

In late March and early April 1975, news of victory from the battlefields spread rapidly on the radio waves of Hanoi Radio and Liberation Radio.

At the base area of ​​the Central Propaganda Department along Suoi Cay, Lo Go, Tay Ninh, the atmosphere of preparation for the takeover of Saigon - Gia Dinh city was unusually bustling. In the large thatched hall of the "R" Education Subcommittee hung an enlarged map of Saigon - Gia Dinh city, on which were marked in red the main points that the "R" Education Subcommittee would take over, such as the Ministry of Education and Youth at 70 Le Thanh Ton Street; universities, schools...

In the small huts, groups of cadres took the opportunity to review the takeover plan, while women prepared roasted rice, pork, chicken to make floss... for the advance team to bring along so that when they entered the city, they would have something to use for the first few days... At all bases, everyone was busy preparing for the day of advancing to the capital.

Soldiers "cut through Truong Son to save the country". Illustrative photo

Love Code

While we were busy preparing, suddenly one morning in early April, Mr. Nguyen Thieu, from Nam Dan, at the Liberation Cinema base, along with a soldier, came to the Education Subcommittee to meet me.

As soon as he entered the house, Mr. Thieu said immediately:

- Here, a fellow countryman from Yen Thanh, Nguyen Que Chat, a Van Thanh native, a doctor from C50, came to ask fellow countrymen here to help with a matter that Chat's side has not been able to resolve.

I invited the two of them to sit down and then went down to the kitchen to tell the rice and news to the fellow countrymen who came to my “house”. Hearing that Mr. Thieu was coming, all the Nghe An brothers came in large numbers.

Mr. Thieu opened the story:

- Yesterday, Chat from C50 (a large unit of the main force stationed along the liberated border between us and Cambodia, equivalent to a division) came to my place. He had a girlfriend who was a civilian doctor who went to the South with him in 1969. On the way across Truong Son to the South, Chat's unit and the civilian group consisting of doctors, nurses and teachers became sworn brothers. On the way, Chat fell in love with a female doctor, but when he arrived in Tay Ninh, he encountered a large enemy sweep against the headquarters of the Central Bureau, Chat's unit had to supplement troops for the combat units. Chat and his girlfriend had to suddenly break up, only having time to promise each other that they would wait until the day of victory, whoever was left, whoever was lost, would find each other.

Relics of a soldier during the anti-American resistance war. Photo courtesy of Thanh Chung

From 1969 until now, the two of them have lost contact with each other. Only recently, when the C50 medical station returned to Lo Go, Chat received a special “letter” from his girlfriend, which was a gift package containing: a kilo of sugar and a box of milk, a packet of Brao tea, a packet of AKa cigarettes (a type of Cambodian cigarette), a small knife and two rolls of red and green thread. The brothers over there opened it to see, but they did not know what this special letter meant. The soldiers were in a difficult situation and wanted to come here to ask the teachers who were “well-versed in ancient and modern times”, “well-versed in astronomy and geography” to help them decode it. We brought it all here for you to see and then we will find a way to help Chat. There was not much time left because we were afraid that the units and agencies preparing to receive new missions would not be able to meet each other.

Listening to Mr. Thieu, everyone was surprised, it was truly an unprecedented story. The teachers of Nghe searched their memories, some about Philosophy, some about History, Literature, some about Educational Psychology, well, they had everything from East to West, past and present. Some told stories about envoys delivering letters in kind, some mentioned My Chau's goose feathers, and some told a joke about a district mandarin sending soldiers to tell his wife to send him a feather, but she sent him the wrong one...

Mr. Dinh Hoi and Mr. Nguyen Nhu (Duc Tho, Ha Tinh) suggested that we should look at the content of each of these artifacts. Mr. Phan Hoan, Mr. Tran Duong, and Mr. Phan Cung Tung argued and gave their opinions the loudest. Knowing the story, the men from the Popularization Department, the Urban Department, the Propaganda Department... also came to contribute their opinions. At first, only some teachers from Nghe An, but later, even veteran teachers from the neighboring huts also came, from the North, Central, and South, each with their own opinion. It was a rare case, so everyone racked their brains and made judgments to decode the unique love letter of the female doctor. The story lasted from morning until late afternoon, and finally the love letter of the female doctor was deciphered.

Master Nghe decode

After many brains gathered together, the brothers agreed on the answer of the intelligent female doctor: We love each other, our love is like two colored threads but because of the war, we have not been able to connect them. Now I send you a kilo of sugar, a box of milk so you can drink to have more health. I also send you a package of tea, a pack of cigarettes so you can use them to be happy, sober, and think carefully. If you still love me, we are still destined to be together, then you connect the two threads together to build a long-lasting happiness. If the love is gone or you have someone else, then I send you the knife to cut the thread so I can take care of it because a girl can only have one spring and beauty, and cannot wait forever.

This general answer is written on paper and read aloud.

Mr. Thieu said:

- If there is a teacher with a better idea, please give your opinion. What is the meaning?

Shyness:

- Mr. Thieu was right to take me to the Department of Education to meet you guys. Thank you very much. Now what should we do?

Mr. Thieu said:

- Okay, that's clear! Chat took two rolls of thread, tied them together and wrapped them up. Tomorrow, we'll go down to C24, the civilian medical unit, to meet him. Once we have the answer, we'll get married right away, we have to hurry before returning to Saigon. As for the tea, medicine, sugar and milk that we found here, we'll use half of them right away. Chat will bring the other half back to his comrades in C50, we'll enjoy the benefits forever.

After that happy tea party, we said goodbye to each other. A week later, we received a message from Mr. Thieu inviting us to C50 to attend Chat's wedding, but we were so busy preparing to take over Saigon that we couldn't attend.

A happy ending

It was not until after the liberation of the South, after the end of the military administration period, that I returned to work at the Nghe Tinh Provincial Party Committee and coincidentally met Mr. Thieu at the September 12 Cinema in Vinh that I learned that he had returned to his hometown in Nghe An to become the director of the largest cinema in Vinh city. Mr. Thieu said that after the meeting at the Education base, the next day, they went together to C24 to meet Chat's girlfriend, who had returned a gift package with two rolls of thread tied together. Chat's girlfriend opened the gift and hugged Chat, crying, crying for the joy of knowing that her lover understood her feelings and remained faithful to her. Mr. Thieu said that he was the officiant at their wedding. After April 30, 1975, Chat and his wife returned to work at the Military Medical Institute. They lived happily with their two grandsons.

Author Ngo Duc Tien receives back souvenirs and documents from the Deputy Director of the State Records and Archives Department. Photo courtesy of Thanh Le

Later, when I returned to Yen Thanh, I learned that Chat was a member of the Nguyen Que family in Hop hamlet, Van Thanh commune. Chat was also a student at Yen Thanh High School, and he was only one grade behind me. Every time Chat and his wife called me, they would often ask about the Nghe teachers at the Southern Education Subcommittee base at that time. Seeing Chat and his wife living happily, Mr. Thieu also forgot to tell Chat's wife to see if she had thought of it herself or had someone tell her to send letters in gift packages like that.

Mr. Thieu also said: There is a guy named Trang from Nam Dan who used to be a postman for the Central Bureau at Cay Cay Intersection, Tay Ninh. He was the one who took him to Chat's wedding. Now he has a duck blood pudding shop near Vinh city stadium. You guys should come and see Trang for fun - Mr. Thieu advised.

Former Nghe An teachers who went to B at the meeting in April 2021. Photo provided by the author

This year, April 2021, the former teachers and soldiers who went to B before 1975 gathered at the guest house of the Education sector in Cua Lo, and we recalled the love story of the son of Nghe An and the female doctor from Doai. Unfortunately, only a few people are still healthy enough to return to meet, while most of the teachers from Nghe An who went to B for a long time have sacrificed, passed away, or are old and weak.

Our youthful years associated with the anti-American resistance war on the education front have passed nearly half a century, but the beautiful memories of April 1975 still remain in our memories.

April 2021