Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An Province and Warm Houses of Gratitude

With the motto "All activities are directed towards martyrs' relatives", over the years, the Association for Supporting Martyrs' Families of Nghe An province has always supported martyrs' families in accessing, implementing and enjoying the regimes and policies of the Party and State; helping families build houses, collecting information to search for martyrs' remains..., contributing to the implementation of the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source", "Repaying gratitude" of Nghe An land.

The Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An Province visited Mrs. Ho Thi Dieu - wife of martyr Ho Van Suc of Hung Tan Commune (Huong Nguyen). Photo: Thu Huong

Full of love

In mid-December, the Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An Province had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Ho Thi Dieu - wife of martyr Ho Van Suc in Hamlet 3, Hung Tan Commune, Hung Nguyen District. Witnessing her living in a new house with a spacious place to worship martyrs, the members of the delegation felt warm-hearted.

Standing in the new house, Mrs. Dieu choked up: “This house was my dream in the last years of my life. After many years of hardship, now I have a new, spacious house to worship my husband. Every time I burn incense, I tell him to rest in peace in there (Phu Yen) with his comrades, I will burn incense here. On holidays and Tet, the authorities and organizations come to visit, give gifts and encourage, my family feels very warm and I am sure he does too.”

The Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An Province presented savings books to relatives of martyrs in Quynh Xuan Ward, Hoang Mai Town. Photo: Thu Huong

As for Mr. Tran Vu Toan (97 years old) - father of martyr Tran Vu An in Phu Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, on the day he received the support of 50 million VND to rebuild his house, he kept looking up at his son's portrait and said to himself: "My son, today the Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An province visited me and supported me with money to build a house. So from now on, I have a new, spacious house to worship my ancestors and you. I am truly grateful to the association and the authorities at all levels, village organizations, and the kindness and sharing of the whole society for caring and helping my family have the funds to build the house that I have long dreamed of"...

These are two of hundreds of houses that the Nghe An Province Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs has mobilized from agencies, units, individuals and businesses to support families of martyrs over the past nearly 8 years. Each house built contains the deep concern of the Party, the State, the responsibility of the Association and the joint efforts of the whole community. It is a manifestation of the morality and fine tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source" of the nation...

Mr. Ho Duc Nhan - Director of Viet Long Construction and Mineral Investment Joint Stock Company (a son of Quynh Luu, Nghe An) is the unit that sponsored the construction of 15 houses and many savings books for families of martyrs, said: "With gratitude to the heroic martyrs, those who have contributed to the revolution, over the years the Company has always allocated a part of its profits to carry out social security work, supporting the cost of building houses of gratitude for the relatives of martyrs. Coming to the families, we can see many difficult circumstances, hardships in life, from which I myself promise to connect with organizations and associations to support more houses of gratitude, contributing to bringing a better life to the families of martyrs".

Mr. Tran Vu Toan (97 years old) - father of martyr Tran Vu An in Phu Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district was moved when receiving support money to build a house of gratitude. Photo: Thu Huong

Open your arms of compassion

Having gone through the long and arduous resistance wars against the French and the Americans in the last century, Nghe An has always been a province that has contributed greatly in terms of manpower and resources. There were more than 600,000 people participating in the armed forces; over 43,000 youth volunteers and nearly 152,000 frontline laborers. At the end of the war, Nghe An had 45,000 martyrs; 49,000 wounded and sick soldiers; 16,000 victims of Agent Orange; 31,057 martyrs were worshiped; 2,763 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, making it one of the provinces with the largest number of meritorious people in the country.

The war has long since ended, but the consequences for the families of martyrs are still lingering and severe. Of the 45,000 martyrs, there are still nearly 20,000 martyrs whose identities have not been determined or who do not have enough information. This is a lingering pain for the families and the whole society. Determining the principles and purposes, right from the beginning of its establishment, to collect information and accurately search for martyrs' remains, the Nghe An Province Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs regularly connects with a number of units, localities and Associations for Supporting Families of Martyrs in a number of provinces. As a result, in nearly 8 years, the Nghe An Province Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs has collected 12,000 pieces of information and addresses of martyrs from Nghe An who died on the battlefields.

The Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An Province presented money to support the construction of houses of gratitude for relatives of martyrs in Thanh Chuong District. Photo: Thu Huong

To successfully carry out its tasks in the period of 2021-2025, the Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An province hopes to continue to receive the attention and support of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Provincial Fatherland Front Committee and all levels, sectors, businesses, and benefactors inside and outside the province so that the Association can become stronger and continue to have activities of gratitude and compensation, worthy of being a common home and a trusted address for families of martyrs.

Mr. Ho Duc Thanh - Chairman of the Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An Province

In order to have funds to take care of martyrs' families and organize the search for martyrs' graves, over the years, the Association for Supporting Martyrs' Families of Nghe An province has always received attention and contributions from all levels, sectors, organizations, units, businesses, and philanthropists inside and outside the province through support activities.

In nearly 8 years since its establishment, the Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs of Nghe An province has coordinated with districts, cities, towns and sponsors to support the construction of 457 new houses (each house worth 50 - 80 million VND) and repair 56 houses, each house worth 30 million VND; donated 357 savings books worth 357 million VND; donated 9,800 gifts (500 thousand - 1 million VND/gift), 65 wheelchairs, 90 bicycles, and supported the construction and upgrading of 6 cemeteries. The total amount of money supported for relatives of martyrs is more than 40 billion VND.