The youngest sister anxiously searches for the graves of her three martyr brothers.

(Baonghean) - In hamlet 9, Cat Van commune (Thanh Chuong), there is a woman who carries the pain of war when her three brothers did not return. That pain grows over the years, becoming a constant worry in her heart.

In the small house of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan, the most solemn place is reserved for hanging the memorial photos of her mother and brothers. She confided: “My mother is a heroic Vietnamese mother, my three brothers all died on the battlefield in the South, and all three of their graves have not been found. In the last days of her life, my mother was always worried about this and wanted me to continue searching. But the vast battlefield with so many changes, the cemetery with countless tombstones with unknown names, where can I find my brothers?”

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan and her husband offer sacrifices at the altar of her parents and brothers who are martyrs. Photo: Cong Kien

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ho (born in 1911) - Mrs. Xuan's mother, met with misfortune when her husband passed away early, her son Hoang Dinh Mao was still young at that time. The situation of a widowed mother and orphaned son made the young mother decide to remarry and gave birth to 3 more children: Nguyen Duy Vien, Nguyen Duy Tiep and Nguyen Thi Xuan. Her children all grew up during the war.

All three of her sons joined the army one by one, crossing the Truong Son mountain range to fight in the South. Every time she saw her sons off, the mother in the village of Cat Van would shed tears, silently hoping that her sons would be safe and avoid bullets and arrows. The war was brutal, the more she waited, the more nothing happened, and then the old mother received three death notices...

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan's memory still preserves the family's poverty during the years of bombs and bullets. The eldest brother Hoang Dinh Mao mostly lived with his father's family so they rarely saw each other, while Vien and Tiep lived together under the same thatched roof with many peaceful childhood memories. The two brothers always loved their youngest sister, often helping her with all the work and teaching her how to write.

Mr. Vien left first, and when they said goodbye, he told his two younger siblings to help their mother with the housework. Mr. Tiep went to school one day and went to the forest to cut firewood to sell in the afternoon, paying for his own tuition, books, and clothes for both of them. He dreamed of becoming a teacher to teach poor children. But the war became more and more fierce, so Mr. Tiep had to put his dream on hold to go fight the enemy.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan with the portrait of martyr Nguyen Duy Tiep. Photo: Cong Kien

Holding his sister's hand tightly, the older brother seemed to be in tears: "So we all went to the battlefield, war is unpredictable, everything falls on your shoulders, try your best...". The three older brothers went to the battlefield, Mrs. Xuan and her old mother continued to live hard, difficult days, their hearts filled with anxiety, worry, waiting, and hope.

In the spring of 1972, a surprise happened when Vien and Tiep were in two different units but were given leave at the same time. The old mother and younger sister were overjoyed. Mrs. Xuan found fragrant soap to wash the dusty uniforms and sew up the worn-out parts, sending her love. A few days later, the two brothers set off again, going to the distant fields, still looking back at their mother's thatched roof...

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ho continued her years of waiting and hoping, but the day the country was unified, she still did not see her brothers return, news was like the shadow of a bird or the shadow of a fish. Her second husband had passed away a long time ago, her eldest son Hoang Dinh Mao had a death certificate for several years, and where were Nguyen Duy Vien and Nguyen Duy Tiep that they had not returned, nor had they written to their mother and brother?

In 1976, she received two death notices, the pain tearing her heart apart. From then on, the mother was absent-minded like a shadow, going out to the alley to wait for her son morning and evening. In 2002, Nguyen Thi Ho turned 91, no longer able to wait, so she returned to her ancestors. Before passing away, she held her daughter's hand and said: "If you have the chance, go find and bring your brothers back..."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan went to the old battlefield to find her brothers' graves (photo provided by the character).

Fulfilling her mother's wish before she passed away, Mrs. Xuan went everywhere to search for her brothers' comrades, several times entering the mountains of Quang Tri - Thua Thien Hue to find graves. But the battlefields are now different, no trace of the past remains, and the cemeteries have been moved and renovated many times.

Finding the tombstone of a person without any data is already difficult enough, but Mrs. Xuan had to find the tombstones of her three brothers, which was more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Once, following her brother Tiep's unit to Tri-Thien to visit the old battlefield, she spent a whole day still unable to find all the tombstones.

Amidst countless unnamed graves, she suddenly shouted: “Brothers! Where are you, please show me the way so I can take you back to your parents!” In response, there was only the sound of pine trees rustling in the wind, and a few sparrows suddenly flapping their wings and flying away while looking for food... On each trip like that, Mrs. Xuan felt heavy-hearted when she returned, her sighs like the sound of her heart aching throughout the entire journey.

This year, she is 63 years old. Time and the burden of life have almost exhausted Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan, while the tombs of her three martyrs are still somewhere in the South. The more time passes, the more difficult it is to find them, and the more intense the anxiety becomes.

Cong Kien