Mother's Vu Lan Season

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That is just one of countless stories that I have seen and heard about mothers whose children went to war and left their bodies on the battlefield. On this “S” shaped strip of land, there are millions of mothers like that. And it seems that the image of young men with muddy feet, determined to say goodbye to the banyan tree, the communal house yard, the rice fields, and the rice fields to go to war has become an extremely heroic and heroic symbol of this small country. For thousands of years!

Monument to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers. Photo: kienthuc.net

This Vu Lan season, mother Nguyen Thi Lien, in hamlet 10, Thanh Tien commune (Thanh Chuong), turns 99. She lives in the care and protection of her children and grandchildren, but deep in her heart, she still feels empty without familiar voices and laughter.

When the country is at war, men go to war, women stay at home to do the farming, plowing and worry.

Like many women in Nghe An, Nguyen Thi Lien, a village girl, was born and grew up without much knowledge of letters. She grew up farming, stayed on the land, stayed on the fields, then got married. When the country was at war, the men went to war, the women stayed at home to do the farming, planting and plowing, and worried. All of these things happened in a small house on the poor land of Thanh Tien.

When Nguyen Thi Lien reached adulthood, her father was already on the front lines fighting the French. She was then matched with Khuong Van Phuc, a man from the same hometown. They met very simply, just offering betel leaves and green tea to officials from both families. Before they could get to know each other, her husband followed in his father's footsteps and joined the army to fight the French. Not long after, the family received bad news: both her father and husband were killed.

Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh kindly visited and encouraged Heroic Vietnamese Mother Nguyen Thi Lien, Hamlet 10, Thanh Tien Commune, Thanh Chuong District. Photo: QS

Youth has its time, life has its time, after many years of persuasion from both families, the young girl Nguyen Thi Lien wiped away her tears and remarried. She gave birth to 4 children, 2 boys, 2 girls. The eldest son was Nguyen Van Chung born in 1954. When he was just 17 years old, like tens of thousands of young men in this land, Nguyen Van Chung volunteered to join the army. He was assigned to Battalion 64, Regiment 32, Division 35 fighting at the Binh - Tri - Thien front. Her son went to war, another man of the family facing bullets and arrows, once again, Nguyen Thi Lien's mother could not help but feel pained with worry. And the fear always became reality, haunting her throughout her youth. The death notice was only a few short lines but it was like thousands of knives shattering her already wounded heart.

Nguyen Van Chung sacrificed his life in 1972 and somewhere in the land of Binh - Tri - Thien, which was heavily bombed and bombed, his body is still left behind, his blood mixed with rivers and streams for a truth that will last a lifetime: Determined to die for the country's revival! Only his mother, whose eyes are now dim and whose ears are hard of hearing, still never stops talking about him - her handsome, filial first-born son. It seems that she is afraid that if she does not talk about him, everyone will forget him. When Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh visited Lien's mother on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day, she was very happy. She said that when her children visit her and remember her, they still remember their father, their husband and their children. Lien's mother also said that she is currently living with the family of her second son Nguyen Van Danh and is receiving the attention and care of all levels and sectors. She was awarded the title of Heroic Vietnamese Mother, but she is happier when the country is no longer in war and division.

Vu Lan Festival. Photo: Dinh Anh

Many foreign scholars, when studying the history of Vietnam, have concluded that this is the country of heroic mothers. It is not only because they willingly sacrificed to dedicate their sons and daughters to the country on the front lines against the enemy. Above all, no one else but Vietnamese mothers have instilled and educated their children with ardent patriotism and noble sacrifice. That quality, that morality has carved the character and character of an entire nation and is most clearly manifested in the fires and wars.

The history of this land shows that, in the wars to protect the Fatherland as well as to carry out international missions, Nghe An was both the frontline and the great rear area providing human and material support to the battlefields. In the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, Nghe An had 506,000 children joining the army, 32,000 militia and guerrillas, 43,000 youth volunteers, and over 200,000 frontline laborers. After the war, Nghe An was one of the provinces with the fourth largest number of policy beneficiaries in the country. Including 45,031 martyrs, 42,148 wounded soldiers, 18,547 sick soldiers... In particular, the province has 2,630 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh visited and encouraged mother Thai Thi Yem, hamlet 5, Thanh Thinh commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Quoc Son

However, surely all mothers in this land of pain never want to carry, give birth, and raise their children to become famous. This is what makes the HEROIC qualities of Vietnamese mothers even more. I still remember recently when I went with comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee to visit and present gifts to the heroic Vietnamese mother Thai Thi Yem, 90 years old in hamlet 5, Thanh Thinh commune (Thanh Chuong), my mother said, now even if she closes her eyes and passes away, she will be at peace because she has her children - the mothers who did not give birth to her, raise her but always give her love, care, and sharing.

Thai Thi Yem's mother had two sons who died in the war against the US. They were martyrs Nguyen Dinh Long and Nguyen Dinh Chat. Another son was a war invalid. The tradition of revolution, dedication and sacrifice seems to be an invisible thread running through Yem's mother's family. Her grandson - Captain Nguyen Dinh Tai, Department of Drug and Crime Prevention, Nghe An Border Guard Command, was seriously injured while arresting criminals in the border area of ​​Ky Son district just over a year ago. Currently, Captain Nguyen Dinh Tai is in a wheelchair and is still being treated for his injuries, but his sacrifice and bravery have become an example and inspiration for the young generation in the whole province to learn and follow.

Vu Lan season for mothers may not have cakes, flowers and the joy from the eyes and smiles of the children she gave birth to. Mother's Vu Lan season also does not have a rose pinned to her left chest, only white chrysanthemums that she places on the altar, lights an incense stick and prays that her children from the far away world will follow the smoke to return. Mother's Vu Lan season also has children who, although not born by her, still come back to her because of duty, love, and gratitude. They show their filial piety to their mother on her behalf and because of that, our country will last forever.

The ceremony of pinning roses on the chest of parents. Photo: Huy Thu