The pain of meeting his benefactor again for an old veteran from Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - An old soldier from Nghe An spent decades searching for the whereabouts of his benefactor's family from the old Tri Thien war. When he found them and returned, he died before he could reunite.

On the evening of December 9, many elderly friends of Mr. Vo Trong Nghia, 65 years old, from village 5, Thanh Son commune, Anh Son district, Nghe An province, shed tears as they saw this man off to return home after he died in a traffic accident in Hue.

Previously, on the morning of December 9, Mr. Nghia's old friends in Hue had an appointment to meet each other, but were suddenly informed that their friend had an accident and passed away as soon as he got out of the car. The location of Mr. Nghia's accident was only a few hundred meters from the house of a friend from the war, located on National Highway 1A, passing through residential group 5 (Tu Ha ward, Huong Tra town, Thua Thien - Hue province).

Accident scene. Photo. Dinh Toan.

According to the police, at around 4:30 a.m. on December 9, after traveling from Nghe An to Tu Ha, Mr. Nghia got out of the car and crossed the street. At this time, a passenger car with license plate 17B - 01035 traveling from Da Nang to Quang Tri, driven by To Duc Hanh (45 years old, residing in Thuy Hai, Thai Thuy, Thai Binh), hit him hard, causing him to be thrown back to the other side of the road.

At the same time, several cars traveling in the direction of Quang Tri - Da Nang collided with Mr. Nghia, causing the victim to be dragged dozens of meters and died on the spot. The car that Mr. Hanh was driving after hitting Mr. Nghia lost control and fell to the side of the road and stopped, while the other cars did not stop, making it difficult for the police to investigate.

Notably, the location where Mr. Nghia had his accident recently has often had many serious accidents, especially since there are only two points in a short stretch of highway with two open median strips, while the traffic is heavy, with vehicles speeding and driving recklessly.

Mr. Vo Xe's family welcomed their son in a miserable situation. Photo: Dinh Toan

After hearing the bad news, Mr. Nghia’s four sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren from his hometown and Ho Chi Minh City tried to find a way to return to Hue and they almost collapsed when they arrived at the morgue of Huong Tra Town Hospital. Mr. Nghia’s old friends cried their eyes out from morning to night for a reunion full of adversity. They encouraged each other to clean up, change clothes for their friend; take care of rituals, incense, and flowers… War and death have been gone for decades, but those people have to suffer once again.

Perhaps the most painful is the case of Mr. Vo Xe (61 years old) and his siblings in Thai Duong Thuong Dong village, Hai Duong commune, Huong Tra town, Thua Thien - Hue province. Mr. Xe's family once took care of Mr. Nghia and his comrades during the war, and Mr. Nghia considered them his second family, and Mr. Xe's parents were his parents. When peace was restored, Mr. Nghia and Mr. Xe's family lost contact with each other.

Mr. Nghia tried hard to find them through many sources, including the television station, but to no avail. Recently, after accidentally meeting some old wartime friends in Hue, Mr. Nghia was able to find Mr. Xe's family. On December 9, on the anniversary of Mr. Xe's mother's death, Mr. Nghia packed his bags and traveled from Nghe An to Hue to reunite and burn incense for his second mother.

Mr. Nghia's old friends from the old battlefield came to the morgue of Huong Tra Hospital, Thua Thien - Hue to encourage Mr. Nghia's relatives and help him return to Nghe An. Photo: Dinh Toan.

According to the plan, Mr. Nghia would get off the bus at Tu Ha, go to the house of his friend Pham Thi Dao and her husband, then gather some other friends to go to Mr. Xe's house in the coastal area about ten kilometers from Dao's house. However, when he just got off the bus, he had an accident.

“For the past three years, my father has been trying to find my grandparents’ house in Hue. He said he had to find it and return there, so he sent out information to many places, including the TV station. Recently, he was very happy to have found my grandmother and uncles’ house in Hue. Last night, my father called Saigon to tell us that he was going to Hue to visit my grandmother and uncles, but this morning we received the news of his passing like this…” – Mr. Vo Trong Ba, one of Mr. Nghia’s four sons, cried as he recounted.

Mr. Nghia's older friends said that Mr. Nghia was a soldier in Unit K15, the heroic 4th Infantry Regiment, belonging to the Tri Thien Military Region (now the 4th Economic - Defense Group, Nghe An Provincial Military Command). During the war, Mr. Nghia and his unit were tasked with protecting the two districts of Phong Dien and Quang Dien of the Tri Thien front. In mid-1975, Mr. Nghia's unit withdrew to Phong Dien district, Thua Thien - Hue, then Quang Tri, then to Nghe An and lost contact with Mr. Xe's family until now.

Toan Temple

(Thua Thien Hue)