To ease my mother's heartache

(Baonghean) - July is a month of gratitude! Hoping to alleviate some of the sorrow of mothers whose husbands and sons bravely sacrificed their lives in the great wars of national defense, today's children have pledged to care for and support these Vietnamese Heroic Mothers and mothers of martyrs with all their hearts...

The painsilent May

Visiting Hung Long (Hung Nguyen) one July day. This small piece of land along the banks of the Lam River is home to three Vietnamese Heroic Mothers (one has passed away due to old age). The house of Vietnamese Heroic Mother Dinh Thi Bon is located in Hamlet 16 (Hung Long), outside the Ta Lam dike. Here, every rainy season, the water rises almost to the porch. Mother Bon has seen her sons go to war three times, and only once did she get to welcome her eldest son back. All that remains for her are two certificates of recognition from the Fatherland, placed on a solemn altar amidst the smoke of incense. Now 83 years old, she is still quite lucid, but her stories about her sons rely on the fragmented accounts of her eldest son, Luu Xuan Man. Only the memory of her sons who sacrificed their lives remains, reflected in her tears whenever she speaks of them; these include martyr Luu Xuan Dan, who died in Upper Laos, whose remains have now been brought back by relatives and comrades to rest at the Vietnam-Laos Martyrs Cemetery (Anh Son). That was martyr Luu Minh Hat, who died in November 1978 in the fields of Ka Tum commune (Ka Up - Tay Ninh). When he fell to the ground, martyr Luu Minh Hat had not yet completed his military service.

Mrs. Dinh Thi Bon, a Vietnamese Heroic Mother from Hamlet 16 (Hung Long, Hung Nguyen), stands beside her grandchildren by a jackfruit tree in her garden.

Recalling her two beloved children, Mother Bon choked up again, "The death notices for both of them arrived so close together, my child. At that time, I didn't know anything anymore, I couldn't hear anything anymore. I thought my stomach would ache and I would follow my children to the afterlife!" Fearing that she wouldn't be able to bear it, the whole family decided to leave Hung Long village and go to the mountainous region of Anh Son to build a new life for four years. It was heartbreaking to leave the fields, the meadows, the place where she was born and raised, because every piece of land, every tree, every cornfield reminded them of their children. They had to find a way to ease their mother's grief before they could return so she could get back on her feet and raise her children and grandchildren.

In Hamlet 11B, inside the Ta Lam dike, is the small house of Mother of Vietnamese Heroic Soldiers Pham Thi Nhu, who lives with her daughter-in-law, Nguyen Thi Thanh. Mother Nhu is 96 years old this year. When we visited, she was playing with her grandchild. Ms. Thanh recounted: "When I got married, both my husband's brother and sister had already died. Back then, I often heard her crying at night; it was because she missed her children!" Mother Nhu gave birth to 11 children, almost all of whom died from illness and famine. When her two children, Nguyen Xuan Tung and Nguyen Thi Trung, enlisted in the army, she anxiously awaited their return. But... Martyr Nguyen Xuan Tung died on March 12, 1975, on the Southern front, and Martyr Nguyen Thi Trung died four years earlier (September 21, 1971) in Quang Binh. Mother Nhu loves Trung the most, because from the time he left until he returned to her in the form of a death certificate, he had no written words or mementos for her to cherish and remember him by.

Visiting Nghi Tien commune (Nghi Loc district), we arrived at Hamlet 10 and met Mrs. Luu Thi Linh, the mother of Martyr Ho Van Nuoi. Living alone in a house built with charitable funds, despite being over 80 years old, she still manages to take care of herself. She has seven children, Nuoi being the fifth. Most of the others have married and settled far away. Her youngest son, Ho Van Hoan, lives near her. Mrs. Linh recounted, “Nuoi was born in 1967. He had just left school a short while ago to go to sea and help his parents support his younger siblings' education when he received his conscription notice. That year, he was exactly 18 years old. During his time in the army, Nuoi came home once on leave to help his parents repair the roof tiles and plant more trees in the backyard. After his leave ended, he said goodbye to his family to return to his unit, but unexpectedly, that was the last time he would ever return…” And like the 63 other parents whose children died in the Battle of Truong Sa (March 14, 1988), Mr. Ho Van Thinh and Mrs. Luu Thi Linh could not believe their eyes when they received the death notice. The grief over their son's death drove Mr. Thinh to despair. He quit his job as a local official and wandered aimlessly along the coast. To anyone who asked him about his son, he only had one answer: "I'm looking for Nuoi..."

The road to Hamlet 8 (Nghi Huong Ward - Cua Lo Town) is now much busier than before. But the age of Mother of Vietnamese Heroic Soldiers Nguyen Thi Que is increasingly burdened, like her hunched back. Among the four Mothers of Vietnamese Heroic Soldiers in Cua Lo currently, and all 104 mothers in the entire province, Mother Nguyen Thi Que is probably the oldest. This year, she turned 106. Her two sons, Phung Minh Quan and Phung Minh Kieu, have passed away. Now she lives in a small house next to her second son. Despite her advanced age, a glimmer of joy appeared when she learned that the Command of Military Region 4 had issued Decision 864/QD-BTL on June 10, 2015, pledging to provide lifelong care and support for her and 14 other mothers throughout the province.

All grandchildrenGathering around Mother

Nghe An province has 1,918 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, of which 188 are still alive. Major Luong Hoang Tung, Head of the Policy Department of the Provincial Military Command, stated, "Over the years, along with the rest of the country, the Party Committee and the Provincial Military Command of Nghe An have effectively implemented the Party and State's policies on supporting the families of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers and other meritorious individuals. In July 2015, the Provincial Military Command also undertook the lifelong care of Vietnamese Heroic Mother Nguyen Thi Ty (99 years old) in Cam Son (Anh Son district). Mother Ty is the mother of two martyrs, Hoang Xuan Dan and Hoang Minh Hoi. Besides caring for her, with the camaraderie of those who came before us, we consider this a sacred responsibility, expressed with the heartfelt devotion of a soldier."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, the eldest daughter-in-law of Mrs. Pham Thi Nhu, a Vietnamese Heroic Mother, recounted stories about her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, both martyrs whom she had never met.

To alleviate some of the pain and suffering that these mothers endured in the past, Nghe An province, along with the rest of the country, has done a good job in supporting the mothers of Vietnamese Heroic Soldiers. Besides those who have been supported for a long time, on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the Day of War Invalids and Martyrs (July 27th), there are still 93 mothers alive. As soon as a specific list of their circumstances was available, many agencies and units throughout the province, with their capabilities and compassion, have taken in and provided lifelong support to these mothers. Some units support 10 mothers, some 5, and some only 1. But all share the same aspiration: to ensure that in their final days, these mothers can still be proud that their children and grandchildren have left behind so many more by their side. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tong (from Thanh Linh, Thanh Chuong) had only one son, Martyr Nguyen Van Hoe, who died in 1973. Mrs. Tong has been cared for and supported for life by the Nghe An Newspaper since 1996. Whenever she is ill or needs medical care, the Nghe An Newspaper provides transportation. Every day she is hospitalized, her children and grandchildren from the Nghe An Newspaper come to care for her, providing meals, clothing, and warm socks. On the anniversary of Martyr Nguyen Van Hoe's death or during Tet (Lunar New Year), the Nghe An Newspaper comes to pick her up and drop her off. Now, to better care for her, Mrs. Tong has been transferred to the Martyrs' Family Care Home in Dien Chau district. Her children and grandchildren still visit her whenever they have the chance. She once said, "I had one son who sacrificed his life, but now I have nearly 100 children at the Nghe An Newspaper who are as close as my own flesh and blood." Currently, the Nghe An Newspaper is supporting three Vietnamese Heroic Mothers.

Speaking with us, Comrade Nguyen Dinh Tien, Commander of the Military Command of Hung Long commune, said that the commune currently has 68 wounded soldiers, 35 sick soldiers, 45 relatives receiving allowances, 126 families worshipping martyrs, 91 cases of Agent Orange exposure, and 2 living Vietnamese Heroic Mothers. The total monthly payment for these policies is approximately 380 million VND. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, added: "In addition to caring for and ensuring benefits for policy beneficiaries in the area, Hung Long commune also pays special attention to the 2 living Vietnamese Heroic Mothers. Whenever the mothers are ill, the leaders and the commune's policy committee are responsible for taking them to the hospital for examination and treatment. On holidays and Tet (Lunar New Year), the gifts given to the mothers, though not much, are a token of the commune's gratitude to them."

The family of Mrs. Dinh Thi Bon (Hung Long), a Vietnamese Heroic Mother, was originally poor, making their living by fishing and gathering clams along the riverbank. Both she and her husband were members of the Hung Long Transport Cooperative, rowing boats to transport troops and goods to the South for the war from 1968 to 1973. Now, decades after the war ended, Mrs. Bon's once weary, bare feet, used to toil in the mud along the riverbank to raise her children and save her rice crops from floods, are now more at ease thanks to the expanding flood-resistant road running across the riverbank of Hamlet 16. Living with her dutiful eldest son and her two other children, and with the support of her neighbors and the local authorities, Mrs. Bon seems healthier. Chewing betel nut, she recounts, "Now, I can happily eat about two bowls of rice at each meal. I eat to stay healthy so I can see how much our fields and land have changed."

We visited the Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, and upon hearing that their children and grandchildren had arrived, some managed to find their way out on their own, while others had to be carried by family members. But every mother was happy. The gifts and cakes were just small tokens of affection. But it seemed that each time someone came, the mothers felt very proud. They probably thought that since they had sacrificed their children, whom they had given birth to, for the Fatherland, they now had many other children and grandchildren gathered around them.

Tran Hai