The journey to find the portrait of a comrade of a veteran from Nghe An
Tormented because his comrade, martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu, died without a portrait to place on the altar, veteran Duong Xuan Quang did not mind the long distance, repeatedly went to the old battlefield to meet his old comrade to find the portrait of martyr Thu.
Comradeship
Since veteran Duong Xuan Quang found the portrait of martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu, Mr. Nguyen Tien Hung (martyr Thu's younger brother) and his family members have somewhat eased their pain. Because since his death (in 1973), it took 35 years for the family to have a portrait placed on the altar.
Anh Thu sacrificed his life and his remains were not found, nor was there a photo to worship him. Fortunately, Duong Xuan Quang, a comrade of Anh Thu, made several efforts to go to the old battlefield and found his photo to give to his family. If it weren't for Quang and his deep comradeship, our family wouldn't have a photo to worship, and future generations wouldn't be able to see Anh Thu, even in a photo."
Mr. Nguyen Tien Hung
With the desire to understand clearly the journey to find the portrait of martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu, we went to Ha Long block, Nam Dan town (Nam Dan district) to meetveteranDuong Xuan Quang. Nearly 80 years old, Mr. Quang is still healthy and clear-minded, remembering every detail clearly. He shared: “The journey to find the portrait of Nguyen Xuan Thu lasted 4 years, through 3 “Southward marches”, and finally found it thanks to a comrade who was keeping it. To understand the origin of the story, we have to go back in time…”.
According to veteran Duong Xuan Quang, in 1970, when the war against the US entered a new turning point, he registered to join the army. After training, he and his comrades marched for 8 months, crossed the Truong Son mountain range, entered the Ca Mau battlefield, and was assigned to the 9th Infantry Battalion, 10th Regiment. After the liberation of the South (1975), Mr. Quang followed the footsteps of the 10th Regiment to fight on the Cambodian battlefield; in 1988 he retired with the rank of Captain.
Returning to normal life, veteran Duong Xuan Quang is absorbed in labor, production and business, and together with his wife, he raises his children to adulthood. In his free time, he often spends time visiting his family.teammate, especially those comrades who sacrificed. 20 years ago (2004), Mr. Quang went up to Thanh Linh commune (Thanh Chuong) to visit the family of martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu, a brother, a regimental officer with whom he had a deep attachment.
Mr. Quang recalled: “When I was first assigned to Battalion 9, Nguyen Xuan Thu, also known as Hai Thu, was the Battalion Commander of Battalion 7 Special Forces. Although we were in two different battalions, we fought in the same formation. In many coordinated battles, I had the opportunity to meet him. The camaraderie and compatriotism made us increasingly close. At that time, Thu was famous as a good commanding officer, with many resounding victories. At the end of June 1972, Thu was promoted to the rank of Major and held the position of Deputy Regiment Commander.”
On the night of January 26, 1973, Major, Deputy Regiment Commander Nguyen Xuan Thu and Battalion 7 were ordered to attack the enemy in Long My sub-region (now in Hau Giang province). The battle was fierce, the enemy used artillery and F105 aircraft to continuously bomb our positions. A bomb fell on the command position, Major Nguyen Xuan Thu heroically sacrificed. For several days after that, the unit searched for the Deputy Regiment Commander's body but could not find it. After 1975, many comrades returned to search but still had no results...
Journey to find the portrait
A visit to the family of martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu in 2004 moved veteran Duong Xuan Quang deeply. At that time, martyr Thu's family still did not have a picture of the martyr to place on the altar. The martyr's mother had been waiting and waiting for information about her son, crying until her tears ran dry.
Mr. Thu's remains were not found, and now there is no picture of him to worship, the loss and sacrifice is too great. That has urged me to find his picture and bring it back to his family."
Mr. Duong Xuan Quang
From then on, veteran Duong Xuan Quang began his journey to find the portrait of his comrade - martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu. For several years, Mr. Quang and his comrades returned to the old battlefield to find the remains and identify the martyrs, while also adding the task of finding the portrait of martyr Thu. There were times when Mr. Quang thought he was looking for a needle in a haystack, because he did not know where to start or which direction to approach. First, he went to Ca Mau, where the regiment was stationed, and asked families who had known Hai Thu in the past, but no one had kept any photos. Then, he searched for some comrades in Ca Mau, but everyone said that during the fierce war years, few people were allowed to take photos.
The second time, Mr. Duong Xuan Quang went to Tran Van Thoi district (Ca Mau) to ask about his comrades but there was no one. Then he went to Kien Giang, where the Command of Regiment 10 was stationed, but he also could not find a picture of martyr Nguyen Xuan Thu.
After two unsuccessful searches, Mr. Quang felt discouraged and wanted to give up. But then, the image of his family, relatives, especially his old mother,martyrsThu was hoping to find a photo of her son, which urged him to continue his journey. For the third time, Mr. Quang packed his bags and went to the Military Region 9 Command, met with the leaders of the Military Region's Political Department to present the matter and was introduced to the Military Region Museum to search, because there were many documentary photos kept there. Here, he and the Museum staff searched for photos from the period 1970 - 1973, but none of the photos had martyr Thu's face.
Extremely sad, but the veteran was not discouraged. Leaving the Military Zone 9 Museum, Mr. Quang met his comrades in the Liaison Committee of Regiment 10, someone advised him to seek out Mr. Nguyen Van Hanh (Tam Hanh) to see if he could find a way. Because during the period of 1972 - early 1973, Mr. Tam Hanh was the Head of the Propaganda Department of the Regiment, and martyr Thu was the Deputy Regiment Commander. At that time, Mr. Tam Hanh had a camera, often taking photos to document the activities of the Regiment.
The next day, Mr. Quang took a bus back to Ho Chi Minh City, went to Mr. Tam Hanh's house, the two comrades were overjoyed to see each other again after decades. When hearing about Hai Thu, Mr. Tam Hanh suddenly fell silent, his eyes filled with tears, then choked up as he recounted memories of the past. When he learned that the purpose of Mr. Quang's visit was to find a portrait of martyr Thu, Mr. Tam Hanh went into the room, carried a box containing relics and documents of the regiment, and the two searched together. Flipping through each photo, Mr. Quang suddenly exclaimed: "Brother Hai Thu is here, Brother Tam! Brother Hai Thu, I found you!"
Mr. Nguyen Tien Hung - martyr Thu's younger brother shared: "In 2008, Quang took a photo of 10 comrades in the same unit, including Hai Thu, back to his hometown to give to his family, then the family separated Thu's photo into a memorial photo. My mother hugged the photo and burst into tears, regretting that my father had passed away so he could not see Thu's photo for the last time."
Mr. Duong Xuan Quang added that a few months ago he found the daughter of martyr Nguyen Xuan Vinh in Ha Tinh to give him the portrait. Martyr Vinh was in the same unit and died in a fierce battle with the enemy. After nearly two years of searching, he finally found it and gave it to the martyr's daughter who is teaching in Ha Tinh city. Currently, he still keeps the portrait of martyr Nguyen Tien Kinh (from Ha Tinh), who was in the same unit and died in the southern battlefield. He has been to Ha Tinh several times to ask people to find information about martyr Kinh's relatives but has not found anything yet...