A love story on the Trường Sơn front lines.
From the moment their hearts began to beat with love, their relationship has spanned 57 years, and they have lived together for more than half a century. Having blossomed amidst bombs and bullets, overcoming the hardships of the post-war era, now living a peaceful life with many children and grandchildren, the love between the two former Youth Volunteer Corps members, Tran Van Than and Vu Thi Kim Lien, remains undiminished.
Commemorating the events on the 20th Victory Road.
The house of Mr. and Mrs. Tran Van Than in Block 1, Trung Do Ward (Vinh City), located at the foot of Quyet Mountain, has witnessed years of hardship and toil, yet happiness still abounds.
"Our happiness blossomed from genuine love, enduring the harsh trials of war and the hardships of the subsidy years. Life is full of ups and downs, but we always looked in the same direction to build and preserve our home together."
Mr. Tran Van Than
Mr. Tran Van Than (born in 1944) and his wife, Mrs. Vu Thi Kim Lien (born in 1949), grew up amidst the flames of war, during the fierce resistance against the US. In 1965, the need for support forbattlefieldAs the South grew larger, young Tran Van Than bid farewell to his hometown of Hung Khanh, Hung Nguyen district (Nghe An province) and joined the Youth Volunteer Force.
Around the same time, Vu Thi Kim Lien, a young woman from Gia Vien (Ninh Binh province), also volunteered to march into Truong Son to carry out road-building, supply, and ammunition-carrying duties. In the mountainous border region between Vietnam and Laos, in Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces, these young men and women of the Youth Volunteer Force lived under the enemy's bombardment, enduring countless hardships and dangers. There were times when they witnessed dozens of comrades buried under bombs, hit by shrapnel, and killed at the young age of twenty, never having experienced romantic love.
As if by fate, Youth Volunteer Teams 23 and 25 were assigned the task of ensuring traffic flow on Route 20 Quyet Thang - a branch of the strategic transport route.Truong Son.
Ms. Lien recalled: “One day at the end of 1968, after a series of American bombs hit the telephone exchange of the 25th Youth Volunteer Team, I had just run down the road to connect the lines when another coordinated bombing raid fell… When I woke up, I found myself in the military medical station. A young man with a Zone 4 accent told me what had happened the day before. I learned that he was a Youth Volunteer from Nghe An, named Tran Van Than, working in the Youth Union in Team 23. I was deeply moved and grateful for his help in my time of need. We became acquainted from then on…”
According to Ms. Lien, that day, a Youth Union officer from Team 23, while on patrol duty, encountered a targeted bombing raid. Seeing a female comrade from Team 25 suffering from the blast pressure, he rushed to her rescue, carrying her back to the military medical station. From then on, the two became increasingly close, their hearts began to beat differently, and they missed each other intensely when they didn't see each other for a long time.
At times, the female Youth Volunteer wondered if their meeting was fate, because why were they alone that day…? Then she asked herself: “Is it a girl from the Van River and Thuy Mountain meeting a boy from Hong Linh and Lam River?” But in the wartime conditions, battlefield discipline was extremely strict, so each time they met, they could only express their feelings through glances and smiles.
Holding hands to overcome challenges
It seems fate brought them together when, in 1969, their superiors decided to merge Team 23 and Team 25 into one unit. This gave the couple more opportunities to meet and grow closer, blending their camaraderie and love for each other.
At that time, Ms. Lien was still working as a switchboard operator, and Mr. Than was still a Youth Union official. Each had their own duties, but they always looked out for each other. Especially when bombs were falling, the ground was shaking, and the air was thick with smoke and dust, the two shared a common worry and hope.
“When our love had matured and we were determined to be together, we decided to inform our unit. But it wasn't until 1972, after two challenging terms, that the unit finally agreed to organize the wedding. Needless to say, we were overjoyed and incredibly happy,” Mr. Than recounted.
The wedding of the two Youth Volunteer soldiers took place in the encampment area at kilometer 54 of the 20th Victory Road. The wedding venue was a simple hut, decorated with familiar wildflowers, the offerings consisted only of a few cakes and candies, and the entire unit witnessed the ceremony.
A simple wedding took place amidst the Trường Sơn mountain range, between two bombing raids, yet it was no less solemn and heartwarming. The young couple received a marriage certificate from their unit, which the local authorities would use as a basis for issuing a marriage certificate upon their discharge from the army. Today, this marriage certificate is preserved in a museum in Hanoi as proof of the love between the man and woman during those wartime years.war.
After getting married, Mr. Tran Van Than transferred to the transportation sector, continuing to work on construction projects throughout the country. Mrs. Lien was also discharged from the army and returned to her husband's hometown, working at the Ben Thuy restaurant (Vinh City), becoming a resident of Nghe An province, deeply connected to the Lam River and the beloved folk songs, and the scorching Lao winds.
The birth of their three children, all healthy, was the greatest source of happiness for the Youth Volunteers returning from the Truong Son mountains.
It's impossible to recount all the hardships and difficulties of those years under the subsidized economy, with meager incomes, times when we had to go without food to give to our children, and times when it seemed impossible to overcome them.
But amidst those difficulties, the love between husband and wife grew stronger and more affectionate, sharing hardships and worries together and preserving a happy home. Thanks to this, their children grew up well, received a good education, and now all are adults with stable jobs and happy families of their own. Currently, they have nine grandchildren, both from their sons and daughters, all well-behaved and academically successful, bringing them joy in their old age.
Love blossomed amidst the flames of war and flourished in peacetime. We are always proud to have overcome countless fierce challenges, hardships, and deprivations of life to keep pace with the progress of our homeland, build a happy family, and raise our children to adulthood.”
Ms. Vu Thi Kim Lien