Touching journey of gratitude of those doing missionary work

The first place we went to was Vung Chua, Yen Island, Quang Dong Commune, Quang Trach District, Quang Binh Province. The road leading to the tomb of General Vo Nguyen Giap was packed with people. Without anyone telling anyone, an orderly and solemn atmosphere spread, each person respectfully offered incense to the General's tomb.

Leaving the "two-talented" land of Quang Binh, in the call of love, urging, and immortal song“Oh Truong Son! Tonight we go to the windy Truong Son…”, we continued to join the flow of tourists from all over the country to visit and offer incense to commemorate the heroic martyrs at Truong Son National Cemetery - the resting place of thousands of martyrs and youth volunteers on the "traffic battlefield" who sacrificed themselves to go ahead and open a "bloody path" for the army to support the southern battlefield. This place has become a "red address" bearing the symbol of revolutionary heroism.

Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery seen from above. Photo courtesy: Lieutenant Colonel Tuan Ta

Our group got lost in the green uniforms of veterans and former youth volunteers - living witnesses of history who came here to meet their comrades, to return to their memories with tears in their eyes. Also here, we met a son who, after decades, had just found the burial place of his father who had sacrificed his life on the fiery land of Truong Son. We stood silently before 10,200 graves, before the emotional explanation "Is there any song better than the song of nation building, is there any act more noble than the act of taking up arms to fight the enemy, determined for the Fatherland, sacrificing...".

Your twenties were spent on the battlefield so that the country could have peace and the mountains and rivers could be united. Your sacrifices created the legend of Truong Son, forever immortalized. And now, when they have returned to their resting place, you are still together, both with and without names. In the bells of prayer, the poems associated with your sacrifices always touch people's hearts, especially in the middle of July:“Please row gently on the boat going down to Thach Han/ My friend still lies there on the river/ At the age of 20, he has become waves/ Gently lapping the shore forever”.

Delegation of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department offered incense at Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery. Photo: Phan Thanh

Also on this occasion of gratitude, at the National Martyrs Cemetery of Route 9, the cemetery manager welcomed many groups of people to pay their respects even though it was noon. The National Martyrs Cemetery of Route 9 is the eternal resting place of more than 10,000 martyrs, children of ethnic groups across the country, who fought, served in combat and heroically sacrificed on the battlefield of Quang Tri and in Laos during the years of resistance against the US to save the country.

The National Martyrs' Cemetery of Route 9 is located on a hill, facing Highway 9, upgraded from the Martyrs' Cemetery of Dong Ha town. Route 9 has become a legend of our army and people in the resistance war against the US because of its heroic and glorious feats of arms and it was also a haunting memory for American and puppet soldiers in the years 1965 - 1972.

After offering flowers and incense to the heroic martyrs and revolutionary veterans, respectfully expressing gratitude for the great contributions of our ancestors, we visited each grave of each martyr from Nghe An to light incense sticks.

View of National Martyrs Cemetery, Road 9. Photo: Phan Thanh

At the Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery and the National Road 9 Martyrs' Cemetery, on behalf of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, comrade Kha Van Tam - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department expressed his infinite gratitude, remembered the great contributions of generations of fathers and brothers who sacrificed for the Party's revolutionary cause, for the cause of national liberation and promised to strive to study, improve professional qualifications, practice political mettle, revolutionary ethics, and fulfill assigned tasks well, contributing to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland in the new era.

Thousands of graves are lined up in rows and paths. Over there is Nghe An, over there is Ha Tinh and over here is Quang Binh. And what makes us most sad is seeing so many graves with the “unknown martyrs” headstones. Who are you? Where are you from? How can you return to your families? We only know“Please light incense where the wind is blowing/Don't forget any grave with incense smoke.”

Also in the midst of the burning incense smoke, we caught sight of a woman sitting quietly, motionless. She did not cry, just holding back her tears, her hands trembling as she rubbed the words on the stele. The war ended more than forty years ago, but has the war really ended, with its painful remnants in people's hearts, along with the lingering anguish that never ceases to sob? How many unnamed martyrs' graves are still on the heroic lands, how many people left to follow the call of the Fatherland but have not returned? And then the mothers, wives, and children with love as vast as the sky and the sea still wait, day and night awake with the bitter taste of choking tears.

Comrade Kha Van Tam - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, offered incense to pay tribute to each martyr's grave. Photo: Phan Thanh

The crisscrossing bomb craters, the dead, leafless hills along the Truong Son and Route 9 routes of the past have now been replaced by lush green forests. The blooming flowers of the mountains and forests have pushed back a tragic and painful past on this land. And for us, the pilgrimage through those sacrifices has left behind many emotions, has given us more motivation, and helped everyone experience "traveling to live more compassionately and humanely, to see that our daily hardships and worries are small".