An emotional encounter

BHG - Amid the historic days of July, with a clear sky after the rain, I had the opportunity to follow people from all over the country to visit the Vi Xuyen National Martyrs Cemetery and lay flowers in gratitude of the heroic fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the fight to protect the Northern border.

Traversing the 1,500-kilometer journey from Dak Lak Province to the Vi Xuyen Front, after spending long years in the fight to protect the northern border, war veteran Hoang Ba Xang could not hide his emotions at returning to the border land of the Fatherland after nearly 40 years. The tight hugs and warm handshakes among soldiers who had not met each other for many years made him feel young again and all his fatigue disappeared. Among the war veterans who returned to Vi Xuyen National Martyr's Cemetery to commemorate their fallen comrades, Xang is a special participant as he lost one leg and had to use crutches throughout the long journey. Despite the disability, nothing could weaken the will of this resilient soldier.

War veteran Hoang Ba Xang, who lost one leg, could not hide his emotions at returning to the border land of the Fatherland after nearly 40 years.

War veteran Hoang Ba Xang emotionally recalled that during the battle on high point 685, he was injured and lost a leg. “After years, I now have the opportunity to reunite with my comrades and teammates again. We are very excited but still sad because some of our comrades who laid down their lives during the fight have not been found nor identified yet.

Although she did not participate directly on the Vi Xuyen front, Dang Thi Thiet  — a military medical soldier of Division 356 from Doan Hung District, Phu Tho Province — has composed dozens of poems on Vi Xuyen soldiers. Some of the poems in her collection include ‘I owe my whole life, my mother’, ‘The road named after him’, and ‘Forever 20’.

More than 40 years from the day he received news of his brother’s death, Le Van Hung and his another brother from Ngoc Lac, Thanh Hoa Province, finally got the opportunity to visit the resting place of fallen soldier Le Van Thang at Vi Xuyen National Martyr's Cemetery.

 In an emotional moment that was difficult to express in words, Hung said that he joined the trip with my brother's ex-teammates.

As a Muong ethnic man, this is the farthest trip he has taken and also his first time setting foot in Ha Giang Province.

“Coming here to see that our brother resting in pace with thousands of other fallen soldiers, we feel comfort. The fallen soldiers’ graves were built in a spacious and beautiful manner, we feel happy, our family's wishes have come true.”

Each person I meet has different background, maybe many of them have been looking forward to this trip for a long time, even their whole life, to meet their comrades and relatives again, to review a period of time when they lived on the line between life and death together.  Through their stories, we have a better understanding of how much their generation has sacrificed and suffered to maintain a peaceful and friendly border like today.

MOC LAN