From July 11 to 15, 2012, the veterans of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, had a meaningful "return": the "return" to Quang Tri ancient citadel and Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery. This return is even more meaningful, as this year - 2012, the whole country solemnly commemorates the 81-day and night event of the Ancient Citadel, a historical turning point in our nation's resistance war against the US to save the country. And among them, there are those who directly fought and left here a part of their youth. The notes of the veterans will help us understand more clearly about that meaningful trip...
Day 11...It has become a tradition that every July, when summer is pouring down on the ground, veterans from the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities gather to return to the old battlefield. This year's return is scheduled at two familiar addresses that just mentioning their names makes everyone feel excited: Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery and Quang Tri Ancient Citadel. Especially with the location of Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, the journey of this delegation will be more meaningful: this year the whole country solemnly celebrates the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Quang Tri province; 40 years of the event of 81 days and nights of the fiercest war ever in the history of the Vietnam War: with only more than 10 hectares in 81 days and nights, Quang Tri Ancient Citadel had to endure up to 325 thousand tons of bombs and bullets from the enemy; 81 days and nights, thousands of beloved children of the Fatherland will forever lie under the sacred soil of the Fatherland. There are examples of sacrifice that have become legends. An 81-day and night battle of Stalingrad in Vietnam... In less than ten days, I had two trips back to the lands that once contained so many legends. The group went with the most careful preparation by two members, now the president and vice president of the Veterans Association of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities: Mr. Nguyen Chi Hoa and Pham Dinh Lan. The group chose a route that could not be more reasonable: the starting point was Thang Long Avenue, connecting the historic Ho Chi Minh trail, cutting through Highway 1 along the sacred land of Nghi Xuan, the hometown of the great national poet Nguyen Du; passing Deo Ngang "the setting sun" of Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, to Dong Hoi city, once considered a bomb-catching bag during the war against America. A tiring but also exciting day on the road...
Day 12...The trip back to the Citadel would have been less meaningful if we had not spent a whole day visiting Thien Duong Cave, a natural wonder in the Phong Nha Ke Bang cave chain of the land of Quang Binh, which I believe is nowhere else in the world to have such a wonderful wonder. A Ha Long Bay on land? Or maybe even more wonderful than that, because along the 31 km length, each space here, under the delicate hands of nature, has become a "little paradise". Standing before the amazing beauty of this place, all our imaginations became powerless... Throughout the entire journey along the Truong Son forest, now the Ho Chi Minh Trail, looking at the vast green forests, the endless and pure green, we regained the feeling of passionate love for the country. Only when we come here, living among the vast green of nature and mountains and forests, can we realize that the dream of a peaceful and happy life is really simple: we don't need skyscrapers, gray concrete blocks, noisy streets and bustling traffic to be happy. The proof is that walking in the summer heat of up to 38 degrees Celsius, but when we set foot in the entrance of Thien Duong cave, looking at the splendor of nature's hand, the temperature "suddenly" dropped to 20, just like when we were in the middle of Sa Pa or Da Lat. Suddenly, I felt so much admiration and gratitude for a certain British explorer who had the merit of discovering this wonderful series of caves...
Day 13...On the 13th, we actually arrived at our destination. The driver seemed to be very familiar with these types of trips, and gave us some suggestions for a more reasonable route. The departure started early in the morning. The first destination would be Hien Luong Bridge, Ben Hai River, the once famous 17th parallel. The group stopped to take some souvenir photos. What a dear and beloved country. It turned out that this was the place where the former soldier of Co Thanh, Le Ba Duong, who had extremely touching poems about Thach Han River, once wrote the "magic pen" lines: "A gun holds the two skies of the South and the North/ A footprint imprints the color of the land of two regions". Before coming here, I had heard a lot about Quang Tri: this is a poor land, every inch of land here bears the marks of bullets, bombs and poverty. Now, a real Quang Tri is appearing before our eyes. Nearly 40 years after liberation, this land still bears the imprint of poverty. The endless green of the Truong Son forest no longer remains here, the fields are infertile, the rice is barren and short like grass. Until now, I still have not overcome the "embarrassment", when looking at the rice fields on both sides of the Quang Tri road, I firmly told veteran Nguyen Ba Thanh that they were grass. Veteran Vu Thanh Tung must have passed through this land many times, knowing that I was wrong, he just smiled and did not rush to "correct" it right away. Anyway, my "innocence" also said one thing, that I still felt guilty towards Quang Tri, had to do something for Quang Tri...
This trip to the Citadel also gave me a "realization" of many things, understanding more about the people whom I have lived beside every day, but I still do not fully understand. For example, if I had not taken the trip, how would I have known that veteran Bui Duy Dan, usually quiet and taciturn, son of our teacher Bui Duy Tan, was once a brave warrior in the battle to capture Tri Buu church and shed blood here? I also would not have known that veteran Nguyen Van Thong had fought on the Quang Tri front. This time, when he went with the group, he did not forget to bring along a handheld HD camera, which he explained to us would help him record images, so that his life when he was "old" would be less boring. For veteran Pham Thanh Hung, this trip was even more meaningful. The Road 9 Southern Laos battlefield was where he fought during his military days. On this veteran's body, there were still many painful scars. But for him there was a more serious “wound”, that is, here, many of his comrades were laid to rest forever. Throughout the journey, he found a quiet place at the back of the car, with the thought that when he reached Quang Tri, he would definitely “shake off” the group, go alone to the Road 9 cemetery, “light an incense stick for 5, 6 of my friends”, with the plea, hoping that his country would have fewer bad people and “more good people” like you. Veteran Pham Dinh Lan, although he did not directly fight on the Quang Tri battlefield, had once marched through here. The poems he wrote for the beloved children of the Fatherland, which the tour guide read to the group right at the foot of the Ancient Monument, made us unable to hold back our tears:
Walk softly and speak softly
Let my comrades lie still in the grass
The sky is also clear and windy
Even though it's noisy, don't shake the trees too much.
Walk softly and speak softly
The citadel is so wide that my comrades are cramped.
Every inch of land is a real life
Today I am choked upBefore the car entered Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, we had a very meaningful task. The whole group stopped by Vinh Linh cemetery, where martyr Tran Nhat Dinh, his brother Tran Nhat Chinh, went with the group, to burn incense for him. At this cemetery, we happened to meet and hear an interesting and touching story of the female caretaker whose name I did not have time to ask. I was also not fortunate enough to directly hear the short and touching story she told. But veteran Luong Van Ke, who took the cheerful photo of this woman, directly heard her tell the touching story of her life, and insisted on convincing me to write something about the lovely and silent caretaker here. I promised Luong Van Ke that if I had the chance, I would fulfill his request. But now, I do not want the group's small notes to be interrupted by a story, which should have the scale of a novel. There are many more stories worth recording in our group. That is the story of veteran Ngo Van Hoan. Although he has been retired for a year now, this trip back to the Citadel still makes him "excited" as always. Ngo Van Hoan confided that his family had just found the remains of his beloved younger brother who fought on the Quang Tri battlefield in the past. This time he will come back here with his partner, also a veteran, to the land where his younger brother "lies", to light an incense stick and pray for this land to find eternal peace. It was not until I stood right on the Citadel land, witnessed with my own eyes every inch of land and blade of grass here, looked back at the pictures taken by military photographer Doan Cong Tinh, read the words on the letter that martyr Le Van Huynh wrote to his relatives before his sacrifice, that I realized the price of national peace today, which young soldiers of my generation had to pay. Looking closely at the green color of each patch of grass growing in the blazing summer sun of the Ancient Citadel, I seemed to understand more than what the poet Thanh Thao wrote in his epic poem Those Who Go to the Sea: “
Eighteen and twenty years old, sharp as grass/ Thick as grass/ Weak and strong as grass/ We go without regretting our lives/ (But how can we not regret being twenty)/ But if everyone regrets being twenty, what's left of the Fatherland?/ The grass is sharp and warm, isn't it, dear?”. Just below the soft grass inside the Citadel, right in the clear water of the Thach Han River, thousands of young soldiers’ remains are entangled and crowded here. Surely many decades later, the pain of the Citadel will still speak. The mottled fragments of the Bo De school wall that we had the opportunity to visit later said a lot...
Day 14...Leaving Quang Tri, on the morning of the 14th, we crossed the Ho Chi Minh Trail again towards the Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery. I still have the feeling that nowhere in the 63 provinces and cities of our country has a land with as many martyrs' cemeteries as in Quang Tri. It seems that the greatest pain and loss of the war has converged here. Almost every commune, district, and piece of land in Quang Tri carries in their hearts the remains of the nation's beloved children. When we arrived at the Truong Son Cemetery, we realized this even more. Anyway, we were a little comforted that today's people have done something meaningful for the deceased. The Truong Son Cemetery today is no less beautiful than the Père Lachèse Cemetery in Paris, where I also had the opportunity to set foot. I don't know exactly how many soldiers fell on the battlefield during the last war? But coming to the Truong Son Cemetery these days, the pain and sorrow are evident on every inch of land. “
My comrades remained in the whole regiment / The ranks were neat and orderly.”, wrote the soldier and poet Doan Trung Hoi when he arrived at Truong Son Cemetery. In order not to waste time, we assigned each person to burn incense at the cemetery of our province. There is a touching story of veteran Nguyen Ba Thanh that I cannot help but tell. After visiting the cemetery of soldiers from Ha Tinh, he discovered the name of a soldier from his commune who was buried there. With gratitude, he immediately called his relatives in the commune to inform them and learned that the soldier now had no living relatives. What could we do? At this Truong Son Cemetery, and many other cemeteries throughout the South, there are still many remains of soldiers without names or addresses. Vu Thanh Tung and Pham Thanh Hung went to the Ninh Binh cemetery to burn incense for their relatives. Le Van Sinh and I went to the Thanh Hoa cemetery. Everyone was racing against time to try to find a familiar name. In the end, we realize, that is no longer necessary, because all the soldiers here, far or near, named or not, are they not our close relatives? They shed blood, lying here so that we can have truly peaceful days...
Day 15...Saying goodbye to Quang Tri Citadel, Truong Son Martyrs Cemetery, and following the Ho Chi Minh Trail, we returned to Hanoi. Looking back at the journey, although it was only a short 5 days, we had many meaningful moments. Five days of living together like a family: "sharing a bowl and chopsticks means family". The former Truong Son soldier Pham Tien Duat once wrote like that. Female member Tang Huyen Oanh, although still quite young, took care of every meal for us like a "sister" in the family. The head and deputy head of the delegation Nguyen Chi Hoa and Pham Dinh Lan always reminded the delegation to avoid any unfortunate incidents. Veteran Nguyen Long was no different from a real war journalist. He was always there to record the group's hot photos. Nguyen Van Thong diligently and quietly recorded every image on his HD camera. Veterans Vu Quang Hien, Nguyen Huu Thu, Trinh Duc Hien, Tran Nhat Chinh, Nguyen Van Mao, Tran Van Nhue, Tran Huu Huynh, Tran Thuc Viet, Vuong Kha Dung... each carried their own memories of the war. All of them felt younger after the days of returning to the Citadel... Stopping by Cua Lo, finding a bit of coolness in the blue sea here; unexpectedly meeting a large family from Kim Boi, Hoa Binh in a restaurant in Ngoc Lac - Thanh Hoa, strange but very familiar, looking back at the endless green of Truong Son forest, we truly understood the value of the days "leaving the city". Thank you to the veterans of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for thoughtfully organizing this very meaningful trip. Just on a journey of less than one-fifth of the country, we saw how beautiful our country is; saw less petty worries in daily life; felt sorry because our country should have been "bigger, more beautiful and more decent"; I see that every person living today needs to be responsible for those who have passed away... On Monday morning, returning to their daily work, I received a text message from veteran Pham Thanh Hung (who had traveled to Singapore with his family): "I was standing looking at the Singapore spaceship and still thinking about Quang Tri Citadel yesterday, sir", I confirmed to the group leader Nguyen Chi Hoa that the journey to the Citadel of the veteran group from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities was truly a great success. He had a part in that...
Quang Tri,Hanoi,July 11 - 15, 2012
