On November 30, 2011, at the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association Hall, the Standing Committee of the City Writers Association, the Culture and Arts Publishing House, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and the Ca Le family held an intimate meeting to introduce the Diary of Le Anh Xuan. Attending were representatives of the Propaganda Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, leaders and staff of the Ben Tre Museum (where the original copy of the Diary is kept), leaders and reporters from newspapers, radio stations, and a number of writers and friends who worked and fought with Le Anh Xuan.Poet Le Quang Trang, Chairman of the City Writers Association, delivered the opening speech. He was moved when he held Le Anh Xuan’s Diary in his hands and as he said, “I read Le Anh Xuan’s Diary with a special attraction…”. He also affirmed the value of the Diary because it reflects “
a pure, beautiful and noble ideal”; notes of Le Anh Xuan
"all sincere, genuine, close to life"; and is the source
"invaluable material for research"Writer Bich Ngan, Deputy Director of the Culture - Literature Publishing House, talked about the process of coordinating with the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, her family and the efforts of the Publishing House's staff to complete the printing and publishing of the book in time for the celebration of Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20.
Teacher Vu Thanh Tung, Chairman of the Association of War Veterans of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, who directly typed and organized the manuscript, talked about the process of contacting, exchanging and coordinating with the family, Ben Tre Museum, writers, poets of the school's leaders, the Association of War Veterans and the difficulties in the process of completing the manuscript. He also talked about the image of young teacher Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan and the martyrs who were former lecturers and students who sacrificed their lives in the resistance war against the US, always attached and accompanied each step of the school's development. As the person who directly contacted to complete the manuscript, teacher Vu Thanh Tung also affirmed the value of the Diary as a sketch of a portrait of a generation and an invaluable source of war documents. Especially reading Le Anh Xuan's Diary, we will see the beauty of a pure and loyal love of a son on the battlefield with a daughter in the rear. In about 400 pages of his diary, Le Anh Xuan mentioned his lover's name and talked about his love about 40 times. Writer Dinh Phong, who worked and fought with Le Anh Xuan, told about the memories of transporting weapons and food together, about the days of living and working in the forests of the Southeast with Le Anh Xuan. He said that reading Le Anh Xuan's diary, he was able to relive and meet himself and his friends during a difficult, sacrificial but heroic time of the war against the US. He also affirmed that Le Anh Xuan's notes were very real and vivid, representing the real life, the real sacrifice, the real heroism of our compatriots and soldiers during the war. Writer Dinh Phong also told about the prototype of the unknown soldier that Le Anh Xuan used to create his immortal poem "Vietnam's Posture", which is no longer anonymous. (We would like to reprint the article by writer Dinh Phong about this story). Representing the Ca Le family, Professor, People's Artist Ca Le Thuan, Chairman of the Union of Literature and Arts Associations of Ho Chi Minh City, talked about the memories with his younger brother Ca Le Hien when he was young, when he gathered in the North to study. He also, on behalf of his family, thanked the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, where Ca Le Hien studied, taught and then went to the South to fight, for spending a lot of effort and dedication to type and decode the handwritten diary with many abbreviations and symbols of the author himself..., thanked the City Culture - Literature Publishing House, Ben Tre Museum and the Martyr's brothers and friends for working with the family to bring the book, which was only Le Anh Xuan's personal notes, to readers nationwide because of its true values. Representatives of newspapers and attendees also spoke about their emotions when holding in their hands the Diary of Le Anh Xuan to have the opportunity to learn more about a stranger who was very close and familiar. The Diary will help today's young people understand more about the difficult life, sacrifices and the price that our people had to pay for the independence and freedom of the country so that they can look forward to the future with pride and faith in the traditions of our nation. In the afternoon of the same day, the school representative and the family went to the City Martyrs' Cemetery to pay tribute to Martyr Le Anh Xuan.
