In recent days, Mr. Dinh Quang Thinh (75 years old, from Hoa Binh, currently living in Dien Dien commune, Khanh Hoa) was suddenly startled when he saw a black and white photo found in a martyr's grave in Minh Duc commune (Dong Nai City).
Although the photo was stained with time and stained with red soil, Mr. Thinh immediately recognized his classmate sitting at the same table. That was martyr Le Cong Duan, who sacrificed in 1972 in the Southern battlefield.
Despite having such a premonition, Mr. Thinh still took out the album he had kept for decades to compare.
Mr. Thinh choked up because the two photos were the same picture, indeed the photo of martyr Le Cong Duan. Immediately after that, he contacted his classmates in his hometown to inform the martyr's family.
In the memories of old friends, martyr Le Cong Duan was 2-3 years older than his classmates, so he was considered the eldest brother.
Mr. Thinh recalled that in the period 1961 - 1968, a group of 6 friends were very close friends, studying together at Cu Chinh Lan Primary and Secondary School (Cham Mat neighborhood, Hoa Binh town).
In difficult years, they lived together, studied and went to the forest to chop firewood to help their families.
In June 1968, after finishing 7th grade, Duan prepared to enlist. Before leaving, he invited a group of friends to take a photo as a souvenir to "remember each other in moments of sadness".
At that time, taking photos was a very luxurious thing for students. The whole group gathered every penny of snack money, earning 8 hao - a large amount of money at that time - and then walked 5km to a photo shop in the town. The shop owner took the group up the hill to take natural scenery, arranging the female students to sit in front, and the male students standing behind.
The photo was then washed into 6 panels, divided among each person to keep one panel before Mr. Duan officially went to the South to fight.
In 1972, hearing the news of his close brother's sacrifice, Mr. Thinh and his friends could not help but be stunned. For more than 50 years, the grave of martyr Le Cong Duan has not been found.
Ms. Tran Thi Hoa (73 years old) and Ms. Dang Thi Loan - two members of the group - were moved when they received news about the photo.
Ms. Loan shared: "We are not blood relatives but have feelings like blood brothers. The photo was found as a magical clue to bring him back to his homeland soon.
Currently, functional agencies are carrying out procedures to verify the identity and DNA testing. Mr. Thinh and his old friends are looking forward to matching results so that they can go to Dong Nai to welcome the remains of their brother and comrade back to their motherland.
