After more than half a century of waiting and searching for information, martyr To Van Thanh's family returned to the Tram Du area (Tram 800 Forest) belonging to the old Kien Giang province, now An Giang, where he and many comrades fought and sacrificed in March 1970.
On September 20, relatives of martyr To Van Thanh came to the Tram Du area (Tram 800 Forest), to offer incense to commemorate him and the officers and soldiers who bravely sacrificed here. The trip brought many emotions to the family after 56 years of searching for information about their father who died on the battlefield.
Martyr To Van Thanh, born in 1937, from Tay Giang commune, Tien Hai district, Thai Binh province (old); enlisted in February 1961, discharged from the army in October 1964, re-enlisted in February 1966. He sacrificed on March 2, 1970, while serving as Deputy Political Commissar of Special Forces Battalion 3, Special Forces Brigade 429.
For many years, the information the family had about the place where he sacrificed was just short lines in the death certificate: sacrificed at the "Southern front", the body was buried in the private area of the unit near the front. Therefore, the journey to find the martyr lasted for more than half a century.
Through information about the search and repatriation of martyrs' remains in the Tram Du area (Tram 800 Forest), many data on time, unit and combat area have coincided with martyr To Van Thanh's profile. This is an area where many officers and soldiers of Special Forces Battalion 3, Special Forces Brigade 429 and Artillery Company 5 of Artillery Regiment 75 were sacrificed between March 2 and March 5, 1970.
From those valuable clues, Mrs. To Thi Mien (born in 1961) and Mr. To Van Chien, (born in 1964), sons of martyr To Van Thanh, returned to Tram Du. In front of the land where their father and comrades fought, the children respectfully lit incense to commemorate. After 56 years, the place associated with the last days of their father has gradually become clearer from the pages of records and battlefield memories.
The journey to search for martyr To Van Thanh is still continuing. However, the identification of the area associated with the place where he fought and sacrificed has opened up more hope for the family in accurately searching for the burial place, and at the same time contributed more information to serve the search and repatriation of officers and soldiers still lying in Tram Du land.
