Holding in her hand two newly restored portraits, Ms. Ly Hoang Thuy (62 years old, residing in Ban Co ward) looked for a long time at the images of her parents, her eyes filled with tears. It has been nearly 60 years since her parents sacrificed one after another, this is the first time Ms. Thuy has seen the faces of her two parents so clearly and closely.
I feel like I'm hugging my parents in flesh and blood," she choked up, her eyes not leaving the two photos.
Her father is martyr Ly Van Duc (comrades often call him Muoi Ly), company commander of Cu Chi District Military Command, who fought in the Iron Triangle area and sacrificed in 1968. Her mother was a military medic, who sacrificed a year earlier. Her parents successively fell when she was just learning to walk, leaving behind a childhood without the arms of her parents.
Throughout her childhood, she was often told about her parents by family members and comrades who had fought side by side. Each story is like pieces, gradually depicting more clearly the life of two people who dedicated their youth to the Fatherland in the mind of a child who has never had time to remember their parents.
I no longer have any memories of my parents. I only know that my mother is a very beautiful woman, from a wealthy family but left everything to follow the revolution. And my father is a reputable person in Cu Chi, very emotional and talented in speaking. For me, my parents are heroes," she shared.
For many years, the family has only kept a small photo of her father cut from a photo taken with comrades. And her mother's photo has become blurry over time, and she has to ask a painter to redraw it to make a memorial photo. Therefore, when these two faces appear clearly through the restored photo, the woman seems to be filled with the void that she has carried throughout her life.
Since finding my parents' graves, I no longer feel like an orphan. Today, holding these two portraits, I feel like my parents have really returned," she said in tears.
Ms. Ly is one of many relatives of martyrs who were awarded memorial photos restored at the meeting and gratitude program organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Command and Ho Chi Minh City Police in coordination with the Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ban Co Ward to celebrate the 79th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs' Day, which took place on the afternoon of July 24.
Also at the ceremony, Mr. Bui Quy Vinh (Ban Co ward) was moved when receiving the restored portrait of his younger brother - a martyr who sacrificed on the Cambodian battlefield in 1980, when he had just turned 20 years old.
For many years, the only photo of the younger brother was just a small photo and was no longer sharp. "Today, looking at the restored photo, I am very happy. It looks very much like my younger brother, very beautiful," he shared.
The memorial photos awarded in the program not only help restore the portraits of heroic martyrs after decades, but also partly fill the void in the memories of those who remain.
For many relatives, it is not simply a photo, but a reunion after decades of waiting, a moment when faces that were only in blurry memories now appear clearly, so that the longing can be touched into a shape.
