In a small house in Le Loi commune, Hung Yen province, Ms. Le Thi Lan (61 years old) carefully spread out the Certificate of Merit to the Fatherland and the confirmation paper that had faded with time. That was all that belonged to her father that she had. Ms. Lan's father - martyr Le Du enlisted in the army when he was very young, leaving behind a virtuous wife who was pregnant with her first child. In 1969, in the most fierce time of the Southern battlefield, martyr Le Du fell. Ms. Lan cried to greet life without ever seeing her father's face in her life, and never being hugged by him.
Next to Mrs. Lan, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thoi - wife of martyr Le Du - now turns 95 years old. At that age, her eyes have become blurry over time, but memories of her young husband are still intact as if it were just yesterday. Choking back tears, recalling the difficult days, Mrs. Thoi recounted that on the day her husband went to the battlefield, she was alone in her hometown, both "carrying heavy burdens and giving birth", and carrying the burden of taking care of her family in poverty. Letters from the battlefield sent with her husband's kind encouragement were the only source of life to help her confidently overcome countless storms. Then one day, those hasty letters suddenly disappeared...
Lighting incense on her husband's altar, Mrs. Thoi's hands trembled, her voice lowered and choked up: "Until now, he must also be lying down in some battlefield. I am 95 years old this year, my eyes are dim and my legs are slow, and my husband is still forever the most beautiful youth on the battlefield. Now in old age, exhausted, I just hope that before I close my eyes, there will be information and I can welcome him back soon.
For more than half a century, Mrs. Lan and Mrs. Thoi's family have been diligently striving, hoping to find the clues of their father. But until now, the image of martyr Le Du is still just a rudimentary restored photo.
Sharing the same longing pain is the story of Mrs. Do Thi Sen. In 1978, her husband, martyr Le Doan Tuong - a technical officer of the State Department of Surveying and Mapping - was assigned to the Border Affairs Committee, to survey the Vietnam - Laos border line in Binh Tri Thien area. In early July 1978, on the way to Hanoi to get documents, Mr. Tuong took the opportunity to go to Bac Ninh to visit his young wife who was working on land planning. No one expected that the hasty meeting would be a permanent separation. Just returning to the mountainous area of Huong Hoa (Quang Tri), a fierce landslide after the flood buried the working camp. Mr. Tuong and his comrades sacrificed themselves right in the great forest.
On the day she received the bad news, Mrs. Sen was only 23 years old and just 20 days pregnant. In the midst of life's storm, she tightly grasped the letters and heartfelt poems that he had sent since she was in love to be a support, alone and steadfastly raising her child to adulthood. 5 years after his sacrifice, the family was able to bring martyr Le Doan Tuong's remains back to his hometown, that pain was still as new, making Mrs. Sen unable to soothe it.
Not only is she the wife of a martyr, but before that, Ms. Sen's older brother also sacrificed in 1972 on the battlefield. However, more than 50 years have passed, her brother's grave has not yet been found.
Mrs. Sen sadly shared: "Every time July comes, my heart tightens. Seeing my husband resting in peace in his hometown is lucky, but thinking about my brother and so many comrades still lying somewhere in the great forest, my heart cannot help but feel sorry.
The war has receded, but for mothers, wives, and children like Mrs. Thoi, Mrs. Lan, Mrs. Sen, the journey to find their loved ones is still an unfinished journey. The pain of those who remain can only ease when the remains of their loved ones are gathered and identified.
Over the past time, when information about the "500 days and nights to promote the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs' remains" campaign implemented by the Government and ministries and sectors was widely spread, the flame of hope in the hearts of families burst out more strongly than ever. With the support of modern DNA testing technology, the drastic involvement of functional forces and the consensus of the whole society, the Campaign opens up a great opportunity to return the names of thousands of unknown martyrs.
Hearing the news about the campaign, Ms. Le Thi Lan could not hide her emotion: "My mother is 95 years old, it can be said that her time is running out. When we learned that the State is highly focused on the 500-day and night campaign to search for and identify the remains of martyrs, my family was very happy. This is the last hope for my mother to fulfill her lifelong wish.
Over the years, yellow letters, hastily written love poems in bombs and bullets have still been cherished by families as invaluable keepsakes. It is not just a memory, but a bridge between the past and the present, a reminder to today's generation of the value of peace and gratitude.
Hopefully, with the unremitting efforts of the "500 Days and Nights" Campaign, the long search journeys will soon have an answer. So that the fathers and brothers who dedicated their youth to the Fatherland can soon return to the warm embraces of their families, ending the decades-long separations with a complete hug on their homeland.
