Emotional reunions through restored portraits
At the recent live broadcast entitled “Finding Your Name Again,” Major General Vu Van Dien, Commander of the Ho Chi Minh City Military Command, and Major General Ta Van Dep, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Police, presented a restored portrait of martyr Huynh Van Quen to Nguyen Thi Le and her family. Holding the portrait in tears, the nearly 80-year-old woman finally saw the face of the man she had never had the chance to marry. The emotional moment deeply moved audiences nationwide.
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Representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Military Command and the Ho Chi Minh City Police present the restored portrait of martyr Huynh Van Quen to widow Nguyen Thi Le and her family. |
For decades, the family had only the “The Fatherland Recognizes the Merit” certificate on the altar in place of a portrait. Huynh Thi Mong Tuyen, Le's niece, said the restored image finally gave the family a face to remember and speak to every day.
Ahead of the 79th anniversary of the Wounded Soldiers and Martyrs' Day, the Ho Chi Minh City Military Command, in coordination with the city police, has been restoring martyrs' portraits at the request of their families. Each restored portrait represents a symbolic homecoming.
At another ceremony, Do Thi An, aged 83, received a restored portrait of her husband, martyr Luong Dinh Canh, who was killed in 1968. Nearly 60 years after his sacrifice, she tearfully said, "It looks just like him. My wish has finally come true."
Preserving memory through gratitude
Addressing the event, Van Thi Bach Tuyet, Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, emphasized that the nation would always remember not only those who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield but also the silent sacrifices made by their families. She affirmed that caring for people with meritorious service is both a political responsibility and "a mission from the heart."
The importance of restored portraits is also reflected in the discovery of a damaged family photograph buried with an unidentified martyr at Duc Hoa war cemetery in Hau Nghia commune, Tay Ninh province. After restoring the image, authorities made it public in the hope of identifying the fallen soldier and reuniting him with his family.
The restoration work is carried out free of charge by Teamlee, a 17-member volunteer group working with the Ho Chi Minh City Military Command and the city police. Since 2021, the team has restored nearly 10,000 portraits of martyrs nationwide. According to team member Pham Van Tuan, the goal is not to create a perfect image, but to faithfully recreate the face remembered by the martyr's family, even when no original photograph exists.
Although restored portraits cannot turn back time, they allow fallen soldiers to symbolically return to their families. Ho Chi Minh City and many other localities continue this meaningful work, helping ease the pain of loss while preserving the nation's tradition of remembering those who sacrificed their lives for the country.
Translated by Mai Huong