This July, the month of gratitude, their remains were finally brought home, helping them fulfil a long-unfinished promise.
“Be good, take care of our parents and wait for me...”
More than four decades later, Nguyen Huu Mao still remembers seeing off his elder brother, martyr Nguyen Huu Nam, when he enlisted in November 1977. Before leaving for the front, Nam told his 15-year-old brother: “Be good, take care of our parents and wait for me.”
However, Nam never returned. That promise of reunion would never be fulfilled.
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Staff from the Southern Representative Office of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Martyrs' Families escort the martyrs’ remains to Saigon Railway Station for the journey to their hometown in Nghe An province. |
49 years ago, the two cousins, Nguyen Huu Tu, born in 1957, and Nguyen Huu Nam, born in 1958, left their hometown of Nghi Thinh (now Dong Loc commune, Nghe An province) together. Assigned to Company 9, Battalion 4, Regiment 64, Division 320, Army Corps 3, they fought to defend Vietnam's Southwestern border and help free the Cambodian people from the Pol Pot genocidal regime.
In March 1978, Nguyen Huu Nam was killed fighting against Pol Pot forces in the Xa Mat area of present Tan Lap commune, Tay Ninh province.
His death strengthened Nguyen Huu Tu's determination to continue fighting. His younger brother, Nguyen Huu Binh, still treasures the letters Tu sent home.
Binh recalled that Tu wrote his unit had completed training in Khanh Hoa before being deployed directly to Tay Ninh. In his last letter, sent in April 1978, Tu wrote that he had been wounded for the seventh time, but only lightly, and hoped to return to the North to recover. “From then on, we received no other letters,” Binh said.
Four months after the death of Nguyen Huu Nam, Nguyen Huu Tu was also killed in action at Ka Tum (present Tan Lap commune, Tay Ninh province), at the age of 20.
Comrades in battle, together in rest
For years, poverty and distance prevented the families from searching for their loved ones.
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Representatives of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Martyrs' Families drape the national flag over the remains of fallen soldier Nguyen Huu Tu. |
In 2013, the family of fallen soldier Nguyen Huu Nam located his grave at Hill 82 war cemetery in Tay Ninh. After a long search, Nguyen Huu Tu's family learned that he, too, had been buried there.
The two cousins had served in the same unit, fought on the same battlefield, made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, and rested in the same cemetery. Like many young soldiers of their generation, they had dreamed only of returning home to care for their parents and build peaceful lives.
A long-awaited homecoming
On July 22, family members and comrades gathered at Hill 82 war cemetery for the exhumation and farewell ceremony as the two martyrs began their journey back to Nghe An.
The repatriation was made possible with the support of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Martyrs' Families, its Tay Ninh chapter, and Vietnam Railways Corporation, which provided free train transport.
Phan Van Cuong, Deputy Chief of the Southern Representative Office of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Martyrs' Families, said the return reflected the spirit of the 500-day campaign to accelerate the search for, collection and identification of fallen soldiers' remains.
“Their story deeply touched us and strengthened our resolve to help more martyrs return home while passing on the legacy of sacrifice to younger generations,” said Cuong.
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The exhumation and farewell ceremony before the two fallen soldiers begin their final journey home. |
“Our parents wanted to bring them home for years but couldn’t wait to see this day,” Nguyen Huu Binh said through tears, adding that “now they have finally returned to their homeland, returned to the embrace of their family. We are deeply grateful to the Party, the State, and the authorities, organizations and associations in Tay Ninh and Nghe An provinces for making this possible.”
The return of Nguyen Huu Tu and Nguyen Huu Nam fulfilled a promise interrupted by war and brought comfort to their families who had waited for them for 49 years.
Translated by Mai Huong