50 years after the country's reunification, the story of severely wounded soldier Cao Van Thanh and his hard-working wife Phan Thi Kim Song remains an immortal love song.
He, a 1/4 disabled veteran, although he could no longer see, still exuded the toughness of a soldier. She, with her hair streaked with silver, sat next to him, her eyes always filled with gentle love. Their story, told nearly half a century later, still retains the emotions of a time of war and war.
Promises from the lecture hall and love in the midst of bullets and bullets
"Back then, we were in the same class at the Food Machinery Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology. We had feelings, but during the fierce war, love affairs between boys and girls in school were considered "petty bourgeois". In the midst of fierce battle, it was not right to "chat" with each other. We could only keep those feelings in our hearts," Mr. Thanh began the story with a nostalgic voice.
For decades, Mrs. Song has always been the eyes and support for her husband.
It was not until the day student Cao Van Thanh put down his pen and joined the army that Ms. Song officially accepted.
"I, like many other girls at that time, said: You guys can rest assured to fight. When the country is liberated and all the enemies are gone, when you return, we will be waiting for you," Ms. Song recalled. That promise became the strength for young soldier Cao Van Thanh during the fiercest days of the war.
In 1972, Mr. Thanh entered the Quang Tri front, where he fought for 81 days and nights in the fiery citadel. During the march to the South, he and his comrades traveled on foot, by car, and asked anyone they met to send letters with envelopes, stamps, paper, and ink prepared in advance. The letters were still sent and received regularly.
Amid bombs and near death, the letters were passed around for comrades to read and see, because everyone longed for affection. "Our love was known to the whole unit," Mr. Thanh laughed.
In early 1973, after the Paris Agreement, Mrs. Song heard rumors that he was injured in the leg. She quickly wrote a letter, the words of which he still cannot forget: "Brother, are you injured? Why didn't you tell me? Were you injured in the leg or in the arm? No matter what happened to you, I've already decided that I still love you!"
That steadfast promise was like destiny, a forewarning of the greatest challenge of their lives.
Heartbroken on the day of return
In the spring of 1975, during a fierce battle at the gateway to Da Nang , Mr. Thanh was seriously injured. He fell down, blood pouring from his eyes and ears. He was then transferred to the North, treated at the 108 Military Hospital, with his eyes forever in darkness. His mood at that time was torn. Thinking of his comrades who had sacrificed themselves, and that he was still lucky to be alive, he told himself to be strong. But thinking of the young girl who was waiting for him, his heart was in turmoil.
"At that time, I thought, my lover promised to return home on the day of victory, but I was so seriously injured, how much would she suffer if she came to me?", Mr. Thanh choked. In despair, he only dared to write a few scribbled lines to his lover, saying that he was injured and was being treated, telling her to rest assured and study well. At that time, she was working on her graduation project.
He did not expect that from those crooked lines, Ms. Song had found her way to the place. That moment was unforgettable to him: "I was lying down, my whole body bandaged. My roommate said: "Thanh has a guest". I asked who it was, he said: "Song". I sat up and then sat down again, telling my brothers: "Comrades, don't lie to me! Song can't come, she's still in school, how could she know the address to come?", he said.
But then, he felt an arm hug him. Mrs. Song's dear voice rang out, lost in sobs: "Brother, don't you recognize me? It's Song."
The soldier’s tears kept flowing, wetting the thick layers of bandages on his eyes. In the midst of his pain and despair, love had come, bringing with it all the light and hope. In his emotions and empowered by her love, he wrote a poem, recording that fateful moment:
"The first day you came to my bed,
Just stand there and look without saying anything.
I can't look into your eyes,
Maybe I don't cry, but my heart hurts so much...
Holding my hand, she sadly said softly:
"Cheer up, I'm always with you."
Loyalty makes my heart ache,
I wonder what color shirt you are wearing today, purple or blue?
Do you braid your hair or comb it long down the back of your shirt?
Looking up at the sky, I see swallows flying, you also hear the singing of spring.
The couple participated in the program "Legend of Truong Son" organized by the Hanoi Women's Union and the Capital Women's Newspaper.
“I didn't leave, I stayed”…
That spring had truly returned to his life. Later, there were times when he felt guilty and refused many times: "Please don't love me anymore, forget me." He said that, but in his heart he was afraid, afraid that if she really refused, his life would be over.
“But you didn’t leave. You stayed, became my eyes, my support, my companion through everything,” he said emotionally.
A simple but tearful wedding took place. Ms. Song said that at that time, her father, a military officer, told everyone: "If my daughter loves someone else, we can advise her against it. But this is a soldier returning from the battlefield, we cannot forbid her." On the wedding day, her whole family cried, both because of love and admiration for the couple's love.
During the difficult subsidy period, after starting a family, Mrs. Song worked, raised livestock, grew crops, and shouldered all the responsibilities. She patiently carried her husband on her old Thong Nhat bicycle, knocking on doors to ask for the establishment of an Association for the Blind, helping him find the meaning of life through social work.
Overcoming his inferiority complex, Mr. Thanh told himself that he had to live to be worthy of his wife's love. He actively participated in social work, became the Chairman of the Association for the Blind and a member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.
Their lives also had another special challenge. Their first daughter was affected by her father's toxic chemicals, making her unable to speak and hear. Mrs. Song became a special "interpreter". "My wife is the one who stands in the middle, using actions to "speak" to my daughter, and using words to "draw" the world for me. She is the light, the sound, the bridge of love for my whole life," Mr. Thanh smiled proudly.
Now, at the age of "thất thập cổ lai hy", their love is still intact as in the beginning. Mr. Thanh humorously said: "The king's food is worse than the wife's food. It is only because she takes care of me that I can be like this. In the past, from when I was a student until I went to the battlefield, I was very thin, how could I have enough to eat".
Listening to her husband's sharing, Mrs. Song smiled kindly and read us a poem that a friend who admired their love had written for them. The poem seemed to sum up a lifetime of sacrifice and love:
"...I wish we could be together forever,
The river has a deep part,
I also wade to find happiness...
I am greedy and refuse to part,
Want to keep the great brother happy.
I am a real woman,
Love you... even in death."
Mrs. Song gently placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. Mr. Thanh turned around, smiling happily. As he had shared, she was not only his wife, but also his eyes, his light, his love legend of his entire life.
“Our love has gone through the most difficult years of war, overcoming seemingly impossible challenges. And now, when our hair has turned gray, we are still together, still each other’s support, eyes, everything. That is the eternal spring that we have built together,” Mr. Cao Van Thanh emotionally shared.
Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/78-nam-ngay-thuong-binh-liet-si-277-em-la-doi-mat-cua-anh-post1557089.html
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