A memorial service amidst the vast forest.

A memorial service is a ritual to commemorate the deceased and to sincerely pray for their peaceful rest or liberation. For those who sacrificed themselves for the country, this service carries a special meaning: it expresses gratitude and a wish for the souls of these outstanding individuals to find peace and liberation in the eternal realm.

On the sacred day of July 27, 2025, at the Truong Son Thuong Trach Martyrs' Memorial Temple ( Quang Tri ), in addition to the memorial service for the heroic martyrs, monks, Buddhists, and people of various ethnic groups also prayed for those who fell in the war caused by the invading enemy. Perhaps because of this, the memorial service, held over three days of rain, wind, and storms, became even more sacred and deeply meaningful.

This martyrs' shrine atop the towering Ca Roong peak is a continuation of the "Truong Son Solidarity" program organized by the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper 15 years ago. It's an extension because the majority of those involved in building this sacred shrine on the Western Truong Son road were cadres, reporters, and staff of the Vietnam Rural Magazine.

With gratitude and reverence for the heroic martyrs, they have been and continue to carry out this work from the heart. With the sponsorship of Lien Viet Bank - whose Chairman of the Board is the son of a soldier from the Truong Son Mountains - they connected with the Border Guard and the Quang Binh Provincial Youth Union (formerly) to build a sacred temple in the border region, as a border marker to be left for generations to come.

I've attended many memorial services like this. Each spiritual event has its own unique characteristics. But this one had a strange, dreamlike, and mysterious quality. In the Trường Sơn Mountains, with sunshine in the east and rain in the west, bordering Vietnam and Laos, July brought incessant rain. Lieutenant Colonel Thống, the commander of the Cà Roòng Border Guard Post, said, "No matter how much it rains, it will stop when the ceremony begins." And indeed, when the "Singing for the Deceased" performance began, the rain stopped and the sky cleared.

Despite the harsh Lao wind season, the weather is cool, like early autumn in Hanoi . Strangely, flocks of white butterflies fly in like flower petals amidst the legendary forest. From the steps leading up to the main hall of the temple, 288 candles flicker like the tears of ancient ancestors.

The ceremony of carrying the statue of President Ho Chi Minh into the Truong Son Martyrs Memorial Temple, key location in Ca Roong - ATP Road 20 Quyet Thang.

I suddenly remembered the memorial service held by the people of Binh Thuan (formerly) for the young martyrs who sacrificed their lives while on training exercises at the "May Tau shooting range" not long ago. On July 25th, before attending the ceremony of installing the statue of President Ho Chi Minh and the memorial service at the martyrs' shrine on the top of Ca Roong mountain, I, along with generals from the Liaison Committee of the 5th Division's traditions, went to light incense in remembrance of these young martyrs in their twenties.

I witnessed an elderly woman over 90 years old weeping uncontrollably, and the ethereal sound of prayers echoing, praying for her grandson and the 11 young soldiers who had died in the aforementioned exercise. I couldn't hold back my tears.

Together with Lieutenant General Luu Phuoc Luong, Head of the Veterans' Liaison Committee of the 5th Division, as we lit incense to commemorate the young martyrs, I whispered: "In the past, when we dedicated ourselves to the resistance war for liberation and national defense, we prepared ourselves for sacrifice and becoming martyrs. At the end of the war, bearing injuries, we survived and returned home. Now, you young people are fulfilling your military duty, sacrificing your 20s for this sacred mission, becoming martyrs."

Listening to my whispered conversation, Lieutenant General Luu Phuoc Luong couldn't hold back his emotions and said: "The qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers always shine brightly, no matter the time or circumstances, if a soldier selflessly dedicates himself to the mission." The 12 martyrs of the 5th Division who died in training not long ago were such soldiers of Uncle Ho...

Standing atop the Truong Son mountain range, attending a memorial service during the sacred moment commemorating the 78th anniversary of the Day of War Invalids and Martyrs, I thought of the young heroic martyrs of the 5th Division whom I recently visited.

They are truly Ho Chi Minh's soldiers!

Colonel TRAN THE TUYEN - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cau-sieu-giua-dai-ngan-post805889.html