The beautiful love story of a soldier on a ship without a number

That is the beautiful love story of Captain Nguyen Son - the first captain of the unnumbered ship and female doctor Nguyen Thi Phuong at unit 555, Minh Dam base area, Long Dat district (now Dat Do district), Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.

The battlefield calls

In the Nghia Tinh house built by Brigade 125, Mr. Nguyen Son began his story with memories of the first day he left his homeland to cross the sea to the North with boundless patriotism.

Receiving orders from Unit 555, in 1962, Mr. Son and 5 soldiers of the Southeast Liberation Army, namely Thoi Van Nam, Tran Van Phu, Nguyen Van Thanh, Vo An Ninh, and Le Ha, secretly boarded a boat to cross the sea to the North to receive weapons and ammunition to support the battlefield in the South.

Mr. Nguyen Son and Mr. Le Ha - teammates on the unnumbered train of the Southeast region at that time.

The night before the day of crossing the sea, Mr. Son - then named Nguyen Van Chien - asked his unit to go home to meet the village girl Nguyen Thi Phuong to say goodbye. Under the canopy of cajuput leaves by Vam Lang, they sat together, their hearts restless. Leaning her head on his lover's shoulder, Phuong encouraged him: "The battlefield is calling, you go ahead, I'll wait and wait."

Early on February 17, 1962, soldier Nguyen Van Chien and five comrades secretly boarded a boat and crossed the sea to the North.

To follow in her lover's footsteps, Phuong volunteered to join the army in unit 555 and was adopted by Mrs. Muoi Riu and sent to nursing school. She then worked in unit 1500, then unit K-76A (Military Region 7) with the mission of treating wounded soldiers in the outlying areas.

Tears of reunion

The train with the code “56” of the unnumbered train carrying secret weapons crossed the sea into Vung Tau port on April 29, 1975, at 9:00 a.m. From the loudspeaker, the announcer’s voice loudly announced: “Vung Tau Con Dao province has been completely liberated”. Mr. Nguyen Son hugged his comrades and cried.

Among the crowd of people present at Vung Tau port to welcome the soldiers of the unnumbered ships returning that morning was a female soldier wearing a liberation cap, a checkered scarf, and holding a bouquet of water lilies, waiting.

They recognized each other. Tears burst out after 15 years of reunion. “The war is over, right? Your homeland, your mothers and aunts are waiting for you to come back,” Phuong sobbed, her head pressed against Son’s chest.

The "train without number" medal has always been considered a treasure by Mr. Son.

Love in war, the 15 years of waiting without a letter, without an address, is proof of the silent sacrifice for the Fatherland of the soldiers of the unnumbered train. What is more sacred is that they waited for the day the country was completely liberated, the North and the South reunited, the happiness of the soldiers blossomed on the day the Fatherland was filled with joy. On the day they got married, the people of Phuoc Hai fishing village from the upper hamlets to the lower alleys were bustling like a festival. The groom and the bride in liberation uniforms.

A week after the wedding, Mr. Son said goodbye to his wife and continued to fight in the Cambodian battlefield. He was on the battlefield twice when Ms. Phuong gave birth. From 1976 to 1991, Mr. Son held many different positions and fought throughout the Cambodian battlefield and the southwestern border battlefield. In 1992, he retired with the rank of captain. The level 4 house where he and his second daughter are currently living was built by the 125th Naval Brigade. As the hamlet party cell secretary, chairman of the veterans' association, deputy party cell secretary of the neighborhood, and head of the residential area, Mr. Son never stopped working. Wherever he was, he excellently completed the tasks assigned by the Party and the people, was trusted by his unit, and admired and loved by his comrades. He said: "I am retired but not retired. As long as I have the strength, I will contribute to society. Now, if there is still an enemy, I will still go to fight."

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202505/chuyen-tinh-dep-cua-nguoi-linh-tau-khong-so-b090226/