Keeping the fire of gratitude alive in Ba Long War Zone

Every year, the people of Xuan Lam village, Ba Long commune, Quang Tri province organize three major worshiping ceremonies: worshiping the village god (June 16th of the lunar calendar), worshiping at the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. In particular, along with the rituals at the village center, people also prepare a neat and thoughtful tray of offerings to hold a separate ceremony at the commune's martyrs' cemetery to "invite" heroic martyrs to witness. For the people of Xuan Lam, the commune's martyrs' cemetery - the resting place of 116 children from all over the country - has a special sacred meaning. Because they themselves voluntarily contributed to searching for and retrieving many martyrs' remains from deep forests and mountains to bury them here.

Mr. Luong Thanh Phuc searches for the martyr's name engraved on the stele at the memorial - Photo: TT

10 years of perseverance in finding teammates

Ba Long War Zone is considered a key strategic area with the terrain of “advancing can fight, retreating can hold”. After two resistance wars against France and America, many outstanding people from all over the country have remained in the mountains and forests of Ba Long War Zone.

Mr. Luong Thanh Phuc, former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Trieu Nguyen Commune (formerly), pensively recounted: "When the war ended, Ba Long people returned from the evacuation areas to rebuild their lives. In the 80s of the 20th century, life was still extremely difficult, people mainly made a living by going to the forest to collect firewood, making wood, and even digging up war scrap to sell.

From those trips to the forest, they discovered many martyrs’ remains and voluntarily collected them to bring back. In that situation, since 1984, the local government launched a movement to form a group to search for martyrs’ remains, which received enthusiastic response and voluntary participation from the people. This movement has been maintained continuously for more than 10 years.”

Despite the lack of support, the movement to find the remains of martyrs was still supported by many villagers, especially the union members and young people. There were trips that lasted for weeks or months, with only rudimentary hoes and shovels and rice to dig. But difficulties could not stop the people, their only thought was to try to find their brothers and sisters to bring them back for burial.

According to Mr. Phuc, during the years of searching for martyrs’ remains, even though he did not want to, he and many others in the group had to believe in spirituality. “Once, we received information about 7 graves located on the edge of Lang An stream, a branch into Dao he. However, when we arrived, we only found 6 graves. It was dark, so the whole team decided to sleep in the forest.

The next morning, two people accidentally recounted the same dream, that someone had told them there was still a martyr who had not been found. After burning incense and praying, the team continued searching and indeed, there were still the remains of a female martyr along with a comb with carved patterns," Mr. Phuc shared.

As for veteran Le Huu Cau (63 years old), one of the first people to join the team to collect martyrs’ remains, he cannot forget the story at the end of 1992. “On that trip, we found two martyrs’ remains, but due to heavy rain, we got stuck in the forest. The next day, the whole group planned to return early, but one of them stayed behind, persistently continued searching about 20m away and discovered another martyr’s remains.

I still remember that the accompanying relic was a small stele the size of a dry food box, on which was clearly written the information of Nguyen Dinh Chau, from Hung Phuc, Hung Nguyen, Nghe An , who died on May 12, 1972. When we found this comrade, we were speechless, because if we had lacked a little patience, we would have left him in the middle of the mountains and forests," Mr. Cau recalled.

Ba Long War Zone is an important historical site associated with the two resistance wars against the French and the Americans. With its rugged terrain, this place was once a steadfast revolutionary base, witnessing the heroic sacrifices of many outstanding people from all over the country. Today, Ba Long has been recognized as a Central Safe Zone, continuing to maintain its position as a sacred land, a place that preserves the heroic memories of the nation.

Miracle of building cemetery from wild hill

Excavating the remains from the deep and dangerous forest was already a difficult journey, but an even more difficult problem for the local government and people at that time was choosing a location to bury the martyrs in a dignified manner?

This question made Mr. Phuc and generations of commune leaders ponder. “The only way was to mobilize the people to level hills and mountains with primitive means to build the commune’s martyr cemetery. That was a task that had to be completed, no matter how difficult it was,” Mr. Phuc recalled this bold decision.

Mr. Phuc regularly visits and burns incense for the heroic martyrs resting at the commune cemetery - Photo: TT

With human strength and extraordinary will and determination, an entire hill was leveled to create a burial ground for 116 martyrs. The planned land was available, but the cemetery still lacked a solemn memorial.

“The locality assigned the youth union to take charge of this task. The youth did not hesitate to mobilize forces to demolish the broken bridges, take the iron cores back, and utilize all the materials to build the memorial. Also from the utilized materials, the Fatherland's plaque at the memorial was initially designed in a triangular shape, and it was only later that it was built and repaired,” Mr. Phuc’s story became more and more interesting.

Looking at the spacious, clean cemetery, the graves are arranged in rows, surrounded by green trees, fragrant frangipani flowers, we cannot help but admire those who contributed to leveling mountains and hills to build a resting place for heroic martyrs.

Mr. Tran Ba Du, head of Lam Xuan village, carefully arranged the offerings at the cemetery memorial area. In addition to the neat offering tray, there were also 120 sets of paper clothes for the martyrs. This offering tray was prepared together with the ceremony to worship the village god on the 16th day of the 6th lunar month every year.

“The uncles and brothers who stayed on the village land were respectfully worshiped by the villagers to show their gratitude. The people here vowed to take care of the martyrs’ graves as if they were their own relatives, so that the heroic martyrs could feel warm in their hearts,” Mr. Du confided.

We joined Mr. Phuc in burning incense at the graves of martyrs resting in the cemetery, searching for each martyr’s name engraved on the common stele at the martyrs’ monument. Although the war has been over for more than 40 years, many graves have yet to be identified. The uncles and brothers still lie in this land, unable to return to their families, but their souls are comforted by the thoughtful care and grateful incense sticks of the people of Ba Long.

The story of Ba Long people searching for martyrs’ graves is not only a testament to their deep gratitude but also a symbol of the noble spirit of “When drinking water, remember its source”. More than a cemetery, this place has become a common home, where the nation’s best children are protected and rest in the loving arms of their compatriots.

Each incense stick lit and each ceremony held is not only a remembrance but also a sacred promise of a Ba Long that always respects the past, preserves and promotes good traditional values, so that the heroic martyrs will forever live in the hearts of the nation.

Thanh Truc

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/giu-lua-tri-an-o-chien-khu-ba-long-196342.htm