Not just a return

50 year mission

During the Tet holiday of Quy Mao, the story of American veteran Peter Mathews searching for the owner of a notebook he kept from a martyr in Ha Tinh appeared in the press. At that time, journalist Vu Duy - Head of News Department of VOV1, Voice of Vietnam assigned journalist Thu Hoa to investigate.

“At that time, I was really confused about how to connect with Mr. Peter Mathews. I immediately contacted reporter Pham Huan - VOV's resident in the US. That day was February 16, 2023. Just 2 days later, reporter Pham Huan contacted Peter Mathews and asked to come to his house. I was so happy!”, journalist Thu Hoa recalled.

Journalist Thu Hoa and his colleagues were able to connect with Mr. Tran Nhat Tan - Chairman of the Fatherland Front of Ha Tinh . Mr. Tan - through friends in the US, contacted Mr. Mathews, asked to take pictures of the pages in the notebook of martyr Cao Van Tuat and discovered information about the martyr on the last page of the notebook. All information was recorded, compared and confirmed by the relevant agencies of Ha Tinh that the owner of the notebook of Cao Xuan Tuat was martyr Cao Xuan Tuat in Cao Thang village - Ky Xuan commune, Ky Anh district.

“Also from VOV’s exclusive interview with Mr. Peter Mathews, we learned that he would come to Vietnam, return to Ha Tinh, and hand over the handbook to the martyr’s family on March 4, 2023. We immediately made plans to go to Ha Tinh before that day, return to the martyr’s house to burn incense and record stories from the family of martyr Cao Van Tuat and prepare for the meeting with Mr. Peter Mathews here,” said Ms. Thu Hoa.

Reporter Pham Huan interviewed Mr. Peter Mathews at his home.

Recalling the emotional meeting, reporter Pham Huan - Resident of Voice of Vietnam in the US shared that it was not easy to contact Mr. Peter because there was no information about him at all.

“Luckily, I happened to find his email in an online article, which was the website that Mr. Peter created to talk about the notebook he found as well as the time he fought in Vietnam. Mr. Peter does not have the habit of using social networks and rarely checks his email, so after a few days of email contact, I received his reply. Immediately after receiving the reply, I asked to come to his home for a direct interview, Mr. Peter agreed and was very enthusiastic in welcoming us” - Pham Huan shared.

Mr. Peter and his wife live in a small house in the suburbs of New Jersey. The first impression when Pham Huan entered the house was the neatly placed notebook on the table that Mr. Peter had found and kept after more than 50 years, along with related articles and information. When talking to reporters, the emotions of the years in Vietnam welled up in Mr. Peter, and he teared up when recounting in detail the story of how he found the notebook.

“Slowly and tremblingly opening each page of the notebook, Mr. Peter told us how he found the notebook, how he admired the drawings in it, as well as his journey to find the owner of the notebook, wishing to return the notebook to Vietnam, which he considered a life mission after more than 50 years” - journalist Pham Huan recalled.

An emotional reunion

“When reporter Pham Huan reported that he had contacted Mr. Peter Mathews, we were overwhelmed! And all our worries were dispelled when we received a continuous stream of information about Mr. Peter Mathews' plans to go to Vietnam and return to Ha Tinh,” shared journalist Thu Hoa.

The difficulty in this assignment for journalist Thu Hoa and her colleagues was that in Ha Tinh, the group had anticipated that it would be impossible to have a private space to interview the characters. Therefore, she and her colleagues tried to exploit as much as possible when conducting the interview at Mr. Peter Mathews's private home in the US. In Ha Tinh, the group had to travel back and forth from the city to Cao Thang village many times to be able to get the most valuable documents.

Journalist Thu Hoa (far left) took a photo with Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mathews in Ha Tinh.

The character that left the most emotions in journalist Thu Hoa was martyr Cao Van Tuat. What could be more joyful and happy than when, after exactly 60 springs of “leaving the poor thatched roof”, he was able to “Return” to reunite with his family and relatives!

Through the pages of his notebook, the poems and letters he wrote to his mother and sister, his older sister and younger sister seemed to relive the moments of the peaceful days of the past. “Those were truly emotional moments for those who witnessed that scene in Cao Thang village – Ky Anh commune – Ky Xuan district on the morning of March 5, 2024,” Ms. Thu Hoa recalled.

What is special is that on the occasion of marking 10 years of the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries, right in Ha Tinh, the land that used to be the “fire coordinates” during the resistance war against the US, witnessed the return of many wartime relics. Among them is the story of the notebook of martyr Cao Van Tuat, which was returned to his family after a journey of more than half a century, traveling halfway around the world to the US and back to Vietnam, contributing to comforting relatives who have yet to find the martyr’s grave.

Telling a story with sound that touches the listener’s emotions is not easy, but for journalist Thu Hoa, it is thanks to her love and passion for the profession. “Love, enthusiasm, and passion for the profession will certainly create beautiful brainchildren. From the heart will touch the heart! ” - journalist Thu Hoa expressed.

Hoang Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/khong-don-gian-chi-la-su-tro-ve-post299599.html