Silent Returns
Together with Team K73, I entered a small mound of earth, only about 200 square meters , in the middle of a scorched grassland. After two hours of digging under the blazing sun, the earth began to reveal painful secrets.
Let me add more about this area – formerly known as Mỏ Vẹt, Ba Thu during the war is a strategically important area located on the Vietnam-Cambodia border, in Svay Rieng province (Cambodia) and bordering the former Long An and Tay Ninh provinces. During the war, it was a military base and an important logistical hub for the South Vietnamese Liberation Army (known as Ba Thu base) due to its location only about 50-60km from Saigon.
In April 1970, this area was the main target of the "Cambodian Crossing Operation"—a large-scale military offensive from late April to July 1970, carried out by the US and its South Vietnamese allies to destroy the base and headquarters of the South Vietnamese Liberation Army in Cambodia and to destroy their bases and depots. Due to the fierce fighting, this area became a large cemetery burying soldiers who died in Cambodia or who were wounded and brought from Vietnam for treatment and died at military medical stations there.
We found them, one lying in a coffin made of rotting boat planks, his remains devoid of any identifying artifacts. With the second set of remains, our hearts sank when we saw him carefully wrapped in two layers of blue nylon, tightly secured with parachute cord. When the nylon was opened after decades buried in the earth, his form seemed perfectly preserved, as if he were still asleep. Beside him were white nylon bags containing a hammock, clothes, and two small wallets, old coins, letters faded by the dampness of the earth, and a certificate of merit, but the hero's name had been erased by time.
The "speaking" memento
Fortunately, three photos remained in those wallets. Although faded, the inscriptions on the backs were still powerful enough to stir the heart: "To Sinh (or Ninh), a memento of our love while we were apart" and "A memento of Ba Thu." Most special was the photo of a young woman cradling her infant child, her eyes gazing towards the distant horizon as if yearning for someone who hadn't returned. Perhaps, in his final moments before closing his eyes, the soldier held this photo close, seeing it as his strength, his homeland, and everything most precious to him.
The woman in the photo must now be well into her seventies. Does she know that, after fifteen years of keeping these photos on my computer as a spiritual debt, they have now been recovered using modern technology in the hope of finding her husband's name?
The anguish of "identity"
The journey of Team K73 did not end there. In Tang-Moi hamlet, we found another naval commando soldier along with his rubber sandals, specialized breathing apparatus, and a certificate of commendation bearing the name Nguyen Ba Quy (from unit C3, D6), signed by someone named Nguyen Lac. Then there was the image of a female martyr on her identity card, a bottle of snake medicine dated July 5, 1968, and a water bottle engraved with the name Xuan Thoang... Each artifact is a piece of a life, a witness to a time of war and fire. The names Xuan Thoang, Thanh, Nguyen Ba Quy... still yearn for the day they will be called out on the tombstones of their homeland.
The war is long over, the forests have become barren wastelands, but the camaraderie and the principle of "drinking water, remembering the source" remain as vibrant as the color of our soldiers' uniforms. We – those who seek memories – continue our tireless search, because restoring the names of each grave is not only an act of gratitude but also a promise to those who dedicated their youth to the Fatherland.
If anyone has information about those soldiers, please help extend the bridge so that they can truly "return home."
Source: https://baotayninh.vn/manh-ky-uc-duoi-lop-nylon-xanh-150248.html
