The one who survived the war
Just remember this little bit of love for your teammates.
These are the two concluding verses of the poem that veteran Nguyen Hong Vinh wrote for veteran, retired cadre, former Head of Long An Art Troupe - Nguyen Dung (Ward 3, Tan An City, Long An Province) when he learned about his journey to find his comrades. Always concerned about the cadres of Long An Art Troupe still lying in the deep forest, Mr. Nguyen Dung began a 9-year search journey. Now, a small shrine in memory of 7 martyrs who were cadres of Long An Art Troupe and R Art School has been built in the middle of the forest in Tan Nam Hamlet, Tan Binh Commune, Tan Bien District, Tay Ninh Province. It was a long, arduous journey filled with camaraderie.
Team spirit
Joining the Long An Art Troupe at the age of 14, Mr. Nguyen Dung had a special bond with his comrades whom he considered as family members. During the resistance war, the Long An Art Troupe operated quite independently, creating its own programs and performing for localities and units in the province. In 1970, the US imperialists expanded the war to the whole of Indochina, the Long An Art Troupe was mobilized to R (code name of the Central Office for Southern Vietnam) in Tay Ninh to ensure safety. At that time, the troupe had more than 30 cadres and soldiers who were Long An art troupes and cadres of the R Art School moving together.
Delegation of veterans, retired cadres, and members of Long An Art Troupe visited their comrades on May 19, 2025 in Tay Ninh province.
During a journey through the forest near the Vietnam - Cambodia border, in Tay Ninh province, an enemy B52 bomb killed 7 comrades, the youngest of whom was only 14 years old.
“At that time, I was assigned to scout so I went about 1km ahead of the group. Hearing the loud explosion, I had a bad feeling. When I returned, I learned that 5 comrades of the Long An Art Troupe had died, 2 comrades were injured, and 2 comrades from the R Arts School had also died. We buried our comrades right next to the edge of the bomb crater. Later, a 7-trunk chiu liu tree grew up next to the edge of the bomb crater, I was sure that it was the spirit of my comrades. We could not find the remains of our comrades, but together we built a small shrine right next to the chiu liu tree next to the edge of the bomb crater so that we could return there once a year to visit them” - Veteran, retired cadre Nguyen Dung recounted his journey to find his comrades .
Teammates visit teammates
To have a small shrine built next to a chiu liu tree next to a bomb crater in the middle of the forest near the border as it is today is a long journey to find the remains of martyrs by veteran, retired cadre Nguyen Dung and his comrades. In the cycle of life and work after the country's liberation, the former cultural soldier has never forgotten his comrades. Immediately after retiring, Mr. Nguyen Dung began his journey to find his comrades who were still lying in that sacred forest.
An emotional journey
After much effort, he was able to contact the family of a martyr in Hai Duong province whom he had previously thought he would never find. He then set off with Team K70 to Cambodia to search for the remains of the martyr, because he thought his comrade was lying on Cambodian soil.
Mr. Nguyen Dung said: “At that time, I was 21 years old, and I was not someone who knew the terrain well. We were traveling in the forest, and many parts of the journey were on friendly land, so I did not know exactly which country our brothers and sisters were staying.”
After many days of following Team K70 to search the entire border area, Mr. Nguyen Dung still could not find any clues. His memory reminded him that he had to cross the wooden bridge to reach the place where his comrades died. And the officers of Team K70 confirmed that if he crossed the bridge, it meant he was in Vietnamese territory. So Mr. Dung returned home and started his journey to find his comrades in Tay Ninh province.
Veteran, retired cadre, former Head of Long An Art Troupe - Nguyen Dung (Ward 3, Tan An City) burns incense at the 7-stem chiu liu tree in front of the martyrs' shrine.
On that journey, he and his remaining comrades found a 7-trunk chiu liu tree at the edge of a bomb crater in the forest in Tan Nam hamlet, Tan Binh commune, Tan Bien district, Tay Ninh province. Comparing all the information available, Mr. Dung and other veterans who were members of the Long An Art Troupe at that time determined that this was the burial place of their comrades.
However, the changes in the terrain made it impossible for them to find the remains of the martyrs. They decided to take soil from the edge of the bomb crater to build a wind grave for their comrades. The memorial service for the martyrs who were cadres of the Long An Art Troupe took place at the end of December 2015.
Thinking like that, Mr. Nguyen Dung felt reassured, but no, he was still afraid that after years passed, no one would remember that in that corner of the forest there was a part of the blood and bones of his comrades left behind. He continued to contact his old comrades so that together they could ask for permission to build a small shrine next to the chiu liu tree in the forest.
With the sincerity of those who fought side by side in the war, the temple was built and is looked after and cared for by officers and soldiers of Tan Nam International Border Gate Border Guard Station.
In 2017, a small shrine was built in the middle of the forest, next to a 7-trunk chiu liu tree. In 2021, with the support of his comrades and the Tay Ninh Provincial Border Guard, the shrine was restored. That was also the time when Mr. Nguyen Dung began a new journey, the journey to find the martyr's portrait.
He contacted each martyr’s family, no matter how far away, to inform them about the shrine in the middle of the forest and asked for the martyrs’ portraits. After 2 years, he found the portraits of 6 out of 7 martyrs. The portraits were placed in a small shrine complete with an altar.
The shrine to martyrs is taken care of by officers and soldiers of Tan Nam International Border Gate Border Guard Station.
Once a year, on the day his comrades died, Mr. Nguyen Dung and his old comrades return to the small temple to remind each other of their comradeship, their sacrifices, and also to show the hearts of those who remain.
Present at the comrade's death anniversary on May 19, 2025, former Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, former officer of the Long An Art Troupe - composer Nguyen Minh Tuan was moved to tears. He expressed his gratitude to veteran Nguyen Dung and other comrades for searching for and building the shrine in the middle of the forest.
“To have this temple, Mr. Nguyen Dung searched tirelessly for nearly 10 years with the help of his comrades and the Tay Ninh Provincial Border Guard . Now, the fallen comrades can rest in peace. We, the old comrades, while still healthy, will visit you again!” - said composer Nguyen Minh Tuan./.
Guilin
Source: https://baolongan.vn/nguoi-con-sau-cuoc-chien-chinh--a196372.html
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