A writer specializing in writing about soldiers with pages sparkling with humanity and camaraderie.

Writer Chau La Viet (standing in the middle) is the prototype character of the article "Chau La Viet - Literature and life are always soldiers" by author Nguyen Thanh Tu, who won second prize in the writing contest "Simple but noble examples" in 2024-2025. (Photo: QĐND)

Writer Chau La Viet grew up on the battlefields and trenches during the anti-American war to save the country. From an anti-aircraft artillery gunner of Battalion 11, Station 11 fighting at the Plain of Jars front in Laos, with his writing ability, the young soldier was sent to work at the Propaganda Department of Stations 11 and 13, also at the Laos front, and was given a pen by the army and became a writer of Station 13 and of the army from that day on.

Up to now, he is over 70 years old, but the soldier's qualities in Chau La Viet are still very strong. He lives very simply, modestly and is especially affectionate with his comrades and everyone. His feet still wear rubber sandals every day like the days when he crossed Truong Son. And now, those same rubber sandals are used to go on trips with his comrades to revisit the old battlefields, to show gratitude to the rear areas where the unit was stationed or went through during the war, to visit comrades who are still alive and who have passed away, to share with comrades who are still in difficulty with material things and even small amounts of money, even if it is just to drink a glass of milk or take medicine when sick or when the weather changes.

It seems that his years with those rubber sandals have traveled all over the country, from Tuyen Quang, Nghe An, Can Tho..., wherever there are comrades, he will go to meet and share with them. We, the writers who used to wear the soldier's uniform and the veterans of Station 13, have a deep memory of him. In May 2019, with the sponsorship of Vinamilk , he organized a group of veterans of the station to return to the Plain of Jars battlefield.

I will always remember that afternoon, the car that took us from Tuyen Quang and Phu Tho stopped in front of the Government Guest House in Hanoi . While we were dragging our luggage and preparing to check in, an elderly man in a faded military uniform, with a quick demeanor, who was standing observing at the reception hall, suddenly rushed out to hug us, calling each of us by name with emotion. We also recognized him in time and called out his name loudly: "Mr. Hoai!" (the real name of writer Chau La Viet is Le Khanh Hoai). We circled around shaking hands, pounding backs, talking about all sorts of things. He took out two large paper packages from his briefcase and stuffed them into our hands, as rudely and intimately as he had been on the battlefield .

We held the book "The Fire Still Burning on the Single Cinnamon Trees" with the still fragrant smell of ink and the small envelope and felt moved in our hearts by the writer's feelings, to deeply feel there the fire of camaraderie, comradeship, the fire that years on the battlefield had brought us together... We held the envelope and the book and felt moved in our hearts, silently thanking him, thanking him for what he had done for us...

Writer Chau La Viet grew up as a soldier of Station 13 during the war against America to save the country and throughout his writing career always wrote about the armed forces and revolutionary war.

That's Chau La Viet. He always wore rubber sandals and his clothes were often faded military uniforms or shirts that still smelled of starch, which he always wore during meetings, work and field trips to write.

Those are the military uniforms of the leaders and comrades of Station 13 such as Colonel Nguyen Phu Nho, former Political Commissar of Station 13 and later Director of the Political Department of the General Department of Logistics or Colonel Hoang Anh Phuc, former Battalion Commander of Battalion 11 and soldiers: Nguyen Tien Ngon, Pham Tuan Doanh... sent to Chau La Viet with the message to him: "Wear them to always have the warmth of the army, the warmth of the Station, so that you always remember and live with the memories of war to write more, write better about our soldiers' lives, about war and Vietnamese soldiers!"...

Writer Chau La Viet on a field trip doing social work in Dien Bien in 2024.

Over the years, growing up from a soldier on the battlefield, writer Chau La Viet has completely deserved the trust, love and hope of his comrades. Until now, more than half a century, he has persistently written with all his heart and soul to write only one topic: soldiers and the heroic Vietnam People's Army. All his soul and heart always belong to the army.

His characters range from famous generals to the most silent private soldiers, from General Nguyen Chi Thanh to Hero To Quyen, Political Commissar Du Cao, Division Commander Ha Vi Tung, Political Commissar Nguyen Phu Nho, Battalion Commander Hoang Anh Phuc, Deputy Company Commander Hoang Ngoc Chap, to even the most ordinary soldiers, comrades who fought shoulder to shoulder in bombs and bullets.

Writer Chau La Viet visits former Chief Hoang Ngoc Chap in Can Tho.

He has written more than 30 books about them, in various genres. His novels include: “The clear chirping of birds in the forest” (Ministry of Defense Award); “Summer”, “Green Mulberry Hill”, “Bright Fire on the Horizon”; “Him Lam Moon” (adapted into a musical of the same name by musician Do Hong Quan and honored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the recent “Living Forever with Time” art movement).

Regarding short stories, Chau La Viet is the author of the collections: "Western Military Station", "The Single Layers of the Sangha", "Mysterious Moon", "Memories from the Red Leaf Forest", "Mai Pi Muon"... He also has a collection of stage plays "A Morning with Many Birds", including six long plays that have been staged by stage art troupes, along with memoirs and portraits of more than 100 outstanding artists of different generations such as: "Following the Wind and the Thousand Moon", "The Sound of the Guitar at the Age of 20", "Time Does Not Fade", "Song of the Battle", "Farewell to the Old Swallows", "Brown Sails", "Hoa E Mieng"...

A special feature of Chau La Viet is his poetic creation. As the son of Meritorious Artist Tan Nhan, an artist with an excellent singing voice of songs fighting for national unification and also a very emotional voice reciting poetry on the radio waves of Voice of Vietnam or on stage performing with poems by Uncle Ho, by poets: To Huu, Che Lan Vien, Luu Trong Lu, Vinh Mai..., so from his childhood, Chau La Viet "absorbed" and loved revolutionary poetry.

In 1968, before leaving for military service at a very young age, Chau La Viet had the poem “Tuoi Tre Truong Son” printed on the front page of the Van Nghe Newspaper, followed by many other poems written on the way to battle that were loved by his comrades. They were later published in two collections, “Nguoi Beat the Drum” (Literature Publishing House), “The Generals and the Private Soldiers” (People's Army Publishing House).

According to poet Huu Thinh, former Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association: “Poems and stories about soldiers are beautiful and pure marks of an indelible period of Chau La Viet’s life. Behind the pages of words is a soldier’s life, a soldier’s soul, a soldier’s character with deep and pure inner emotions. That is a kind of news that the author has reaped through the most beautiful years of his life.”

From short poems, Chau La Viet has reached out to write longer, more significant epic poems, embracing larger themes such as the epic poem: "The fragrant river of Xuong Bo grass", written about two revolutionary soldiers, who were also close friends: General Nguyen Chi Thanh and poet To Huu, both from the same hometown on the Bo River (Hue). The epic poem "The warrior named Thach Han River" was written about General Secretary Le Duan and his eldest son, who spent his entire life in the army, Colonel Le Han.

Poems and stories about soldiers are beautiful and pure marks of an indelible period of Chau La Viet's life. Behind the pages of words is a soldier's life, a soldier's soul, a soldier's character with deep and pure inner emotions. That is a kind of news that the author has reaped through the most beautiful years of his life.
Poet Huu Thinh, former Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association

Most recently, Chau La Viet has the epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh”, written about the children of the To family in Xuan Cau, Nghia Tru, Hung Yen, fighting on the most fierce battlefield in the resistance war against American imperialism - the Tay Ninh battlefield. In just a short time, the People's Army Publishing House has published and reprinted the epic poem in large quantities to celebrate the 80th anniversary of National Day on September 2nd to serve a large number of readers.

The newly published epic poem "The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh" by writer-poet Chau La Viet.

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association, commented: The epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Fire Land of Tay Ninh” by poet Chau La Viet, released when we began activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the complete liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, has brought us an extremely profound meaning. For the past 50 years, we have lived in peace. And now the country is filled with inspiration to enter a new era, an era in which the nation will fly up with the wings of conscience and intelligence. I imagine that flight path is built on a land that has gone through thousands of years of history, thousands of years of civilization. That is the land that once had years filled with tears and blood for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland. Without those years with the great sacrifice and pride of each individual and of the entire nation, the Vietnamese people could not have walked, could not have flown up.

"When reading the epic poem "The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh" , I saw a part of my homeland and the people who lived and sacrificed on that land through the most brutal war of the 20th century that the US army waged on Vietnamese land", said poet Nguyen Quang Thieu.

In the epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh”, poet Chau La Viet portrayed the image of two characters: Hero of the Armed Forces To Quyen and People’s Artist To Lan Phuong. These two heroes left a village named Xuan Cau like countless villages in the country to enter the great war of the nation. The two characters of the epic poem are the answers to the question of Americans and many peoples in the world after April 30, 1975: “Why can a small, poor nation confront the most powerful army in the world and win?”. The epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Land of Fire in Tay Ninh” by poet Chau La Viet is the simplest and most convincing answer.

When reading the epic poem “The Sound of Forest Birds and the Fire Land of Tay Ninh” , I saw a part of my Fatherland and the people who lived and sacrificed on that land through the most brutal war of the 20th century that the US army waged on Vietnamese land.
Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association

Some novels, memoirs and poems by writer-poet Chau La Viet.

Chau La Viet - our comrade, a writer who was once a soldier who fought directly and then spent his whole life writing about the armed forces and revolutionary war. That writer, preciously, was a very simple, humble, and affectionate person, as his boss, Colonel Nguyen Phu Nho, former Political Commissar of Station 13 and later Director of the Political Department of the General Department of Logistics, commented: "He was a soldier who fought very bravely during the war and when there was peace, he was born to serve and take care of his comrades. I am extremely proud to have soldiers like that."

NGUYEN TU

Source: https://nhandan.vn/nha-van-chuyen-viet-ve-nguoi-linh-voi-trang-viet-lap-lanh-tinh-nguoi-tinh-dong-doi-post910609.html