What do the “characters” and witnesses say? (last article)

As mentioned at the end of article 1, the appearance of the third witness – Mr. Le Anh – with a petition confirming that he was the prototype in the photo “Two Soldiers”. Based on Mr. Anh’s opinion, we returned to Long Quang, followed the traces of the House of Harmony, recorded his story and localized the details of the journey.

From there, the story was verified by comparing memories with documents and witnesses: meeting the person who directly guarded the outer perimeter on the day the photo was taken, comparing the document photo with the photo "Two Soldiers"... The goal was to clarify the context of the photo and who was really the character in the moment that went through history.

Moments in front of the camera

According to Mr. Anh, the House of Harmony in Long Quang village was built in the middle of a large sandy field. When the group entered, there were two commanders of the Republic of Vietnam forces: Major Vong - in charge of psychological warfare of the Marine Corps unit and another person wearing the rank of Captain (later Mr. Anh knew that it was Captain Loan). However, when the group of journalists prepared to film, the Republic of Vietnam side did not agree, so they only took photos.

The photo of 10 people was taken by reporter Chu Chi Thanh at the same time as the photo "Two Soldiers" at the end of March 1973 at an outside location, next to the Harmony House in Long Quang village.

Mr. Anh said: “Before taking the photo “Two Soldiers” at an outside location, close to the House of Harmony, Mr. Chu Chi Thanh suggested that I take a photo with the person wearing the rank of Captain inside the house. Then, when it came to taking the photo “Two Soldiers”, we were also suggested by Mr. Thanh and I was the one who took the initiative to put my left arm on the shoulder of the soldier on the other side of the battle line. My hand was on Mr. Bui Trong Nghia’s shoulder, and Mr. Nghia’s hand was under my shoulder. After taking two photos, I told Mr. Thanh to let them – the people on the other side of the battle line – take a photo with our militia and guerrillas. But when taking the next photo, Mr. Thanh still called me to join in the photo.”

“In the photo, there are 10 people (5 people on each side). On our side, there is Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chinh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Trieu Trach commune, shaking hands with Mr. Bui Trong Nghia; next to Mrs. Chien is Mrs. Chien - a commune guerrilla. On the opposite side, on the left side of the frame, a person from the front puts his left hand on the shoulder of a Marine; between this soldier and Mr. Nghia is another person also from the Southern revolution. I am the person standing between Mr. Nghia and that Marine on my right side. Because I was standing in the back row, my body was hidden, only my face was visible. I still clearly remember the shooting position at that time on a mound of sand, I was wearing rubber sandals while Mr. Nghia was wearing shoes and was taller than me,” Mr. Anh continued.

Mr. Anh affirmed that, in accordance with the spirit of the superiors, the photo shoot that day did not involve soldiers but only aimed to highlight the revolutionary forces of the South (the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, often referred to as the Front). However, when looking at the two photos, many people easily mistakenly think that the people on the Front were wearing uniforms similar to regular soldiers.

Regarding this, Mr. Anh explained: At that time, militia, guerrillas or civilians were all part of the revolutionary forces, directly or indirectly participating in combat, so most of them wore army uniforms - commonly green or khaki uniforms, floppy hats or pith helmets. The only difference was that the regular army, the main force, had more complete military equipment with ranks and positions often recognized by stars and stripes on the collar (cloth military ranks, sewn into the collar). Therefore, when looking at the photos, most people thought there were soldiers participating, but only those who were in the situation at that time knew clearly that there were no soldiers.

Verification from memory to photo

We continued to ask Mr. Anh: “You were the one who directly led Mr. Chu Chi Thanh all the way, from walking to boating, and then Mr. Thanh invited you to take a photo. So at that time, didn't Mr. Thanh ask for your name? Suppose that time has passed and he is old, Mr. Thanh may not remember, but later when looking for the person in the photo, he can completely go to Trieu Phong district to ask for information about the district cadre who once led the group to Long Quang - it is not difficult to find. In short, logically, if you really want to find the person in the photo, the most reasonable way must be like that, right?”

Mr. Nguyen Duy Chien (left) said that the area where the Harmony House was built in Long Quang in 1973 is now located opposite the kilometer mark Km3 on district road DH41, in Long Quang village and close to his family's house since the resistance war against the French until now.

Mr. Anh replied: “Actually, that day I left the District Committee and went ahead. While on the boat, everyone talked to each other, but the group of journalists all spoke with a Northern accent and spoke quickly, so I couldn’t understand everything, so we didn’t interact much, they mainly talked to each other. Mr. Chu Chi Thanh didn’t ask my name either.

When we arrived at the House of Harmony, the atmosphere became tense, the two sides met but did not know how to handle it – it was a very sensitive time. When filming, only Mr. Thanh's camera was working... Therefore, after more than 30 years, he did not remember me leading the group back and taking photos, but just assumed that I was a soldier, so he went looking in that direction – through veterans, army units or information in the newspaper."

For more objective and accurate information, we would like to ask Mr. Anh to take us to the location of the Harmony House built in 1973 in Long Quang - where the meeting of people from both sides of the front line took place and souvenir photos were taken.

Mr. Anh replied: “In 1973, the House of Harmony was built by us in many locations around the vicinity of Quang Tri town, Long Quang was just one of them. I only went to the House of Harmony in Long Quang twice, once to lead a group to take photos, as mentioned; the next time to lead a performing troupe to perform for the soldiers and people. In addition, decades have passed, the terrain and topography have changed completely, how can I remember exactly?”

However, Mr. Anh and I still decided to go to Long Quang. When passing by the Long Quang checkpoint relic on the district road DH41, in Long Quang village, now Nam Cua Viet commune, Quang Tri province, Mr. Anh asked us to stop the car to light incense together to commemorate the heroic martyrs...

Through research, we met Mr. Nguyen Duy Chien - who was the guerrilla platoon leader of Trieu Trach commune in 1973. As soon as we met, Mr. Chien and Mr. Anh greeted each other warmly.

Mr. Chien confided: “In 2020, after accidentally seeing on radio and newspapers many times about the photo “Two Soldiers”, which introduced Mr. Nguyen Huy Tao – a regular soldier during the Quang Tri Citadel period – as a character on the Southern revolutionary side in the photo, I did not believe it. Because on the day the group returned to take a meeting photo at the end of March 1973, I directly commanded the outer protection mission, so I knew clearly that the participants had to be approved by superiors and there were absolutely no soldiers. Looking closely at the photo “Two Soldiers”, I saw that the person who was said to be a soldier did not look like Mr. Tao... Faced with those doubts, plus information about Mr. Anh’s reaction, my wife and I visited Mr. Anh’s house in the hope of finding out the truth. However, that day, seeing that Mr. Anh’s house was having a memorial service and hearing him jokingly ask, “Is there a COVID epidemic in Long Quang?”, my wife and I were offended, so we turned around and went home without stopping by.”

In addition, Mr. Chien added that Ms. Chien - the female guerrilla in the photo of 9 people, as mentioned before - is currently living in Dong Tam 1 village, Trieu Co commune (Quang Tri); he also visited and learned about this story, but she is old and her memory is no longer clear. As for Ms. Nguyen Thi Chinh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Trieu Trach commune at that time, she has now passed away; the remaining people currently have no specific information.

To verify the photo with the person involved who claims to be the character's prototype, we tried to contact Mr. Nguyen Huy Tao but have not received a response yet...

Comparing the 1972 photo on Mr. Nguyen Huy Tao’s personal page with “Two Soldiers”, we found that the facial features do not match. The verification process of course requires more time and materials; within the framework of this series of articles, we only present objective and verified information, not definitively affirming that the prototype of the character is Mr. Le Anh or Mr. Nguyen Huy Tao.

Reaching a final conclusion requires early and systematic involvement of authorities, archival units, as well as relevant witnesses, to accurately answer the question of historical truthfulness.

Whatever the outcome of the identification, the value of the photo “Two Soldiers” remains unchanged: it is a rare moment capturing the desire for harmony and humanity between two people on opposite sides of the battle line. The photo therefore lives on through time – not only asking the question “who is who”, but also reminding us why, in the midst of bullets, they were able to put their arms around each other.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Tieu-diem-van-hoa/nhan-vat-va-nhan-chung-noi-gi-bai-cuoi--i782390/