Love stories "more beautiful than tears"

We visited Dak Ui commune, Quang Ngai province (formerly Dak Ngoc commune, Dak Ha district, old Kon Tum province), the place where 18 couples of Kinh - Gie Trieng, and Xe Dang ethnic groups, who were once soldiers of units 304 and 408, have settled.

Looking back more than 20 years ago, this area was just a collection of dilapidated houses like mushrooms clinging to the lake's edge. The scenery was picturesque, yet there was something desolate and lonely about it… The life experiences I encountered back then still leave a vague, lingering feeling in me.

When I first met veteran Phan Van Nhung, I was impressed by his free-spirited and somewhat romantic nature. Belonging to the first group to go to the South, Mr. Nhung was quite familiar with the customs and traditions of the local people. He recounted that he could drink alcohol all night and eat food directly from the trough without any hesitation. The young lieutenant at the time never imagined that his "unconventional" nature would catch the eye of the female performing artist Y Nhan. The two fell in love in 1971, right in the midst of the fierce days of the war…

After liberation, Mr. Nhung took his wife back to their hometown on his Honda 67. He thought everyone would be astonished, but unexpectedly, the news spread like wildfire: "Nhung married a woman from the forest with a tail!" As soon as they reached the village gate, a crowd followed them. Phan Van Nhung panicked and crashed his motorbike into a tree by the roadside... When the truth finally came out, the head of the cooperative even said: "She's so beautiful and sings so well, it would be wonderful if she stayed to teach kindergarten for the village!"

Mr. Pham Cong Luc (second from the left) and other veterans.

Mr. Nhung and his wife decided to return to Dak Ngoc. But the hardships and poverty caused Y Nhan to die shortly after giving birth to their fourth child. Mr. Nhung was left to raise three young children alone, one still a newborn. Seeing his plight, his wife's aunt said, "There's Y Gheo, your cousin. If you agree, she'll take care of the children in her place..." Mr. Nhung was moved to tears. Y Gheo "connected" with him without any formal wedding ceremony. He thought life would brighten from then on, but unexpectedly, after having their first child, Y Gheo contracted kidney disease. Two consecutive tragedies struck Mr. Nhung, causing him immense pain and driving him to the brink of madness. To drown his sorrows, he turned to alcohol. And then a tragic end came: While fishing, he fell into the lake and died in a drunken stupor…

In a way, veteran Dinh Cong Toi's love life is so complicated and ironic… When he went to fight in the Central Highlands, he already had a wife back home. As a guard, Toi was tasked with protecting his commanders, including Lieutenant Y My. Seeing the unusual feelings between the two, the soldiers initially just playfully paired them up, but unexpectedly, "a soldier falling in love with his superior" turned into a real relationship. If the story had ended there, it would have been quite normal in the circumstances at the time. But then, another "commander" also fell in love with him – Y Liu. Y Liu had studied at the Army Officer School 1 and returned to her hometown to fight… After liberation, the two women followed him to Hamlet 7, Dak Ngoc Commune to start a new life. His first wife from the North tried to persuade him to return home, but he decided to stay… For many years, the two women have lived together harmoniously under one roof. His love story reminds me of the miracle in the fairy tale "Three Old Men with Vegetable Heads"…

Even after all these years, the plight of veteran Luu Cong Huyen still evokes strong emotions in me. In his small, stuffy, dimly lit thatched house, it felt as if his body was molded from wax…

For fifteen years, Luu Cong Huyen suffered from a strange disease: initially, his legs atrophied and then became completely paralyzed; his entire body was covered in lumps. They grew larger and then ruptured, oozing a creamy, viscous fluid. He knew he had the effects of Agent Orange, but he didn't have the money for hospital treatment, so he lay there, slowly dying. We were moved to tears when he told us the story of his wife, Y Xuan… Y Xuan was a Gie Trieng woman, formerly a soldier in charge of supplying the troops. They met during the war and, after nearly 30 years of marriage, had eight children. The strength of this disabled veteran, toiling in the fields to raise so many children and support her sick husband, was beyond imagination. Yet, no one ever heard her complain. I returned to Gia Lai, but before I could write anything about Luu Cong Huyen, I suddenly received a letter informing me that he had passed away.

Though past seventy, Mr. Pham Cong Luc still retains the witty and cheerful spirit of a soldier. After all these years, he still remembers me. He told me that of the 18 couples who made up Hamlet 7 in Dak Ngoc commune back then, 5 "couples" have passed away; 7 "couples" still have either a spouse. Mr. Luc is one of the 6 lucky "couples" who are still together…

“When we came to this land to start a new life, each person’s possessions consisted of two sets of clothes and a blanket that fit perfectly in a backpack. If anyone had extra, it was because of the children born in the forest,” Mr. Luc said with a wry smile as he recalled the old days… Wherever earthworms appeared, they would plant a patch of land, erect a temporary shelter, and then diligently sow seeds to have something to eat. Hardships and shortages were one thing, but the most agonizing thing was not being able to visit their hometown after so many years of separation.

“It had been several years since liberation, but my wife and I still hadn’t been able to go back and introduce ourselves to our relatives. After much hesitation, we finally decided we had to go. The difficulty now was figuring out what gifts to give our younger sisters. So, I decided to take a gamble and bought each of them a… fake gold ring. Who would have thought their older brother, after so many years in the South, would give them fake gold! They all kept them carefully. It wasn’t until several years later that I wrote back to confess and ask for their forgiveness… The hardships and deprivations were immeasurable, and then there was the gossip of others. Those times were strange. It wasn’t just Mr. Nhung; almost all of us were considered a couple who were… somewhat unconventional,” Mr. Luc recounted.

Life for the people in Hamlet 7, Dak Ngoc commune (now part of Dak Ui commune, Quang Ngai province) has changed from what it used to be.

But no matter how difficult and dark life may be, there comes a time when things must brighten… In 1995, the Kon Tum Party Economic Enterprise came to help the people plant coffee. And four years later, their economic lives began to improve. From then on, families had the means to invest in their children's education… The difficult family circumstances that made the film back then – Mr. Luc pointed his finger clearly: “Mr. Phan Van Nhung had one son who was a military officer and three grandchildren who were civil servants. Mr. Luu Cong Huyen had one grandchild who was a teacher, and the others, although they stayed at home working in the coffee industry, all had a comfortable life. Mr. Dinh Cong Toi was the same. Even those families considered difficult circumstances back then were like that; other families like Mr. and Mrs. Tran Xuan Lanh – Y Xa had up to 10 children, and every single one of them was a doctor, an officer, or a civil servant…”

The sun was zenith, but Mr. Luc and Mr. Lanh enthusiastically led me to visit the coffee gardens of their "younger generation," telling me about them... Mr. Luc said that from the cradle of Hamlet 7 and Hamlet 8, it has now blossomed into 202 households with 9 ethnic groups, "from the northernmost point of the country to the southernmost tip of Ca Mau." What he said made me think of the folk saying, "Harmony between husband and wife... harmony between village and country." Applying it to this land, I suddenly realized its timeless truth...

Beyond the lush coffee plantations lies the shimmering Dak Uy reservoir, glistening in the sunlight like a giant green gem. This massive irrigation project was built by soldiers of Regiment 331 from the early days when this land was still silent from the fighting. They named it "Spring Dam." A romantic name, yet full of foreboding!

Ngoc Tan

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202507/nhung-moi-tinh-dep-hon-nuoc-mat-33a0e9d/