A promise to teammates
In 1970, young Hoang Huy volunteered to join the army, becoming a soldier in the 406th Special Forces Battalion, Military Region 5. In fierce battlefields such as Quang Nam , Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Kon Tum, Gia Lai..., he participated in many intense battles and achieved many victories.
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Mr. Hoang Huy is searching for information and data about fallen soldiers. |
He still vividly remembers the intense battle at Son Ha ( Quang Ngai province) in June 1971. Under the command of his superiors, he and his comrades secretly ambushed the enemy for 10 hours in the harsh mountainous jungle; when the time was right, they suddenly opened fire, eliminating the enemy and shooting down two aircraft. That victory paved the way for our infantry to advance and liberate Son Ha. For this achievement, he was awarded the Third Class Military Merit Medal.
In April 1972, the 406th Special Forces Battalion once again confronted enemy forces at the Dai Duc base (Hoai An, Binh Dinh province) – a heavily fortified base with modern weapons. In that unequal battle, Huy's unit suffered heavy losses, with many comrades forever lost on the battlefield.
Throughout his years of fighting on the battlefields, he and his comrades buried many fallen soldiers. From those brutal years, he vowed to himself that if he survived, he would find and bring the remains of his fallen brothers home.
| For nearly 50 years, silently fulfilling his promise to his comrades, veteran Hoang Huy is not only a soldier who once held a gun on the battlefield, but also a person who illuminates and spreads noble deeds and gratitude towards fallen soldiers. |
On the day of national reunification, the young soldier returned to his hometown, carrying with him a heavy heart and an unfulfilled promise. In 1976, he embarked on his first trip back to Quang Ngai, searching for the burial place of martyr Tran Quang Xa, from Tran village, Hap Linh commune, Tien Son district (now Tran neighborhood, Hap Linh ward, Bac Ninh province). Mr. Xa was the Deputy Head of the Military Medical Department; he bravely sacrificed his life while on a mission to buy medicine for his unit, which was unexpectedly attacked by the enemy. “Mr. Xa died on March 10, 1974, at Vinh Tuy slope, Tinh Hiep commune, Son Tinh district, Quang Ngai province. It was raining heavily that day. We buried him beside a small house on the mountainside. When I returned to find it, the place had changed a lot,” Mr. Huy recounted sadly. The small house from before was now dilapidated, only its moss-covered stone foundations remaining… but the traces he recorded were still there. When he finally found and brought the remains of fallen soldier Xà back to his hometown in Bắc Ninh, his eyes welled up with tears in front of the altar of his old comrade. For the first time since the war, he felt a sense of relief.
The journey to bring 70 fallen soldiers back to their homeland.
Since then, Mr. Huy has continued his journey to find his comrades, silently and persistently. He followed his memories, met with former comrades, flipped through every page of files, examined every military symbol, and sought help from the Departments of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and the military commands of many provinces and cities. When necessary, he coordinated with the families of fallen soldiers to conduct DNA testing, verifying every detail, no matter how small.
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The list of martyrs still lying on the battlefields was compiled, researched, and cataloged by Mr. Hoang Huy over many years. |
In his backpack, whenever he returned to the old battlefields, he always carried old maps, a compass, a flashlight, a magnifying glass, a camera, and a small notebook filled with detailed notes. These items accompanied him on countless long journeys searching for his fallen comrades, traversing mountains, crossing streams, and crossing forests. Many times, to find the remains of a fallen soldier, Mr. Huy had to travel back and forth from North to South Vietnam two or three times.
To date, he has helped bring the remains of 70 fallen soldiers back to their hometowns. He meticulously records the names, hometowns, and dates of their deaths. These include: Nguyen Ba Ton (Hoai Duc, Ha Tay province, now Hanoi), Nguyen Van Hung and Nguyen Vu Thuong from Phu Cu (Hung Yen), Nguyen Dinh Tat from Phuong Mao commune (now Phuong Lieu ward, Bac Ninh), Cao Duc Thang from Dong Tien commune (now Yen Phong commune, Bac Ninh province)... Each time he brings a comrade back to their family and homeland, he lights an incense stick and whispers, "I have kept my promise, my friend."
He has traveled countless times through the forests of the Central Highlands, sometimes having to turn back due to floods. In 2011, he was involved in a traffic accident while searching for the remains of fallen soldier Nguyen Van Hung in Quang Ngai. Sometimes, he and the soldier's relatives would spend days in the deep forest, sleeping in makeshift shelters and eating instant noodles, just to verify a suspected burial site. Despite this, he never gave up. "As long as I have the strength, I will continue to search for my comrades with the relatives," he said simply but resolutely.
His wife, Dao Thi Toan, though worried before each of her husband's trips, always silently supported him: "Seeing him so loyal to his comrades, all I can do is light incense and pray, hoping he finds more of his brothers!" He covered all the expenses for these trips himself from his pension of less than three million dong per month. Occasionally, family and friends helped out a little. For him, the green forest of yesteryear not only holds the memories of the war but also a part of his life, a place where comrades remain unnamed, who have not yet returned to their wives, children, and families. That motivates him to keep going.
For nearly 50 years, silently fulfilling his promise to his comrades, veteran Hoang Huy is not only a soldier who once held a gun on the battlefield, but also a person who illuminates and spreads noble deeds and gratitude towards fallen soldiers. In recognition of these contributions, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Vietnam Veterans Association (in 2021) and a Certificate of Merit by the Minister of National Defense (in 2023) for his exceptional contributions to the search and repatriation of the remains of fallen soldiers. But for him, the greatest reward is bringing his comrades back to their families and hometowns. When asked why he hasn't stopped at his advanced age, he replied: "Because war only truly ends when the last person who fell is called by name."
Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/tam-nguyen-cua-nguoi-linh-nua-the-ky-di-tim-dong-doi-postid422279.bbg
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