Sacred journey to bring you back to your motherland

The dry season in Laos lasts from October of the previous year to May of the following year. Also during this time, officers and soldiers of Team 589 (Provincial Military Command) are present under the canopy of the old forests in Laos to search for and collect the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died on the battlefield in Laos and return to their homeland. The journey to bring them back to their motherland is extremely sacred and noble with many extremely touching stories.

Team 589 searches, collects, and gathers martyrs' remains in Laos - Photo: XN

Tireless steps

It is now July, on the other side of the Truong Son mountain range, in Laos, it is the rainy season. During the rainy season, the search and collection of the graves of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died in Laos must be temporarily suspended. Therefore, we had the opportunity to sit and talk with the officers and soldiers of Team 589, who are carrying out this sacred and noble mission.

Lieutenant Colonel Ha Xuan Nam, Political Commissar of Team 589, said that since its establishment in 1989, up to now, generations of Team 589 members have spent 36 years carrying out the mission of searching for and repatriating the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died on the battlefield in Laos. Determining this as an important and sacred task, generations of officers and soldiers of the unit have always put forth the highest determination to complete the assigned political tasks.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Ha Xuan Nam, the dry season in Laos is very harsh. During the day, it is scorching hot, but at night, it is bone-chillingly cold. To find “traces” where their comrades fell, to gather them and bring them back to their homeland, for decades, the footprints of generations of officers and soldiers of Team 589 have been imprinted throughout the forests, crossing countless rivers, streams, and caves in Laos.

When finding “traces” of martyrs, the work of gathering them is also extremely difficult. In the past, when soldiers sacrificed themselves, while the war was still raging, to preserve their bodies, comrades and local people took them into caves and “hid” them in high caves, to avoid being eaten by wild animals.

Therefore, now, to search for and collect the remains of martyrs, the soldiers of Team 589 must use ropes as ladders to climb into caves tens, even hundreds of meters high. In many places, the caves are too narrow and deep, and during the collection process, they have to take turns working while leaning over, with their heads down. Not only do they work in a toxic environment lacking oxygen, they also face malaria, wild animals, and leftover bombs from the war...

Meticulously searching for remains and relics of martyrs - Photo: XN

In the dry season of 2017 - 2018, while on duty in Nhom Ma Lat, the deepest district of Kham Muon province, Captain Tran Minh Tuan (Team 589) unfortunately dislocated his leg and was injured. The wound had not yet fully healed, and in the dry season of 2018 - 2019, he continued to march with his teammates to carry out his duty.

After a day of working in a remote village in Nhom Ma Lat district, Tuan returned to his military base when a dull abdominal pain struck. Upon examination, the unit's military doctor diagnosed that Tuan might have appendicitis. In the middle of the deep forest and mountains, appendicitis can be life-threatening if not treated promptly. That very night, the unit had to send people to cross the forest nearly 100km to take Tuan to Tha Khec town hospital for surgery.

Lieutenant Colonel Ha Xuan Nam said that during the course of their duties, many officers and soldiers were bitten by snakes and centipedes. Then they were tormented by malaria. However, for decades, no officer or soldier of the unit has "shaken" their will or faltered in the face of those difficulties. From one dry season to another, they continue to set out one after another. The footsteps of the soldiers of Team 589 have never known fatigue, to fulfill their promise to their fallen comrades.

“As time goes on, the search for martyrs’ remains in Laos becomes more and more difficult and arduous. However, no matter how difficult it is, the soldiers of Team 589 will continue to do their best, complete their mission excellently, keep their promise, and bring “these men” back to their homeland,” emphasized Lieutenant Colonel Ha Xuan Nam.

See you again...

To find the remains of martyrs, officers and soldiers of Team 589 had to rely on information from witnesses who were local people. However, currently, witnesses who lived at the same time or buried the martyrs are almost no longer around. Most of the current witnesses are their children and grandchildren. These young people only heard stories from their grandfathers and fathers, so finding the remains of martyrs in Laos is becoming increasingly difficult.

During the dry season of 2024 - 2025, while on duty, Team 589 received information from Mr. Keo-Vi-Lay Vong-Ma-Ni (50 years old), a resident of Tha Thot village, Nhom Ma Lat district, providing information about the martyr's grave in Tham Hay cave. The information was told by Mr. Keo-Vi-Lay Vong-Ma-Ni from a story told by his father.

“Upon receiving information from witnesses, we made a report, conducted a field survey, and made a plan to search and collect the remains. The information provided by Mr. Keo-Vi-Lay Vong-Ma-Ni was correct, we found the remains of martyrs there.

However, not all sources of information are highly accurate. There are sources of information from people who witnessed the loss, people who heard the story could not determine the specific location, and the unit dug and searched for months without results," said Lieutenant Colonel Ha Xuan Nam.

Carrying out "skillful mass mobilization" work with people in military villages - Photo: XN

In the conversation with us, when mentioning the results of the unit always exceeding the targets in the past time, Mr. Nam said that, in addition to the sweat and blood of the officers and soldiers, it would be a mistake not to mention the sacredness of "showing the way and leading the way" of the martyrs themselves.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Ha Xuan Nam, there has probably been no search in which the officers and soldiers of Team 589 did not have miraculous dreams. The story of Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Hoang during the dry season of 2024 - 2025 is an example. While the unit was searching for the remains of martyrs in Nong Pin cave, Nong Pin village, Bua La Pha district (Kham Muon), Hoang had strangely miraculous dreams.

After many days of searching, the unit found and recovered three sets of martyrs’ remains. As they continued to dig deeper into the cave to search, one night while sleeping, Hoang heard someone say in his dream: “Why are you lying at the cave entrance and we can’t find you?” Waking up, Hoang quickly woke up his teammates and prepared offerings to go to the cave entrance to pray to “uncles”. Strangely enough, the next morning, they found the remains of the martyrs right at the cave entrance, a place that, if it weren’t for that inspired dream, they might have missed.

On the "last night" when the unit packed up to withdraw troops home because the rainy season was about to begin, Mr. Hoang dreamed that "the uncles" had returned and said: "Why don't you take the uncles home with you?"

The next morning, Mr. Hoang reported to the unit leaders and returned to Nong Pin cave to burn incense, promising to return to the area next dry season to continue the search. The Nong Pin cave location has also been included in the search plan of Team 589 for the 2025-2026 dry season. Because, more than anyone else, they always believe in the “guidance and direction” of the martyrs.

Phan Phuong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/thieng-lieng-hanh-trinh-dua-cac-anh-ve-dat-me-196103.htm