From 1973 to 1979, Anh Ngoc was a reporter for the People's Army Newspaper. In early 1975, following the decision of the People's Army Newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Dinh Uoc, Anh Ngoc and two colleagues, reporters Ha Dinh Can and Nguyen Huu Tong, went to Zone 6 in the far South Central region to follow the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. In journalist Anh Ngoc's backpack at that time, there were only 2 sets of clothes, 3 diaries and a pen. At that time, he was not equipped with a camera because he was not a photojournalist. Therefore, he used a pen to sketch the images he saw but could not capture. During the period from January 22 to June 10, 1975, he filled 3 notebooks. Those were the diary pages that he called "the breath of the country in the spring of great victory".

On the journey across the Truong Son mountain range, journalist Anh Ngoc and his comrades celebrated Tet in the middle of the Indochina junction forest, amidst the sound of artillery and gunfire. On a cold night, Anh Ngoc still sat writing diary entries under the light of a dying oil lamp: “The sky was foggy, but people’s hearts were as bright as torches. Every step carried the beat of faith in victory.”

Colonel and poet Anh Ngoc (right) talks with reporters from the People's Army Newspaper.

With the sensitivity of a soldier journalist, whenever he heard about a problem, Anh Ngoc would set off. Hearing that his unit had taken over a high point, journalist Anh Ngoc immediately found his way there, sneaking through the fire line, recording the moment when the soldiers planted the victory flag, chatting with villagers who had just escaped from enemy territory. Sometimes, amidst the sound of bullets tearing through the wind, Anh Ngoc still bent down to write, his words tilting to the rhythm of falling bombs. For journalist Anh Ngoc, the news of victory must still be hot, still smelling of smoke, still trembling with emotion. On April 30, 1975, when he heard the news of Saigon's liberation, Anh Ngoc was in Phan Rang. "Our hearts burst with joy. Hugs in the sun and wind, tears mixed with dust. The great victory of Spring 1975 was perhaps more than just a memory. That moment always lives in our minds, no matter the time," Colonel and poet Anh Ngoc recalled.

Without rest, journalist Anh Ngoc and his comrades followed the Army convoy and arrived in Saigon on the afternoon of May 3, 1975. That night, they hung hammocks to sleep in the flower garden of the General Police Department, in the heart of the newly liberated city. Anh Ngoc expressed that feeling in the poem "Hung Hammocks in Saigon", depicting the mood of soldiers at the transition between war and peace . On May 10, 1975, Anh Ngoc and journalist Manh Hung borrowed a motorbike that was a trophy of war, still riddled with bullet holes, had to be filled with paper, went straight to Vung Tau, then followed the Navy ship to Con Dao. The place that used to be "hell on earth" was now covered with liberation flags. The articles from that trip were pages filled with tears and pride, recording the tragic memories of a nation that did not surrender to the enemy.

Now, with his hair turning grey, in a small room in Hanoi , journalist and poet Anh Ngoc still cherishes three spring 1975 diaries. The paper has faded, but each line still burns as hot as fire. Because for Anh Ngoc, writing is a way to live with the Fatherland, to record with his mind and heart the unrepeatable moments of history.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/chao-mung-ky-niem-75-nam-ngay-thanh-lap-bao-quan-doi-nhan-dan/viet-la-cach-de-song-cung-to-quoc-885666