Ms. Vu Thuc Hue, former medical staff member of Nanxishan Hospital (Guilin, Guangxi, China), and a Sino-Vietnamese friendship activist, answers questions from a Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reporter in China. Photo: Cong Tuyen/VNA reporter in China.
These are the profound recollections of Ms. Vu Thuc Hue, a former medical staff member at Nanxishan Hospital (Guilin, Guangxi, China) and a Sino-Vietnamese friendship activist, as she recounts her days treating Vietnamese soldiers.
Sharing her memories of working at Nanxishan Hospital with a VNA reporter in Beijing, Ms. Vu Thuc Hue said that the hospital, established in 1968, had nearly 600 staff members, including 278 doctors and nurses from Beijing, the oldest being 41 and the youngest 19. They wholeheartedly and diligently treated wounded and sick Vietnamese soldiers, treating the Vietnamese troops as their own brothers and sisters.
Ms. Vu Thuc Hue expressed: "I feel that the war was too brutal. Many wounded soldiers, upon being transferred to the hospital, had lost limbs due to landmines and had to endure a long journey to reach Nam Khe Son Hospital. In such a harsh environment, the Vietnamese soldiers remained optimistic and cheerful, striving to recover quickly and return to the battlefield. During their treatment at the hospital, the Vietnamese soldiers often shared stories about their battles on the battlefield, helping us understand the ferocity of war and the courage of the Vietnamese people."
Vietnamese soldiers are known for their diligence and hard work. Patients who have recovered a little and can sit up often tidy their personal belongings and clean their rooms themselves. Furthermore, despite the brutal war that deprived people of the opportunity to go to school and receive an education, Vietnamese soldiers, even while hospitalized for treatment, remained diligent, hardworking, and especially eager to learn. Some patients, during their three months of treatment at Nam Khe Son Hospital, independently studied all the elementary, middle, and high school textbooks. This is one of the remarkable qualities of the Vietnamese soldiers, and one that left a deep impression on Mrs. Vu Thuc Hue.
At each stage of the illness, when the patients recovered, the hospital would often hold a simple farewell ceremony to see the Vietnamese soldiers off back home. No one could hold back their tears as they saw the patients off at the train station, hugging each other and lingering for a long time. Even now, thinking back, that feeling feels like it happened just yesterday.
According to Ms. Vu Thuc Hue, over the past eight years, Nam Khe Son Hospital has treated 5,432 Vietnamese wounded soldiers, performed 2,576 surgeries, and donated 779,220 ml of blood to Vietnamese wounded soldiers. She herself has voluntarily donated over 1,000 ml of blood. Ms. Vu Thuc Hue shared: “We use our precious blood to donate to Vietnamese soldiers. When our blood flows into the veins of our Vietnamese comrades, the two bloodlines of the two nations blend together, signifying that the friendship between the people of the two countries will last forever.”
What touched Ms. Vu Thuc Hue the most was that the work she and her colleagues did at Nam Khe Son Hospital was appreciated and recognized by wounded soldiers and leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State.
Doctors at Nanxishan Hospital (Guilin, Guangxi, China) treat Vietnamese wounded soldiers. Photo: VNA
Ms. Vu Thuc Hue recounted that in May 2024, while attending a welcoming party in Vietnam to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, she overheard a Vietnamese army officer enter and say, "I want to find and meet the nurse who donated blood to save me all those years ago." Hearing this, she immediately put down her chopsticks, tears welled up in her eyes, and she emotionally shared, "I never imagined that nearly 60 years would pass, and that soldier would still remember me, remember my noble act of donating blood and treating them."
Furthermore, on every occasion when Vietnamese Party and Government leaders, such as General Secretary To Lam (August 2024) and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (June 2024), visited China and held meetings with prominent figures promoting Sino-Vietnamese friendship, she had the honor of participating and speaking on behalf of the two countries about the friendship between their peoples.
Sharing her feelings about the achievements Vietnam has made after 50 years of national reunification, Ms. Vu Thuc Hue said that over the past 50 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnam has achieved many great successes in socio-economic development; the people have become wealthier, living conditions both materially and spiritually have continuously improved, and life is happier. Fields such as transportation, culture, and construction have all undergone tremendous changes.
Ms. Vu Thuc Hue expressed her hope for many future visits to Vietnam, and the opportunity to meet again with the Vietnamese war invalids she had helped. She also hoped that China and Vietnam would always cooperate and develop together; and wished that the friendship, "both comrades and brothers," between the people of China and Vietnam would endure and be passed down from generation to generation.
Cong Tuyen - Quang Hung (VNA)
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/xuc-dong-hoi-uc-ve-tinh-than-dung-cam-hy-sinh-cua-bo-doi-viet-nam-20250409100943176.htm
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