A touching journey of donating restored portraits of fallen soldiers.

Bring them back to their families!

During the historic month of July, TeamLee, led by Le Quyet Thang, born in 1991 and from Nghe An province, brought portraits of fallen soldiers to donate to their families in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces.

Receiving a color-reconstructed portrait of her son, Martyr Nguyen Van Dong, born in 1957, 96-year-old Nguyen Thi Ba, a resident of Thanh Chuong district, could not hide her emotion. Seeing the image of Martyr Dong in his dark green military uniform sitting beside her, Mrs. Ba's eyes welled up with tears.

Mother cherished the color photograph of her son and said she would keep it carefully, hugging it every time she slept. “This is my son, Dong. He was so handsome and intelligent back then. But he left me too soon. I’m still here, but you’re gone…” Mother Ba’s eyes welled up with tears.

Event - A touching journey of donating restored portraits of fallen soldiers. — The restored portraits of the fallen soldiers were personally handed over to their families by the TeamLee group.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh, the third son of Mrs. Ba, his mother's memory is not as sharp as it used to be; she remembers some things and forgets others. "But there's one thing she never forgets: every morning she looks up at the altar, where her son Dong's portrait is placed, and talks to him. Her eyesight has deteriorated, making it difficult for her to see his picture anymore, but now, thanks to this restored photo, she can see him more clearly. The family is extremely grateful to TeamLee for restoring Dong's photo and hopes that many more families of fallen soldiers will receive this meaningful gift," Mr. Tinh said, his voice choked with emotion.

Upon receiving two photos of her two fallen sons, Heroic Vietnamese Mother Nguyen Thi Thanh couldn't hold back her emotions and burst into tears. This year, she turned 94, but her longing for her two sons never fades. She has two sons who were martyrs: one a volunteer youth soldier, the other a border guard in the Southwest. Her weeping brought tears to the eyes of everyone present. Receiving the two photos wrapped in the national flag, Mother Thanh choked out, "Nhan, Chan, come home to your mother..."

The emotions of the families upon receiving the photos of their fallen soldiers are difficult to describe. There is sadness, tears, and even happiness. After the soldiers' passing, their only wish is to have a photograph to place on the altar. But sometimes, that wish remains unfulfilled for decades. The time-worn photographs restored by TeamLee somewhat alleviate the pain of these families.

Over 300 photos were delivered to relatives.

After more than a year of implementing the free photo restoration project to help families of martyrs who died in the wars in Vietnam, TeamLee has restored approximately 300 portraits of martyrs. Currently, the team has 12 members, with 9 members in charge of photo restoration and 3 others in charge of communication and logistics.

Specifically, during this year's July tribute journey, TeamLee will donate 17 reconstructed portraits of martyrs in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces…

Accordingly, Le Quyet Thang is the person who initiated the idea of restoring photos of fallen soldiers for free to their relatives. His main job is interior design. However, in his free time, he edits photos for free for many people on social media, combining photos of deceased relatives with family reunion photos; restoring old photos.

Event - A touching journey of donating restored portrait photos of fallen soldiers (Figure 2). — TeamLee presented portraits of two fallen soldiers to Heroic Vietnamese Mother Pham Thi Thanh in Nghi Tan ward, Cua Lo town, Nghe An province.

Speaking about how he came across the opportunity to restore photographs of fallen soldiers, Mr. Thang said that late on the night of April 30, 2022, while browsing online, he saw a comment from a nephew who wanted to restore a photograph of his deceased uncle. After carefully reviewing the information, he realized that behind that pencil sketch lay the story of his uncle, who died on the battlefield before liberation. Now, only this black-and-white pencil sketch remained as a memorial photo. He hoped to receive support to create a more "authentic" photograph of his uncle. That same night, Mr. Thang completed the restoration of the color photograph of the fallen soldier and decided to go to the family's home to deliver it.

According to Mr. Le Quyet Thang, the free photo restoration project for families of fallen soldiers started on June 20, 2022. The initial goal was only 75 photos, because at that time it was very difficult to contact the families of fallen soldiers, most of whom were elderly. The most difficult part was dealing with old photos that had lost their detail; pencil sketches with faded ink and inaccuracies, requiring the team to reconstruct portraits based on descriptions from family members.

Event - A touching journey of donating restored portrait photos of fallen soldiers (Figure 3). — Holding a photo of her child in her hands, the Heroic Vietnamese Mother couldn't hide her emotions and burst into tears.

According to Thang, restoring each photograph takes about 6 hours. However, some photographs are so old and damaged that the group may need 2-3 days to restore them.

“The sacrifices of the heroic martyrs for the peace and independence of the nation always fill us young people with respect and gratitude. Everyone in the group is willing to dedicate their time to restoring photos for free as a way to pay tribute to the heroic martyrs and to alleviate some of the pain of those left behind... Currently, the group receives a large number of messages requesting the restoration of martyrs' photos every day, but due to TeamLee's limited manpower, we are still unable to fulfill all requests. Therefore, I hope that photographers nationwide will join hands and share with the group; it's a small but meaningful task,” Thang added.

Minh Tam - Ha Hang

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