Where war lingers

 Those who stay.

The provincial road from Thanh Hoa city to Sam Son on holidays is bustling with traffic and people going back and forth. In the hot summer, the beach is the place where many people and organizations go swimming, enjoy the fresh breeze and cool sea water to dispel the hot days, to recharge their energy for the following days. About 4km from Sam Son beach, there is a humble "silence" hidden under the green leaves rustling in the wind. That is the "Thanh Hoa Province Center for the Care of People with Meritorious Services". Here, they care for wounded soldiers, homeless martyrs' relatives, people with mental illness and Agent Orange war consequences... They, once soldiers who went through the war, brought with them a passionate revolutionary spirit to fight for the revolutionary cause. They, are also the ones who had to bear the losses, sacrifices, physical and mental pain, contributing blood and bones to the war against the US to unify the country.

During the meeting with the wounded soldiers of the Trade Union delegation, the Veterans Association of Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, we met veteran Le Van Thanh, a quarter wounded soldier who said: He participated in the Ho Chi Minh campaign on the southern front, while the whole unit was rushing to take over the battlefield, his unit was ambushed by the enemy with the intention of destroying the whole unit. In that battle, the unit suffered many casualties. He was wounded twice and his two arms remained on the battlefield forever; he was wounded in the head and both eyes were blind.

That loss was just over two days before the complete liberation of the South. Returning to the rear with injuries all over his body, he thought he could not stand, but then a country girl admired him, fell in love with him and together they built happiness. That happiness has blossomed and borne fruit. The birth of three children is the result of his will to live, overcoming all difficulties, not afraid to write pages of love of life. Currently, his family lives in Tan Son commune, Trieu Son district, Thanh Hoa. He is a seriously disabled soldier, so he is treated and cared for at the center, and occasionally the center creates conditions for him to visit his family.

A nurse led us to the room of wounded soldier Mai Trong Bai and said that everyone at the center called him a living martyr. Through investigation, we learned that: The young man Mai Trong Bai enlisted in 1966 to participate in the Quang Tri battlefield. In 1971, participating in the Route 9 campaign in Southern Laos, he was unfortunately attacked by enemy artillery, his unit suffered casualties, and he lost his right leg above the knee, both eyes gradually became blind, his ears were punctured, and shrapnel was embedded in his arm and shoulder. But bombs, bullets, and illness could not defeat him, because he had a certain inner strength determined to fight for his life. Not only that, after returning from the battlefield, he built a family. A disaster struck, his wife died early. So the wounded soldier fought alone against illness and poverty to raise three children.

Perhaps, the residential and living area of ​​mentally disabled soldiers and those affected by Agent Orange has left a painful feeling in everyone's heart. Mentally disabled soldiers - they are like wild people, walking vigorously, eating vigorously, smoking cakes and cigarettes from visitors. Many of them have reached the age of sixty, still have the strength and energy, but they are like people from another world. The war has turned them from normal people into crazy people, with unconscious, uncontrolled actions. They have to carry that pain with them for the rest of their lives.

At the houses of Agent Orange victims, the young faces in a state of confusion, victims of the insane destruction of the invaders are cruel to the extreme. Sixty-nine faces, sixty-nine miseries, including the 62-year-old female veteran Pham Thi Lan, who participated in the Quang Tri battlefield in the most fierce places. The rain of dioxide not only killed grass and trees, burned rocks and gravel, but also destroyed a whole life and more. The girl Lan more than sixty years ago, innocent and full of enthusiasm, is now a foolish old woman, twice on the brain surgery table, fighting to snatch life from the hands of the devilish god of death.

Words of gratitude

It has become a tradition that every time the War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27) is celebrated, the Trade Union and Veterans Association of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities visit and give gifts to war invalids and those who have contributed to the cause of national reunification. This year's destination is the Center for Nurturing People with Merits in Thanh Hoa Province. Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Xuan Khang, Chairman of the Trade Union of the school, said: "This year, the Trade Union and Veterans Association of the school visited and gave 200 gift packages and more than 10 million VND from the trade union fund and the contribution movement of the women's union during this business trip. The gift is not big, but it shows the heart and the sharing to ease the pain that the war invalids are suffering."

The School's Trade Union presented gifts of gratitude to the Thanh Hoa Nursing Center for Meritorious People (photo: Dinh Hau)

In his speech, Professor Dr. Vu Duc Nghieu, Vice Principal of the school, was moved: “The visiting and gift-giving activities of the Trade Union and the Veterans Association of the School are a manifestation of the spirit of remembering the person who planted the tree when eating the fruit. Ordinary people sometimes feel uncomfortable when they get pebbles stuck in their shoes or sandals, let alone the wounded soldiers here who are carrying injuries, war consequences and loss, sacrificing a part of their blood and bones. I hope that the mothers and brothers and sisters will accept my gratitude and wishes for good health, always uphold the revolutionary tradition and overcome the painful loss to live and continue to contribute.”

Ms. Bich Nga, lecturer of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, is singing for wounded soldiers and Agent Orange victims to listen to (photo: Dinh Hau)

Teacher Bich Nga, a lecturer at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, kept muttering, "How miserable! How miserable!" when she saw people who had lost legs, arms, and even their memories. And then she stood up and sang. She sang songs about soldiers and Hanoi as a way of sharing from her heart, expressing her sympathy and admiration for the wounded and sick soldiers. From her heart, she and the members of the group, mainly the women in the Women's Union, contributed five million VND to support the Center. Receiving a little affection from the group, Mr. Luong The Tap - Director of the Center for the Care of People with Meritorious Services - said: The Center also regularly receives attention from departments, the province and the community with words of encouragement and gifts, not only for the wounded and sick soldiers but also for the staff. For the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, this visit also demonstrates the spirit of humanity, remembering the source of water when drinking, is a lesson of experience about the history and present of the children of the Fatherland who sacrificed their blood and bones, now they continue to suffer the consequences of the war. We, from the staff to the teachers, understand the hearts of the teachers, promise to do our best to ease the pain that the wounded soldiers are suffering.

Looking back one last time to say goodbye to the Center, I wondered: I wonder how many places in this resilient S-shaped land, where the war has been over for nearly forty years, still have traces of war, how many places still have people suffering because of the war, like in this place.