Associate Professor Dr. Pham Thanh Hung and battlefield memories

That's the story of a son in troubled times.

In 1954, Pham Thanh Hung was born and raised in Nga Son, Thanh Hoa. The land of “Nga Son mats, Bat Trang bricks” is lyrical with relics bearing the imprint of ancestors and stories about Vietnamese talents. But in the childhood memories of the young Hung at that time, he only saw a painful and hard-working mat weaving area of ​​his hometown people.

Following the call of the Fatherland, in 1971, student of the 15th class of the Faculty of Literature of Hanoi University, Pham Thanh Hung "put down his pen and went to fight" right at the most fierce stage of the resistance war against America to save the country.

Before leaving, he returned home to tell his mother that he was leaving to join the army. He thought that his mother would feel sorry for him, so he sat and waited to see her cry. But he waited and waited and she didn't cry, and she told him that she would never forget: "That's the story of a son in troubled times."

Until now, every time he talks to students, he still jokes when remembering the story of that time: "So my mother sold me to the country!" Because, more than anyone, his mother understood that in war, bombs and bullets, sacrifice is inevitable, everyone has to go to war for the country, for the homeland. And also because she was a strong mother like many other women at that time.

When he left, he was not old enough to join the army, only 17 years old. The departure ceremony on September 6th of that year is also engraved in his memory.Saying goodbye to his university and hometown, Pham Thanh Hung and 400 students of Hanoi University of Science joined the army.

At that time, the Quang Tri battlefield was extremely fierce. There were people who had not yet met his face or name before they were sacrificed. Until now, the unforgettable memory in the teacher is the story of April 23, 1972, when his Artillery Company was defeated, and 1/3 of its men were sacrificed. During the battle, a comrade lying in his arms was seriously wounded all over his body, and there was no way to use a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. At that time, he only cried: "Mom! Hung! You have to save me..." His comrade's blood flowed on his hands, and he had tears in his eyes. He could do nothing, just helplessly watching his comrade gradually cool down and sacrifice. How many young men fell on the Quang Tri battlefield at the most beautiful age. Ten years ago, the teacher returned to the old battlefield and found the grave of his comrade that year. Speaking of this, the teacher's eyes were distant and blurred.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Thanh Hung (left) and poet Viet Phuong

The "beggar of the past"

Teacher Pham Thanh Hung, like many other soldiers, had moments of "weakness" in the middle of the battlefield, with an inconsolable longing for home, for his parents and for his university. Those were the days of living in the middle of a battlefield full of bullets and bombs. Suddenly one day, the battlefield was deserted, without a sound of bombs, without a sound or groan, only the miserable cooing of doves in the mountains and forests. At that moment, the young soldier Pham Thanh Hung felt as if he had fallen into a void, shivering and suddenly thinking: "War is probably the destiny of our nation, we don't know when it will end and will our nation have to live with this war forever?". That was the only time he felt pessimistic and discouraged in the middle of the battlefield.

After many near-death experiences, then being wounded, there were days when he was fighting and being bombed, only seeing the darkness of the thick black dust of artillery shells covering his eyes, unable to move, he thought he was dead. Then the suffering of the battlefield naturally urged the young soldier Pham Thanh Hung: “I had a very subjective thought: I cannot die and we young students cannot die, we will return. We will return to dispel the sadness on the faces of the principal and relatives on the day of farewell.”

Of the 400 students who put down their pens and went to war at Hanoi University that day, only about fifty returned. The rest fell and lay scattered across the Quang Tri battlefield. Every year, on July 27, April 30, and August 28 (his birthday, which was also the founding day of the 308th Division under the 1st Corps, the first main infantry division established by the Vietnam People's Army in 1949), he missed his comrades the most. Almost every year, he went to Quang Tri, visited the National Cemetery of Route 9, and burned incense for his comrades and friends in the company who were resting in peace scattered across each grave.

He shared: “Returning from the cemetery, I felt more peaceful, more in love with this life and considered myself a lucky and happy person. I am also proud that I once fought in the same trenches with the martyrs who are lying quietly under those rows of tombstones. They sacrificed themselves like heroes, like innocent, pure and noble young men, they fell without needing anyone to acknowledge their achievements. I remind myself not to “beg for the past”, trying to erase the haunting memories of war, trying to look towards the future, but clearly the past of war remains in me as an asset that can be temporarily called “savings”. Whenever I am sad, I take it out to sip, to console myself: in my youth, I did something meaningful in life. Savoring memories, I become generous, forgiving towards others and myself”.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long and Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thanh Hung

Moving on after the pain of war

Leaving a part of his youth on the fierce battlefield, he returned to continue completing his university program, "studying like crazy" to make up for the years spent on the battlefield, then continued to stay at the school to teach. In 1985, he went to Czechoslovakia to do research. In 1991, he returned to Vietnam and was assigned to undertake a series of important tasks at Hanoi National University such as: in charge of the Magazine - Publishing of Hanoi National University, Editorial Secretary of Hanoi National University Newsletter, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Journalism - Hanoi National University, Editor-in-Chief - Deputy Director of Hanoi National University Publishing House, Associate Professor, PhD, lecturer of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities...

In addition to teaching, he also wrote many valuable books such as:Czech Republic - Country, people; Travel philosopher Tran Duc Thao, Journalism and media terminology, The interaction between journalism and literature…

More than 40 years have passed since the day he joined the army. The wounds, as he optimistically and poetically told his mother in a handwritten letter that year, were “small and pretty like a lady’s watch, Mom,” have now become scars that have endured the years. His right eardrum was also punctured due to the pressure of the artillery. Now, every time he talks, he always tries to listen with his other ear. He smiles gently and says: “If anyone doesn’t know, they will think I’m impolite, so when they talk, they just turn their faces away.”

Despite the consequences of war, he still fights every hour, every day without stopping on the intellectual front.
Passing the age of 60, the student soldier who was on the battlefield years ago still continues to carry out the task of "cultivating people" in the lecture hall, being a teacher of many generations of students across the country. "You guys now, with such good hearing, such good health, without war like our time, take advantage of learning foreign languages, to open the door to a new world, enter a new era, absorb and master knowledge, science and technology, social science research and contribute to the country" - that is the sincere sharing of the previous generation teacher to the current students.

According to Dantri and Nhandan