"Martyr" returns to the village

Death Notice

“One winter afternoon in 1968, from one end of the village to the other, people were gossiping about my uncle’s sacrifice. Coming home from school and reaching the corner of the yard, I saw a large crowd of people gathered. At that time, I was just a child, but my heart was heavy, the memories and love for my uncle kept coming back…”, said Mr. Tran Duc Chinh, nephew of “martyr” Le Van Hao.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huoc (born in 1939) in Duyen Linh residential area, Duy Tan ward was the one who received Mr. Hao's death notice from the district and directly gave it to his family. Ms. Le Thi Hai in Chau Xa residential area, Duy Tan ward, Mr. Hao's sister, recalled that moment: "I still clearly remember the note saying that my brother sacrificed himself at the southern front. Not knowing where his body was, the sky seemed to collapse, my whole family could only cry."

According to Mrs. Hai, the family had 4 siblings. Mr. Hao was the youngest and the only brother. Orphaned at an early age, the 4 siblings lived on vegetables and porridge. The older sisters got married, and Mr. Hao moved in with his second sister and brother-in-law. “He was not required to join the army because he was the only son, but he still volunteered to go fight. At that time, Mr. Hao was married but they were not happy. Thinking about him, I felt even more sorry for him,” Mrs. Hai said emotionally.

Just two days after receiving the death notice, the local government and people held a memorial service for Mr. Hao. Mr. Huoc was assigned the responsibility of taking care of the ceremony. At that time, the standard for each martyr was 24 dong to organize the memorial service. “I went to the trading store to get 1 carton of cigarettes and 6 packs of tea worth 3.6 dong to hold the memorial service for Mr. Hao. The remaining amount was given to the family by the Organizing Committee,” Mr. Huoc recalled.

Mr. Hao’s memorial service was held solemnly in the yard of Duy Tan Secondary School. “At that time, the yard was packed with people. I had to hold back when reading the eulogy, but everyone was crying,” Mr. Huoc said.

Return date

No one thought that after many years of receiving the death notice, "martyr" Le Van Hao would return in the flesh.

One afternoon in December 1975, by the river at the beginning of the village, people saw a small figure wearing a military uniform and an old backpack on his shoulder. Then someone said: "Who is like Hao, Hao is back"! The villagers abandoned their plows and hoes and ran after that small figure walking towards the village. A girl named Toan, who was in her twenties at the time, was harrowing the field and also abandoned her buffalo and ran towards the soldier. Later, Mrs. Toan became Mr. Hao's wife.

When the family heard that Mr. Hao had returned, they were half-believing and half-doubting. “Not knowing what would happen, but still hoping that our brother was still alive, we left our work to return,” said Mrs. Hai. And indeed, “martyr” Hao appeared before his relatives and neighbors. “There is no happiness like that. We burst into tears and hugged him,” Mrs. Hai added.

In the arms of his family and neighbors, Mr. Hao told about the years of arduous fighting... Mr. Hao enlisted on April 29, 1966, fighting in the Quang Nam - Da Nang battlefield. During the Mau Than Campaign in 1968, he and his comrades fought for every inch of land with the enemy for 17 days and nights. Stricken with malaria, he thought he was dead at times. He was wounded in the right hand and neck. Lost from his unit, he was taken in by ethnic minorities. According to Mr. Hao, this may have been the reason why the unit thought he had sacrificed and sent a death notice to his locality. Due to poor health, Mr. Hao was transferred to the engineering unit of Military Region 5, assigned to open roads. In 1974, he was transferred to the Military Region 5 General Political School. In 1975, the country was unified, and he was discharged under the demobilization regime.

On the fateful trip back to my hometown, when passing Hai Van Pass, the bus flipped over and fell into a ravine. Of the 59 soldiers on board, 57 died, leaving only Mr. Hao and a bus assistant who were lucky enough to survive. “When I woke up, I found myself being pulled out of the bus by the bus assistant. All my belongings and documents were gone. We helped each other find the military station to report the news and were given food and clothes to wear,” said Mr. Hao.

Returning empty-handed, his ex-wife had left to build a new life long ago, Mr. Hao was sad but told himself, he was lucky to be alive and to be able to return.

At that time, soldier Hao was introduced by his family to a girl named Toan who lived next door. "Other people have a fence of Malabar spinach to separate them, but we still have our yard together, one house goes to the other, so there's nothing to stop us," Mr. Hao said happily about his relationship with his current wife. Mrs. Toan said that her husband was a gentle person and had a special situation. Feeling sympathy, she agreed.

Mr. Hao was given priority to work as a newspaper delivery man at the commune post office to earn extra income. In 1988, he quit this job. In 2015, Mr. Hao suffered a stroke. Since then, his health has been poor and he has been unable to do almost anything. Mrs. Toan has taken care of all the housework, raising 4 children to study and grow up. The two of them lived happily, relying on each other in their old age.