People looking for martyrs' pictures

Members of Team Lee Photoshop (TLP) give free restored photos to martyrs' families (photo provided by the facility)

Gratitude to the previous generation

At the funeral of martyr Vu Dinh Dien, born in 1950 and died in 1968 in Dong Nai province, from Dong Giao village, Luong Dien commune (Cam Giang), members of the TLP group brought the martyr's photo in time for the funeral. After more than 50 years of resting in a martyrs' cemetery in Dong Nai province, his family was able to bring his remains back to his hometown. Previously, the martyr's family members shared the photo online, asking TLP group members to restore it.

Mr. Vu Dinh Bang, younger brother of martyr Vu Dinh Dien, said: “My brother joined the army at the age of 17 and died about a year later. More than 50 years later, he lay on the land where he fell, and now my family has finally been able to bring him back to his homeland. The joy of bringing him back to his homeland is more complete thanks to the help of the TLP group who restored his soulful photo,” said Mr. Bang.

That is also the common comment of many martyrs' families when connecting with the TLP group to restore photos. For nearly a year now, the group has received thousands of messages asking for help editing martyrs' photos as well as combining photos of the deceased with those of the living as souvenirs. Mr. Phung Quang Trung (born in 1995, from Hanoi), currently living and working in Hai Tan ward (Hai Duong city) is the manager of the group. Mr. Trung said that the group has 7 members living and working in provinces and cities across the country. The group leader is Mr. Le Quyet Thang (born in 1991), currently living in Nghe An; the oldest member in the group was born in 1985, the youngest was born in 2000. On the occasion of April 30, 2022, Mr. Thang and Mr. Trung restored photos for the family of a martyr. After that, both agreed to call for members to set up a group to restore photos for free for martyrs' families across the country, from which the TLP group was born. During the day, they still do their professional work, but at night they diligently edit photos of martyrs.

“The most difficult part of editing photos of martyrs is that many family photos have been kept for a long time, so they are blurred, crumpled, discolored, and the faces are unclear. Therefore, during the editing process, we work and discuss with the martyrs’ relatives to restore the soul of the photo, so that the photo resembles the martyr as much as possible,” said Mr. Trung.

Meaningful projects

Although the group was not established for long, TLP has carried out many particularly meaningful projects. A typical example is the project of editing 75 photos of martyrs for 75 families of martyrs on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947 - July 27, 2022). At that time, TLP members stayed up all night many times to edit photos, and Mr. Trung alone had to travel between Hanoi and Hai Duong dozens of times. By the end of the project, before and during July 27, the group had given more than 200 photos to martyrs' families, 3 times higher than the original target. Members went to the places to give photos to more than 10 families of martyrs in especially difficult circumstances. In other cases, relatives of martyrs contacted group members to come to the place to receive the photos or the group framed the photos and sent them home to the martyrs' families.

Team Lee Photoshop members framed restored photos to send to the martyrs' families (photo provided by the facility)

Some other projects include restoring photos of 10 female youth volunteers who died at Dong Loc T-junction (August 2022), 13 youth volunteer martyrs and 1 living witness at Truong Bon historical site (Nghe An)... Before carrying out the restoration projects, the TLP group contacted the Management Board of the relic sites, and when they received approval, they started working, then went to the site to present them. Currently, photos restored by TLP are displayed in traditional houses of Dong Loc T-junction relic site, Truong Bon historical site...

The group is planning to contact the Con Dao District Relic Management Board to restore the portrait of heroine Vo Thi Sau.

All the projects of editing photos of martyrs are done by the members of the group for free. The expenses of travel and accommodation in remote provinces are paid by the members. Many times the families of martyrs sent money to the group as thanks, but the members did not accept it. "We are very happy and lucky to be trusted by the families of martyrs to contribute our youth to show gratitude to the previous generation," said Thang, the leader of the TLP group.

VIET QUYNH