The lotus seasons of memories
In the memories of her relatives, the image of the female doctor who fell in the summer of 1970 lives forever with the lotus seasons of nostalgia, when their family was still intact and the North was in the days of restored peace .
The last photo of sisters Thuy Tram - Hien Tram taken in Hanoi , summer 1966, a few months before Thuy went to the battlefield.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY FAMILY
"My sister loves flowers, especially lotus. During the flower season, my house always has the sweet scent of lotus. So much so that the artist Dinh Minh had to paint her two pictures of flowers, one of lotus and the other of a very artistic vase of peonies. Unfortunately, because of the war, we only have one picture left.
I remember, once I went boating on West Lake with my sister and a close friend. It was late afternoon, the boat entered the lotus blooming area. Picking a flower, he gave it to me and said, Hien, look at this, does this flower look like your sister's, both colorful and fragrant, oh so pure. My sister and I both blushed. The sunlight at that time also shone brightly in the area. Both of us were awkwardly silent, moved by the land and sky imbued with color and fragrance...
Many years later, when I met her again, her old friend cried, the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, which had been darkened by time, how sad. He told me that if only he had been a little braver at that time, he would have been able to say what he had always cherished, whether she accepted it or not, it would have been the words he had spoken to the girl he loved most in his life, the most sincere and passionate words from a man that a precious girl like Thuy Tram had to hear...", Ms. Dang Hien Tram - the younger sister of martyr Dang Thuy Tram contributed to the book.
Windy and fiery summer
But those beautiful lotus seasons did not last long in the North, because war once again threatened to show its claws. "In the summer of 1964, my family had a very interesting summer vacation in Sam Son. All five of us sisters and I played in the waves. We held hands and jumped together when each white wave crashed in and laughed out loud. Then we rushed to the shore to chase after the grass flowers, the kind of flower that looks like a small ball full of thorns, spinning and being carried away by the wind very quickly...
Thuy's family's last vacation at Sam Son beach ( Thanh Hoa ), August 1964
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY FAMILY
Suddenly one afternoon, my father said we had to come home early because something had happened. The US 7th Fleet had come close to shore. The whole family was stunned. Although we had heard rumors, we did not expect the war to come so quickly. While we were playing with the waves, the US found an excuse to cause the Gulf of Tonkin incident. So the war officially broke out in the North. I did not expect that to be the last outing with all my family members. The war had invaded our family with all the suffering, both literally and figuratively. Those were long days of evacuation, bombs falling, separation, loss...", Ms. Hien Tram recalled.
Two years later, also in the middle of summer, the young female doctor Dang Thuy Tram sent to her diary the heart-rending drumbeat of her "longing for her lover at the front line": "Four years have passed, I will never forget the moments of this day on the old road. It was a windy summer day... and what else, my dear? Was it the flame of love that was also fanned by that wind to shine brightly..." (July 7, 1966).
Thuy's classmates and Fred sit together in the old classroom at Chu Van An School, August 2005.
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY FAMILY
There was also the sound of drums, excitedly setting off on the road during the days of preparation for "going to B": "This morning my heart was excited, seething with hatred, proud of our nation, believing in tomorrow's victory... Everything was stirring in my heart. At 5:15, Uncle read the local mobilization order. From here, the patriotic war entered a new phase. I was honored to contribute a little bit of effort to this great revolutionary cause. Let's go to the army! The call has been urging for a long time, but today there is something more earnest, more urgent: Let's go to the army to fight, to win the final victory! Yes, we are ready!" (July 17, 1966).
Then 4 years later, on another fateful summer day (June 22, 1970), she fell on the heroic land, where the saying "Don't burn, there's fire in there!" became a command of conscience, an endless, haunting echo from a fiery summer, beautiful to the point of pain, painful and beautiful!
The name of the person has become the name of the land
"On the 55th anniversary of Ms. Dang Thuy Tram's sacrifice, Quang Ngai province made a very wise decision: naming two communes in Ba To after Dang Thuy Tram that had just been merged. We know that, according to the customs of Vietnamese villages from ancient times, those who were called 'predecessors', those who had contributed to the village, would have their village named after them. Now, Ms. Thuy Tram has become such a predecessor, a person who had contributed to the love of the people, the country, the homeland, and who sacrificed for those noble loves.
And I think, I hope, who knows, the Lieng River flowing through Ba To at some point will be named 'Dang Thuy Tram River'. If there is land, there must be a river, because the river will enrich the land, the river is the most beautiful image of a land. Dang Thuy Tram River..." ( poet Thanh Thao )
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dang-thuy-tram-va-nhung-mua-he-dinh-menh-don-dau-va-dep-de-185250616094204717.htm
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