Telling history in young language

From Poetry to Action for History

No one remembers their faces or names/ But they created the Country, a line from the poem Country by poet Nguyen Khoa Diem that has become a guiding principle for the special journey of the group of young people who initiated the Sao dau hat project. For them, the love of history does not only come from theoretical lessons, but also stems from emotions from pages of poetry, images of parades during major national holidays, memorial activities and stories about soldiers who fell for the Fatherland but did not have time to leave their names.

Nguyen Huu Truong, a project member, shared: “When watching the parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, and recently the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, I not only felt proud but also felt very indebted. I owe history, I owe those who came before me. This year's National Day, September 2, is a beautiful time for us to take action with the hope that the project will contribute to changing the perception that history is not knowledge framed in textbooks, but a living source that is present around us, through witnesses, stories, relics and collective memories.”

Since March 2025, the group began to come up with ideas for Sao dau hat, not as researchers or professional artists, but as young people with gratitude and a desire to tell history in their own generation's own way. By May 2025, the project was officially launched, deployed online and offline in parallel with a series of short videos spreading on social networks, while building a website and an electronic library with a digital archive of documents about the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces (http://www.thuvienphucdung-bdsg.site). In addition, the project also organized a series of interactive talk shows A Symphony of 45-05-25 at the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces Museum (No. 145, Tran Quang Khai Street, Tan Dinh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City), opening up a lively experiential space, helping young people "touch" history in many diverse ways.

Young people attend the interactive talk show series A Symphony of 45-05-25 at the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces Museum

Among them, the electronic library that the group has just donated to the museum is a highlight. This is a repository of hundreds of images, information and stories about the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces, built from the museum's resources, from veterans and their relatives. In particular, more than 200 valuable documentary photos have been restored by the group using AI technology, some of which have even been animated so that viewers can feel more clearly the spirit of a heroic time.

Continue writing the power circuit

Growing up with technology, social media and the trend of creating personal content, Gen Z has a need to approach history in its own way - as long as it is correct, sufficient and sincere. This is also a concern of the group of young people. Huu Truong analyzed: “AI is a powerful tool, but to create content that touches emotions and has long-term value, we always put historical factors and truth first. Many images have seriously degraded, losing many details, so we have to be very careful when restoring. To ensure accuracy, we received direct advice from the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces Museum, experts and historical witnesses.”

Not only touching each image, the exhibits, the conversation with historical figures organized by the Sao dau hat group recently, the story of Ms. Lai Thi Kim Tuy (former soldier of the Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Forces), made young person Nguyen Ha Thu Nguyen (26 years old, graphic designer, living in Tan Thuan ward, Ho Chi Minh City) emotional: "When listening to her talk about 38 comrades who had fallen, so she had to live for them, looking for and taking care of their relatives like her own flesh and blood, we could not hold back our emotions. Before, I thought historical stories were distant things, decades away from our generation. But today, history is very close, it is a story, real people and there are still wounds left by war".

History is not only in textbooks but also present around us, through living witnesses and stories from people who have gone through the war. “I think no one is indifferent to history, it’s just that the way it is told is not close enough for them to feel interested. If history is conveyed in a creative and interactive way, it will definitely attract young people to participate,” the members of the Sao dau hat group shared the same opinion.

BLUE

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ke-chuyen-lich-su-bang-ngon-ngu-tre-post807546.html