A war invalid always keeps comrades in mind
Tuesday, 30/07/2013
In wartime, witnessing comrades’ deaths, burying them became an obsession that 63-year-old war invalid Nguyen Van Lo living at Chanh My commune, TDM City will never forget. 
Mr. Nguyen Van Lo was at provincial Martyr's Cemetery to visit his old comrades on July 27thDespite his one injured leg, he is lively whenever referring to the wartime. He can remember every struggle, notably the battle on the 8th day of Mau Than lunar new year in 1968, in which he was head of the 2nd Battalion under Dong Nai Regiment. His battalion was together with C65 Ranger of TDM province. Because of fierce attack of the enemy, some comrades were hurt and dead. He was assigned to return invalids to Cuoc hamlet, and then he came back and found out that more 6 comrades also passed away. Thus he carried bodies to local people’s houses and washed these dead bodies, then asked two local cadres to bury his comrades. After the national liberation, he came to see these two cadres and knew about two other dead bodies. Then he immediately contacted with their families to return ashes. After the war, Mr. Lo was assigned to be Director of Binh Duong Forest products processing enterprise. His life is good now, but he keeps searching for martyr’s ashes. Since 1977, when the Government conducted martyr’s ashes collecting, he has many times traveled around together with the Department of Labor – War Invalids and Social Affairs and his comrades’ families to find ashes. He remembered: “We traveled from morning until 2 PM while I was recalling places, where I used to struggle and buried my dead comrades. Suddenly, I remembered and pointed at a field edge. Everybody started to dig, 1 meter deeper, they shouted “there are bones”. At that moment, I felt so happy and could not say anything”. He continued: “I search not only ashes but also their childhood names in order to inscribe on their gravestone, so I can set my mind at rest”.Reported by Ngoc Nhu – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
Mr. Nguyen Van Lo was at provincial Martyr's Cemetery to visit his old comrades on July 27thDespite his one injured leg, he is lively whenever referring to the wartime. He can remember every struggle, notably the battle on the 8th day of Mau Than lunar new year in 1968, in which he was head of the 2nd Battalion under Dong Nai Regiment. His battalion was together with C65 Ranger of TDM province. Because of fierce attack of the enemy, some comrades were hurt and dead. He was assigned to return invalids to Cuoc hamlet, and then he came back and found out that more 6 comrades also passed away. Thus he carried bodies to local people’s houses and washed these dead bodies, then asked two local cadres to bury his comrades. After the national liberation, he came to see these two cadres and knew about two other dead bodies. Then he immediately contacted with their families to return ashes. After the war, Mr. Lo was assigned to be Director of Binh Duong Forest products processing enterprise. His life is good now, but he keeps searching for martyr’s ashes. Since 1977, when the Government conducted martyr’s ashes collecting, he has many times traveled around together with the Department of Labor – War Invalids and Social Affairs and his comrades’ families to find ashes. He remembered: “We traveled from morning until 2 PM while I was recalling places, where I used to struggle and buried my dead comrades. Suddenly, I remembered and pointed at a field edge. Everybody started to dig, 1 meter deeper, they shouted “there are bones”. At that moment, I felt so happy and could not say anything”. He continued: “I search not only ashes but also their childhood names in order to inscribe on their gravestone, so I can set my mind at rest”.Reported by Ngoc Nhu – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
