A veteran Vietnamese soldier searches for remains of fallen soldiers at battlefield.
By Chloe Nguyen
Almost 50 years after fighting in the Vietnam War, 76-year-old Hồ Ngọc Nhuần still has a bullet lodged in his head. He is also committed to a never-ending search for remains of those who lost their lives in the war.
Haunted by survivor’s guilt, Hồ spends most of his money on visiting battlefields where he looks for bodies of fallen soldiers.
“It is a long and tough journey that spans over decades,” the veteran soldier says.
He meets up with other veteran soldiers on every war memorial day such as Remembrance Day and War Veterans Day to plan for more search trips.
“We are still looking for nine bodies at one of the battlefields in Long Hưng intersection, which is in Quảng Trị province, which is 157 kilometers from Đà Nẵng city. But we have not found them yet,” he says, adding that the terrain has changed over 50 years with dense plantations.
“I can identify the remains by examining their belongings, such as aluminum water bottles, wallets and belts,” he says.
The journey started in 2015 when a family member of a missing soldier asked for his help.
So far, he and two fellows have altogether recovered six bodies and have them all buried in a cemetery.
Reading newspapers every day and knowing that wars have erupted in different parts of the world, he recalls what he had been through.
He first joined the army in 1970 and was injured for the first time in 1972 during the Vietnam War.
“I was attacked while fighting and captured alive by the South Vietnamese Army, which belonged to America’s side. I wiped blood on my face to play dead,” Hồ recalls, adding that he successfully cheated the enemy and was brought back to a camp by other soldiers for treatment.
Hồ recalled failing an operation on September 16, 1972. “I can never forget those 81 days and nights under firebombing,” he says.
“Soldiers and weapons were transported across the Thạch Hãn river into the battlefield. But under the dense firepower of American forces, over 1,000 soldiers were killed in this river,” he recalls.
Since then, the Thạch Hãn river has been referred to by local people as the Blood River.
In 1975, he rejoined the Liberation of Sài Gòn – Gia Định campaign.
“My mission was to build fake artillery positions, dummy soldiers and act as decoys to reveal my own traces and divert attention of the American soldiers. I had to stand 200 meters away from the cannon. I was exposed to mines and firearms. I had a gunshot wound in my head,” he recalls.
He was hit by a bullet in his head whilst the war ended at the same time. For 15 years, he had to endure many medical operations in various hospitals. He could only return home in 2007.
“There is still a bullet in my head. I have a seizure once in a while. About 81 per cent of my physical abilities were hindered, when I was injured. I could not take a shower when I was in hospital. I also got asthma due to exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide, which was the highly toxic dioxin,” the veteran says.
When returning home, he had to sell peanuts and beans at the market to make a living.
It was not until 1995 that the Vietnamese government started to offer compensation to veteran soldiers.
Hồ is now classified as a Class 1 disability veteran, which is the highest grade of injury. He receives an allowance of 14 million Vietnamese dong (HK$4,389) every month.
He is also suffering from body aches, inflamed wounds and mental health problems such as being delusional about the war and constantly feels like somebody is shooting at him.
“That is the life of a soldier… still alive but always thinking about the past and people who they have fought with. It is an enduring pain,” the veteran says.
According to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, around 300,000 bodies from the warfare have not been identified.
Sub-edited by Iris Jiang
