“Keep the faith strong, my dear”

Reading the chapter that Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh wrote about her love story is very short, but deep and full of hope. She said: “I am a happy person to have a warm family and a husband who is the “rear” for me to “go to battle”.

According to her memoir, Ms. Binh said her family moved to Cambodia when she was 16 years old. Her father worked at the Geodetic Agency at that time, and Ms. Binh's mother also died when she was 16 on the way from Cambodia to Saigon due to multiple births and illness: "My mother gave birth 7 times, one child died of illness, so there are six siblings." Ms. Binh is the eldest child in the family. She said that among the interns was Dinh Khang, a young man who loved playing sports, so she and Khang often met at the basketball court. "Our feelings blossomed and became more passionate. But my father was very cautious because he did not know Khang's family well; on the other hand, he also wanted me to study properly first. At that time, I also had a few boyfriends, but my love was only for Khang. We promised each other...", Ms. Binh said in her memoir.

Mr. Khang returned to Saigon first to join the Viet Minh. The resistance war against the French broke out, Mrs. Binh also returned to Saigon and went to find her lover. In 1946, they met at the temple of Mr. Phan (Phan Chu Trinh, Mrs. Binh's maternal grandfather). They were inseparable for a few months, when Mr. Khang stayed at Mrs. Binh's house, he went to the North: "Before leaving, he told me: "I have to go to the North to join the Viet Minh army, I have many friends there, the situation in the South is complicated, it's hard to know what to do". Mrs. Binh made an appointment to meet Mr. Khang again soon, but it was not until 9 years after Mrs. Binh went to the North to regroup (in 1954) that the two reunited.

“During those 9 long years, I only received a few words from him: “Wishing you and your family safety and health”. A line written on a small, crumpled piece of paper sent by a cadre from the Central to the South, it could be considered a letter. Anyway, I was very happy to know that he was still alive and still thinking of me,” Mrs. Binh confided.

The love affair was geographically distant, with no letters or phone calls, which also made the leaders concerned. Mrs. Binh said that she was advised to consider "whether to wait for each other", because she did not know when there would be peace and victory in the resistance, but Mrs. Binh still firmly believed in the person she had chosen, even though the resistance was long-lasting: "I told myself that if there was anyone I loved more than Khang, I would consider it, but in fact, until then, in my heart, there was still only him."

In 1949, a delegation of cadres from the South to the North asked her if she wanted to go with them, but she did not go because she thought of her younger siblings who needed her at that time. It was not until the Geneva Accords were signed that Ms. Binh went to the North and met Mr. Khang and her father again: “Before that, my father told me that Mr. Khang was “not married yet”, working in the engineering industry. I was deeply moved when I recognized him in a green uniform, looking at me thoughtfully. He asked softly, “Are you well?” He must have seen that I was thin, because I had just been released from prison a few months ago. I will never forget those moments,” Ms. Binh recalled.

They then had a warm wartime wedding on Dinh Le Street. Mrs. Binh’s father prepared an emotional speech, wishing his two children “a long life”. In her memoir, she was very moved by the difficult but faithful love story: “I am a happy person. I married the person I love and that was also my first love. Because of work, Khang and I were often apart. But the love between us helped me stand firm and complete my mission. In 1956, I gave birth to Thang, in 1960, I gave birth to Mai”.

What a beautiful love of wartime, like the “Love Songs” of musician Hoang Viet or “Song of Hope” of Van Ky. Sincere love has brought a sweet aftertaste in the turmoil of history.

A living legacy

The memoir “Family, Friends and Country” by Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh recreates her life, a living witness who participated in and witnessed the ups and downs of history, from childhood to participating in revolutionary activities, important milestones in the struggle for national independence and even after retirement.

The book was written by Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh in 2007, completed in late 2009 and supplemented and edited in 2013, 2014, and 2023. Each page of the memoir is expressed in simple, everyday language, but moves readers about a generation dedicated to the revolution.

“After the book was completed, I felt different. Not only as an editor, I felt I had a responsibility: to enrich and enliven the culture, history and knowledge of the nation with my heart, so that history is no longer strange, but becomes close and inspiring. Through conversations with her, I understood that in her view, the greatest legacy of April 30, 1975 is not a military victory, but an opportunity to build a peaceful, unified and developed country. That is the responsibility of not only her generation but also of the next generations,” Ms. Nguyen Phuong Loan, editor of the first edition of the memoir, shared her journey with Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh through this work.

Ms. Loan said that the fate of coming to this memoir with many historical values ​​brought her many positive thoughts: “I did not come to her just to collect, edit words, and build the written pages into shape and form. I came to understand more about the indomitable leadership spirit, about innovation in both wartime and peacetime, and about what she - as well as her entire generation - left for us after April 30, 1975. It is a living legacy - both private, vast, and profound like a river that never stops flowing.”

Talking about the national reunification day of April 30, 1975, editor Nguyen Phuong Loan observed through the months of being close to her and listening to her stories: “Through the way she told the story, I felt that in that moment, Mrs. Binh saw April 30 not only as the end of the war, but also as the starting point for the journey of peace and national unity. Through the pages of her memoirs, I understood that she and her generation were deeply aware that victory was only the beginning. There was still a long way to go to rebuild the country”...

Photo source: National Political Publishing House Truth.

Madam Nguyen Thi Binh is one of the outstanding and resilient female leaders of Vietnam. In the history of world diplomacy, the Paris Conference on Vietnam was the longest-lasting conference, from 1968 to 1973. The conference had 4 heads of delegation, including only one female head of delegation - Madam Nguyen Thi Binh - Minister of Foreign Affairs - Head of the negotiation delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam at the Paris Conference on Vietnam. She was called "Madame Binh" by the media. To achieve this historic diplomatic victory, along with the contributions and sacrifices of the entire Vietnamese people, it is impossible not to mention Madam Nguyen Thi Binh - one of the representatives of the parties signing the Paris Agreement in 1973 and the only woman to sign this Agreement.

Tuan Ngoc

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/madame-binh-niem-tu-hao-cua-ban-linh-dam-phan-viet-nam-post546641.html