[Reading level: C1 – Advanced]
Haunted by the thought of 42 Vietnamese soldiers killed and buried in a bomb crater during a battle in 1968 in Binh Duong, Australian veterans have been searching for more than 20 years.
Fifty-six years ago, Brian John Cleaver left his homeland to join the allied forces on the battlefield of South Vietnam, as part of the 3RAR Battalion (3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment). The 20-year-old young man simply thought he would complete his two-year military service and then return home.
“I didn’t expect to be thrust into a life-or-death, unjust war,” the veteran recalled. On May 24, 1968, Brian’s unit was deployed to establish and protect the FSPB Balmoral military base in Binh My commune, Tan Uyen district, Binh Duong. The base, located about 40 km from Saigon, was considered one of the critical positions to prevent the second wave of the Tet Offensive by the Liberation Army.
At the same time, Division 7, codenamed “Field 7”, one of the first main force units on the Southern battlefield, received orders from the Southern Command to attack this base.
Subsequent battles caused heavy casualties on both sides. Brian was deeply shocked to witness around 42 bodies of North Vietnamese soldiers being bulldozed into bomb craters, turning them into mass graves.
The terrifying experiences of battle caused him to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For more than 30 years after leaving the military, Brian tried to hide his illness and his past, using high doses of medication, but his condition did not improve and instead worsened over time.
“I am tormented and haunted by the thought that the mass grave will go unnoticed. Their loved ones will be heartbroken,” the veteran said.
In 2002, Brian decided to return to Vietnam to search for the mass grave of soldiers from the opposing side, hoping to heal his psychological wounds. Disguised as a tourist, he visited the battlefield, which had since become an expansive rubber plantation. After identifying the area, the veteran returned to his country to gather documents and reconnect with his former comrades, including Private John Bryant.
“I really didn’t want to mention the word ‘Vietnam’ at that time because it was too haunting,” John Bryant recalled. Like Brian, John only thought of going to Vietnam as fulfilling the military duty of a young man. The 22-year-old, who loved landscapes, always carried a camera with him, ready to capture the beautiful moments of life.
John’s 3rd Battalion was stationed at Nui Dat (Ba Ria – Vung Tau) but was often sent to reinforce various strongholds. However, before the night of May 25, 1968, John had never participated in a battle. “We were usually dropped by helicopter into the jungle with water and rations, and depending on the location, we would walk, crawl, or slither… and take souvenir photos,” John recalled. Therefore, the battles at Bình Mỹ were “truly beyond the imagination” of young men like John at that time.
In the battle on the morning of May 26, 1968, Vietnam lost six men, and the Australian soldiers used shovels to dig a grave. The fighting two days later was even more intense when 28 North Vietnamese soldiers were killed, and all their bodies were pushed into a bomb crater and flattened by a bulldozer. Many of John’s comrades were also killed or injured. The horrifying memories haunted him, so he declined Brian’s offer to return to Vietnam to search for the old mass grave, only providing some photos he still had as support.
With the documents he had collected, Brian returned to the old battlefield the following year and began digging on his own. The sight of a Western man rummaging around in the rubber plantation day after day caught the attention of the locals, and the Binh My commune militia reported it to the district and then to the province.
Lieutenant Colonel Le Hoang Viet, who was then the Head of the Policy Department of the Bình Dương Provincial Military Command and in charge of martyr grave retrieval, was assigned to meet with Brian because he spoke English.
“At first, Brian didn’t dare to say he was looking for graves, using the excuse of visiting the old battlefield instead,” Lieutenant Colonel Viet recalled. However, after learning that the Vietnamese side also wanted to retrieve the remains of fallen soldiers, Brian revealed his true purpose. Lieutenant Colonel Viet became Brian’s companion for more than a decade afterward. Every year during the dry season (from December to April of the following year), Brian returned to Binh My, spending his own money to hire workers, diggers, bulldozers, and ground-penetrating radar to survey several hectares of rubber plantation in search of the graves.
In 2005, the Australian Department of Defence, through the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, sent two maps to the Bình Dương Provincial Military Command. These maps included coordinates of two mass graves of Vietnamese soldiers who died in battle on the morning of May 28, 1968, during the attack on the Balmoral military base.
The Binh Duong Provincial Military Command organized eight search operations over an area of more than 90 hectares in Binh My and Hoi Nghia communes, Bac Tan Uyen District (Tan Uyen was later divided into a district and a city). Various methods were employed, including digging with hoes, shovels, and excavators, studying maps, and using radar waves combined with satellite imagery. However, after eight search attempts, only one set of remains of a fallen soldier was found.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Viet, after these unsuccessful searches, many people wanted to give up, but Brian remained persistent. On one occasion, the search team dug as deep as 4 meters but found nothing, which left the veteran feeling very disappointed.
The search had not yet yielded the desired results, but Brian’s determination gradually influenced his comrade, John Bryant. In 2007, nearly 40 years later, Private John returned to Vietnam.
“The openness, friendliness, and willingness of the Vietnamese people and government to move past the past affected me,” John said. This motivated him to return to Vietnam several more times afterward. In 2009, the veteran participated in Brian’s grave searches as an observer, occasionally offering suggestions when the digging efforts were unsuccessful.
John recounted that he had often told Brian that the location was incorrectly identified. On the night of the battle, John had the task of keeping watch and had taken photos around the battlefield, so he was confident that the grave had to be 400-500 meters away from where Brian was searching. The identifying feature was a gun emplacement, and from that point, one would walk straight about 70-80 meters.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Lê Hoàng Việt, John’s assessment was correct, but it was overlooked at the time. The search team had placed too much trust in the existing documents, and John was only participating as Brian’s friend.
By 2019, after exhausting all efforts in digging and searching over several hectares of rubber plantation, Brian decided to stop the search. “In that moment, he cried and said, ‘I’m sorry for everything,'” Lieutenant Colonel Le Hoang Viet recalled.
The search for the mass grave seemed to come to an end, but John did not agree to stop. “I prepared all the documents and knocked on many doors to continue the work my comrade left behind,” the veteran said. Initially, the Australian Embassy was somewhat hesitant, given that the Vietnamese side had invested significant effort alongside Brian in searching for 16 years.
However, when John presented evidence and explained that the area they had been excavating was just a staging area and that the actual grave should be half a kilometer away, the parties involved were convinced to continue their support. This time, John was assisted by Luke Johnston, the son of an Australian veteran who had served in Vietnam.
At that time, Luke was 43 years old and had lived in Vietnam for 10 years. His father, a former soldier, had also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder like Brian. Luke’s childhood was marked by seeing his father cry and flinch at fireworks. It wasn’t until adulthood that Luke learned from his father about his experiences in Vietnam and the haunting memories. Driven by a desire to heal his father’s wounds, Luke almost exhaustively researched all related information.
In 2009, Luke first came to Vietnam. Over the course of two months, he traveled the length of the country on a motorcycle, capturing video footage of the friendly people and beautiful scenery to send back to his father. His enthusiasm helped alleviate his father’s psychological burden. Since then, he returned to Vietnam every year.
After his father passed away in 2016, Luke decided to stay in Vietnam and adopted a Vietnamese name, Luc. He continued to research information related to his father’s unit. During this time, Luke met John and agreed to join the search for the mass grave of North Vietnamese soldiers.
In 2020, John was preparing to return to Vietnam to continue the search, but with the outbreak of COVID-19 and travel restrictions, he had to postpone his plans. At that time, Luke went alone to Binh Duong, rented accommodation, and spent several months traveling by motorcycle to Binh My. With his data collection skills and the modern equipment, Luke was able to locate the gun emplacement that John had frequently mentioned.
“I immediately informed John; it felt truly wonderful,” Luke said. From this location, Luke enlisted the help of Glen Hines, an American expert in locating missing soldiers from wars, to reverify the coordinates.
After travel restrictions were lifted, John quickly returned to Vietnam, and the team completed their report and sent it to the Australian Embassy. By the end of last year, the location of the mass grave had been confirmed in Ap Choi Dung, Binh My commune, Bac Tan Uyen District, Binh Duong.
After the Lunar New Year, starting on March 13, the Bình Dương Provincial Steering Committee 515 (responsible for searching and recovering fallen soldiers’ remains) organized the ninth search operation. After more than 20 days, the team discovered around 20 sets of remains and various artifacts, including some items with the names of the soldiers. Thus, after more than two decades, from Brian’s initial intention and the efforts of many parties, the mass grave was found, helping many families locate their loved ones.
On April 26, Binh Duonng Province held a memorial ceremony for the 20 fallen soldiers from the resistance against the American forces at the provincial martyrs’ cemetery. The ceremony was attended by President Nguyễn Minh Triết, the Australian Embassy, foreign veterans who had fought in Vietnam, and the families of the fallen soldiers. Local leaders praised the assistance of Australian veterans who had participated in the search for over 20 years.
“On the day of the memorial service, I was truly moved and felt that what I had done was meaningful,” Luke said. With his expertise in data collection, he plans to continue supporting organizations in searching for remaining soldiers’ graves. Meanwhile, Brian and John, the veterans haunted by the battle from years ago, found some solace.
Source: https://vnexpress.net/hai-thap-ky-tim-mo-liet-si-viet-nam-cua-cuu-binh-australia-4774451.html
WORD BANK:
haunt sb /hɑːnt/ [B2] (v): ám ảnh ai đó
crater /ˈkreɪ.t̬ɚ/ (n): hố
veteran /ˈve.t̬ɚ.ən/ [C2] (n): cựu binh
allied force /əˈlaɪd fɔːrs/ (n): lực lượng liên minh
battalion /bəˈtæl.i.ən/ (n): tiểu đoàn
regiment /ˈredʒ.ə.mənt/ (n): trung đoàn
thrust sb into sth /θrʌst/ (v): bị đưa vào tình huống khó khăn
unjust /ʌnˈdʒʌst/ (adj): phi nghĩa
deploy /dɪˈplɔɪ/ (v): triển khai
offensive /ˈɑːˌfen.sɪv/ (n): cuộc tấn công
liberation /ˌlɪb·əˈreɪ·ʃən/ (n): giải phóng
division /dɪˈvɪʒ.ən/ (n): sư đoàn
subsequent /ˈsʌb.sɪ.kwənt/ [C1] (adj): sau đó
casualty /ˈkæʒ.uː.əl.ti/ [C2] (n): thương vong
bulldoze /ˈbʊl.doʊz/ (v): ủi
mass grave /mæs ɡreɪv/ (n): mộ chôn tập thể
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) /ˌpoʊst.trɑːˌmæt̬.ɪk ˈstres.dɪˌsɔːr.dɚ/ (n): chứng rối loạn căng thẳng sau tổn thương
high dose /haɪ doʊs/ (n): liều cao
torment sb /ˈtɔːr.ment/ (v): dày vò ai đó
go unnoticed /ʌnˈnoʊ.t̬ɪst/ [C1] (v): không được biết đến
disguise /dɪsˈɡaɪz/ [B2] (v): cải trang
expansive /ɪkˈspæn.sɪv/ (adj): bạt ngàn, rộng lớn
rubber plantation /ˈrʌb.ɚ plænˈteɪ.ʃən/ (n): đồn điền cao su
comrade /ˈkɑːm.ræd/ (n): đồng đội
private /ˈpraɪ.vət/ (n): binh nhì
fulfill /fʊlˈfɪl/ (v): thực hiện (một nghĩa vụ, trách nhiệm)
military duty /ˈmɪl.ə.ter.i ˈduː.t̬i/ (n): nghĩa vụ quân sự
rations /ˈræʃ.ənz/ (n): lương khô
crawl /krɑːl/ (v): bò
slither /ˈslɪð.ɚ/ (v): trườn
shovel /ˈʃʌv.əl/ (n): xẻng
intense /ɪnˈtens/ [C1] (adj): ác liệt
horrifying /ˈhɔːr.ə.faɪ.ɪŋ/ [C2] (adj): kinh hoàng
rummage /ˈrʌm.ɪdʒ/ (v): sục sạo, lục lọi
militia /məˈlɪʃ.ə/ (n): dân quân
retrieval /rɪˈtriː.vəl/ (n): quy tập, sự lấy lại
remains /rɪˈmeɪnz/ [B2] (n): hài cốt
companion /kəmˈpæn.jən/ [B2] (n): người đồng hành
ground-penetrating radar (n): radar xuyên đất
coordinate /koʊˈɔːr.dən.ət/ (n): tọa độ
hoe /hoʊ/ (n): cái cuốc
excavator /ˈek.skə.veɪ.t̬ɚ/ (n): máy xúc
persistent /pɚˈsɪs.tənt/ [C2] (adj): kiên trì
yield result (v): cho ra kết quả, có kết quả
move past the past (v): gác lại quá khứ
recount /rɪˈkaʊnt/ (v): kể lại
gun emplacement /ɡʌn ɪmˈpleɪs.mənt/ (n): ụ súng
overlook /ˌoʊ.vɚˈlʊk/ [B2] (v): bỏ qua
hesitant /ˈhez.ə.tənt/ (adj): e ngại
given that … /ˈɡɪv.ən/ (pre): bởi vì, với thực tế rằng …
flinch /flɪntʃ/ (v): giật mình (vì sợ)
exhaustively /ɪɡˈzɑː.stɪv.li/ (adv): một cách triệt để
footage /ˈfʊt̬.ɪdʒ/ (n): hình ảnh
alleviate /əˈliː.vi.eɪt/ (v): làm giảm bớt
pass away (v): qua đời
outbreak /ˈaʊt.breɪk/ (n): bùng phát
verify /ˈver.ə.faɪ/ [C1] (v): xác định lại
artifact /ˈɑːr.t̬ə.fækt/ (n): di vật
memorial ceremony /məˈmɔːr.i.əl ˈser.ə.moʊ.ni/ (n): lễ truy điệu
martyrs’ cemetery /ˈmɑːr.t̬ɚz ˈsem.ə.ter.i/ (n): nghĩa trang liệt sĩ
expertise /ˌek.spɝːˈtiːz/ (n): chuyên môn
find solace /ˈsɑː.lɪs/ (v): được an ủi, tìm thấy sự an ủi
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