Gold Ring Returns to Official After 60 Years, Connecting Vietnam's Wartime Memories

Mr. Le Dinh Khuong (1929-2011), originally from Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam, left behind his identification papers, student card, medical records, tool bag, and a treasured gold ring at a recruitment station in 1964 before departing for the Southern battlefield. Khuong had served since the resistance against the French and, after the 1954 Geneva Accords, moved north and worked in the fisheries sector. In July 1964, Khuong was assigned to the Southern battlefield, a mission known as 'đi B'. Just before his departure, he entrusted the commemorative gold ring to the recruitment station. In the South, he worked for the Kon Tum provincial finance department. However, in October 1969, he was sent back North for treatment due to severe pneumonia. During his recovery, he met Ms. Cao Thi Phong, then a hospital pharmacy staff member, and they later married. They had three children, whose names were inspired by Khuong's hometown and significant places in his life: Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh, and Hai Phong. After the country's reunification in 1975, Khuong was sent to the South for currency exchange operations. It was during this trip that he discovered his first wife and children, from whom he had been separated for over 20 years, were still alive. Ms. Phong understood, acknowledging that many families faced similar situations during wartime. The two wives developed mutual respect, and the families reconciled. During his lifetime, Khuong often spoke of the gold ring he left at the recruitment station in 1964, but its whereabouts remained unknown until his death in 2011. In 2022, a delegation from the National Archives Center III, through a distant relative of Khuong, contacted his surviving family (Ms. Phong) and arranged for the ring and a collection of documents to be returned in Hanoi. The ring, still gleaming after nearly six decades, is now considered a 'priceless heirloom' by the family. The 'đi B' movement involved the dispatch of numerous civilian officials, party members, teachers, doctors, engineers, and artists from 1959 to 1975. To ensure absolute secrecy, they left personal belongings and mementos in the North before leaving. These items were later transferred to the National Archives for Document Preservation and Administration. The Center continues its efforts to locate and return these wartime artifacts, helping many families resolve decades-long anxieties. Source: VnExpress