28 years ago, in April 1979, gunfire broke out at the southern border of Vietnam with Cambodia, urging Vietnamese people to prepare for a new resistance war. We, young students at that time, put aside our studying, saying goodbye to our beloved schools resounding with sound of cicada to eagerly to join the army.

Many 15-year-old last-born girls who hadn’t ever experience life away from home secretly put 2 electrical ballasts in their pockets to gain the standard weight for the army enrolment. Other short girls intentionally wore long and wide trousers so that they could stand on their tiptoes without being detected. Their blood was used as ink to write motivating applications asking to join the army. They joined the army with great enthusiasm and strong will to fight enemy who killed Le Dinh Chinh martyr.

We, the naïve student soldiers, had to have breakfast with wheat flour and sorghum instead of rice, with soup of water, with sauce of  salty water while they were at the age of great needs for nutritious meals and care-free living.  Many cried because they missed their mothers. Other even scared of ghosts while they were on duty. Our skins were sunburned because they spent all day manoeuvring at training grounds.

Some people of us took roles of liaison servants. Some played the role of guardians. Some did business to finance the war. Others were assigned honourable tasks of fighting in Cambodia. Whatever tasks we were assigned to fulfill, we all told ourselves to perform them with greatest effort. How can we forget romantic moments to watch full moon hanging on gun barrels, to warmly share cigarettes together and the moving moment of separation before going to the front.

Many comrades of ours never returned home. Such moments, such wartime memories will never fade in our minds.

Today, on the occasion of the 28^th commemoration, many veterans of the war  from every corners of the country came together in coastal city of Nha Trang. We cheerily review the past memories and sing military songs of their times.

The soldiers are now at the old age. However, our vigorous enthusiasm keep unchanged. We miss one another when living far away. We laugh happily when meeting together.

We hold a meeting not only for commemorating the past but also for sharing and sympathizing together. The sympathy among the veterans will help us overcome obstacles today.

How memorizable a time of youth!

• Written by Thanh Hong
• Translated by T.U.