July 27 is National War Martyrs and Invalids Day, providing an opportunity to thank millions of people who sacrificed their youth and even their lives for the nation.
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| Phung Thi Than. |
July 27 is National War Martyrs and Invalids Day, providing an opportunity to thank millions of people who sacrificed their youth and even their lives for the nation. Viet Nam News had a talk with Phung Thi Than, 61, a hero from Dong Nai who overcome their disabilities to run businesses and make positive contributions to society in the post-war period.
I retired from the Long Khanh town Police in 1990 and in 1997 I founded a transport enterprise in Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province. My enterprise gradually developed and in 2007 it was upgraded into the Chau Loc Khanh Co Ltd with the charter capital of VND8 billion (US$355,500).
The company transports building material, for instance, for the K4 irrigation dam in Xuan Loc district, the Ha Tien Seaside in Kien Giang southern province, the Đắk Tích K hydroelectric dam in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Nông, and public construction works in the new rural development programme of Xuan Loc district and Long Khanh town.
My company created jobs for 85 people in the province, with average salaries of VND7 million (US$310) per month.
I usually do charity work by building houses for poor people, contributing to the Long Khanh town’s fund for poverty reduction and fund for poor outstanding students.
I am motivated despite my old age and weak health because I always remember the late President Ho Chi Minh’s saying, “Thương binh tàn nhưng không phế” (Wounded soldiers are disabled but they are not discards, they are still useful).
I was born and grew up in the central province of Binh Dinh during a period of revolution and resistance. I witnessed a lot of savage repression of the aggressors so I determined to devote myself to the country’s resistance war and its development nowadays.
My mind is always full of memories about the time I joined the resistance war. Following my father’s and older brother’s examples, when I was 13 years old I worked as a contact girl for the Long Khanh city’s Party Committee and then took part in fighting and killed a number of the aggressors’ spies. I was seriously injured in combat on January 28, 1975 and caught by the enemies. I was tortured barbarously until April 30, 1975, when the country was liberated.
I hope my comrades successfully complete their duties in the army and will be healthy and maintain the virtue of the soldiers based on the late President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings. Young people will succeed in the revolutionary tasks of their elders and contribute their efforts in developing the country.
(Source: VNA)
