(VOVworld) - “My dear, each of your letters is a great source of encouragement to me when we are not together. When this letter reaches you, it may be the final one. My dear, what a pity we couldn’t have much time together. The war has taken away your privilege of being a wife. We experienced a little time together and then had to separate forever”. Those were last words martyr Le Van Huynh of Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province, wrote to his wife, Dang Thi Xo, before he passed away. Since then, Ms. Xo has devoted her life in memory to her husband and nurtured the wish to find her husband’s remains. VOV shares this woman’s moving story on today’s Personality of the Week.

The war ended 37 years ago, but the image and final words of Xo’s late husband have never faded from her mind. After more than half a life time, Xo still cannot hold back her tears whenever she thinks about her husband: "We got married 3 years after we first met each other. Huynh had to study and work far from home. We only met each other twice or three times a year and at the Lunar New year".

40 years ago, young beautiful Xo attracted many men, but she devoted her love to her fellow villager Le Van Huynh, who was then a student at the Hanoi University of Technology. Their love led to an ill-fated marriage: "We planned to get married after he finished his study. But in late 1972 our families asked us to have a wedding. Taking advantage of Huynh’s 3 days off for the Tet holiday, we organized the wedding. He stayed at home for another 3 days, then had to return to his university. We never saw each other again".

After Huynh’s death, many people urged Xo to remarry, as she was still young, but she refused. Xo devoted her life to worshipping her husband, though they were together for only 6 days and had not even had a child. 40 years passed, but the pain of losing her husband is still written on the face of this 63-year-old woman. She recalls with tears her husband’s words before they separated forever: "Before he left he said to me that if he lost an arm or leg, please don’t abandon him. I told him I would love him forever and asked him not to doubt that when he fought  on the batttefield".

Xo said it didn’t matter if he lost a limb to an amputation, as long as he came back to her. The final thing he left her was a letter: "We didn’t even have a wedding photograph. In his letter, he said if he died, to cut the image of him from the photograph he took with his highschool friends to make a memorial photograph".
Whenever she thinks of her husband, Ms. Xo stands in front of his alter and reads his letter. She has spent countless nights crying and thinking of him. Her only wish is to find her husband’s remains and brings them back to his homeland: "In his letter, he asked me to bring his remains back. That was his only desire. After his death, I told myself that I would not remarry. Now, his and my only desire has come true. I have managed to bring him back".

Ms. Xo has dedicated her husband’s final letter, her most valuable possession, to the Museum of Quang Tri ancient Citadel, keeping only a photo. She says her husband’s death was her greatest pain, but that it was worth it for national independence, and she will try to deserve his sacrifice.