The book cover of 'Đặng Thùy Trâm - The Third Diary'. VNA/VNS Photos

HÀ NỘI — A newly released book on martyr Đặng Thùy Trâm goes over the young Hanoian woman's journey as a doctor who sacrificed herself as a youth in one of Việt Nam's central provinces during the American war.

Đặng Thùy Trâm - Cuốn Nhật Ký Thứ Ba (Đặng Thùy Trâm - The Third Diary) released by Women's Publishing House is meant to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publishing of Đặng Thùy Trâm's diary, Last Night I Dreamed of Peace.

Trâm, born in Huế in 1942, trained in Hà Nội to become a medical doctor. She died on June 22, 1970, in Đức Phổ, Quảng Ngãi Province while working in a remote clinic.

In 2005, Trâm's first two diaries, which chronicle the last two years of her life, were returned from the US after they had been lost for 35 years. They quickly became a publishing phenomenon, with more than half a million copies printed in Việt Nam, and were translated into 23 languages, attracting international attention.

Đặng Thùy Trâm - The Third Diary was compiled by the martyr's sister, Đặng Kim Trâm. Entitled The Third Diary, it is actually the first diary penned by Thùy Trâm in the last years before she went to the battlefield in the south. The diary was kept by her mother for decades.

"My family decided to publish this book, which portrays my sister fully," Kim Trâm said at a talk about the book in Hà Nội. "Her childhood and family, her thoughts, her desire for a career and, above all, her hope for peace were recorded in the diary."

The book consists of two parts. The first part comprises writings by Trâm's mother and three younger sisters about her childhood, adolescence and part of her youth. It also includes Thùy Trâm's unpublished works written at the end of her studies at Hà Nội Medical University, from October 1965 to December 1966. At the time, she was preparing to leave for the southern battlefield.

In these pages Thùy Trâm appears full of femininity, with a heart filled with love for her country, family, friends and the romance between couples.

Martyr Đặng Thùy Trâm's sister Đặng Kim Trâm (second from left) and literature researcher Hà Thanh Vân (second from right) at the book launch.

The romantic and passionate medical student, while enthusiastically studying in a safe environment, often thought about her ideal life, dreams of a career and the mission of a citizen of a country at war.

The second part of the book documents the emotional journey of the first two diaries, returned from the US after being lost for 35 years, and the stories after they were published.

"This is not only the diary of Đặng Thùy Trâm, but also the family's memories and recollections of a daughter," said Hà Thanh Vân, a doctor in literature.

"Through that story, we can see the echoes of eras from the anti-American resistance to modern life. That is something to be respected. This fairly typical of retrospective and nostalgic literature, a trend that has long been recognised internationally, but has not really received due attention in Việt Nam.

"Globally, popular diaries like those of Anne Frank and Che Guevara not only show the inner life of an individual, but also sketch details of an entire era. Hopefully, there will be more works to follow the diary series, helping to recreate history in a richer and more vivid way."

The talk took place in Hà Nội in commemoration of the 78th War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947-2025). — VNS