Journalist Trần Văn Hiền shows old photographs of journalist-martyrs he worked to trace. VNA/VNS Photo Trịnh Duy Hưng

NGHỆ AN — For more than 15 years, journalist Trần Văn Hiền has travelled across the country, tracing and preserving the legacies of 512 journalist-martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the resistance wars for national liberation, including over 260 from the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Working alongside authorities and local communities, Hiền, who is the former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nghệ An newspaper and former Vice President of the Nghệ An Journalists Association, has helped ensure that these journalist-martyrs are honoured and commemorated at Âu Lạc Pagoda in Hưng Lộc Ward, Vinh City, Nghệ An Province.

In his modest concrete-roofed home in Hưng Lộc Ward, Vinh City, Hiền keeps notebooks densely filled with records, photo albums and unfinished manuscripts from his years as a war correspondent. Among them are memories of his fellow journalists who fell on battlefields across the country.

He recalls that over 15 years ago, during a work trip to Hà Nội, he was invited to a seminar on the role of revolutionary journalism during the resistance wars. A colleague’s question — “How many journalists laid down their lives for this independence?” — has weighed on him ever since.

As someone who once wielded both the pen and the gun, what pained Hiền most was knowing that many journalist-martyrs had no relatives left to tend their altars, or that their graves had never been found. These were young reporters who never hesitated to brave hardship and sacrifice to reach the front lines. They strove to deliver the latest news, capture historic moments and truthfully document the war as it unfolded.

So began his quiet, patient and deeply emotional journey: a quest to recover the identities, traces and memories of the journalists who fell for the nation.

An unceasing journey

Starting with the scant records kept by the Việt Nam Journalists Association, the General Political Department of the Việt Nam People’s Army, VNA and old editorial offices and archives, as well as cemeteries and the humble homes of elderly mothers, widows and descendants of fallen journalists, Hiền traversed provinces and returned to former battlefields.

He sought out families, recorded their stories, gathered materials and photographed each headstone, each certificate and each faded photo to piece together the identities of journalists who sacrificed their lives in the resistance wars for national liberation.

Journalist Trần Văn Hiền beside the memorial board listing the names of 512 journalist-martyrs he identified over 15 years. VNA/VNS Photo Trịnh Duy Hưng

In 1995, thanks to information from the Quảng Nam Provincial Journalists Association, six VNA journalist-martyrs who perished in a cave on Hòn Tàu Mountain (then the border area between Quảng Nam and Quảng Đà provinces), Hiền travelled to the site to verify the details.

There, he confirmed that in 1967, journalist Trần Ngọc Anh, head of the Quảng Đà bureau, and five colleagues were relaying news of a victorious battle to VNA when their position was bombed, killing all six journalists along with nine soldiers.

In 1997, Hiền went to Hải Phòng to confirm the identity and locate the grave of his close friend, comrade and colleague, journalist Vũ Hiến of Hải Quân Nhân Dân (Navy People’s) newspaper.

With the support of Hiến’s family and Lieutenant General Nguyễn Văn Tình, Rear Admiral of the Navy, who had directly commanded the battle in which VũHiến fell, he established that on January 3, 1979, during a naval assault on Pol Pot’s forces at Kép and Cô Công ports, Vũ Hiến was riding atop a tank turret following Regiment 812, Division 8. Amid fierce fighting, Vũ Hiến was killed in action, his camera still clutched tightly in his hands.

In 2000, Hiền went to HCM City, where through connections like journalist Vũ Tuất Việt, former Deputy Head of the Information and Education Department of the National Liberation Front, and Lieutenant General Đồng Văn Cống, Commander of Military Region 7, he verified the identity of VNA journalist-martyr Nguyễn Khắc Thắng, who fell in Tây Ninh Province in 1970.

From these journeys, Hiền gathered information for dossiers on 512 journalist-martyrs, accompanied by articles, features and documentaries published in major newspapers.

These efforts also gave rise to many of his acclaimed works. The series Writers Between the Trenches, Journalists Who Fell in the Resistance Against the US, and the book Journalists as Soldiers were praised for their historical value and human depth.

His poem Please Don’t Call Him an Unknown Martyr touched millions of hearts, especially families of martyrs and veterans nationwide. The poem helped prompt authorities to replace the phrase “Unknown Martyr” on gravestones with “Martyr Whose Name Is Yet to Be Identified”.

Lifelong quest

For his tireless contributions, Hiền was awarded certificates of merit by the Việt Nam Journalists Association and has been repeatedly honoured at national journalism awards on historical and traditional themes.

Trần Minh Ngọc, Director of the Nghệ An Radio and Television Station and President of the Nghệ An Provincial Journalists Association, noted that Hiền has devoted his heart and soul to researching, collecting and memorialising journalists who sacrificed their lives in the resistance wars for national liberation.

In the years to come, Ngọc expressed the hope that Nghệ An Province and the Việt Nam Journalists Association will help build and restore the memorial area for the 512 journalist martyrs.

“It may become a site for educating young journalists in ethics, courage and passion for the profession, inspiring them to brave hardship and danger to deliver the fastest, most truthful news from the front lines,” he said.

Now in his seventies, Hiền remains deeply committed to honouring fallen colleagues.

“All I hope for is the strength to continue this journey to identify and commemorate every journalist-martyr, so that each name is remembered as a life,” he said.

“We must ensure they are remembered not as statistics, but as real people who wielded the pen and fell as true soldiers. I also hope the Party and State will continue efforts to search for and recover the remains of martyrs, including journalist-martyrs, as so many still lie in unmarked graves,” Hiền said. — VNS