Nguyen Van Nghia
Nguyen Van Nghia (First name, Nghia; last name, Nguyen, pronounced
"win"). In 1948 Nghia joined the Viet Minh and battled the French for
eight years. In 1965 he was drafted back into the military and
commissioned as a second lieutenant. The 1968 battle near Kontum was
Nghia's last engagement as a North Vietnamese soldier. Wounded in both
eyes, he was taken to a field hospital and then released from the army.
Half-blind, he walked 600 miles up the Ho Chi Minh trail back to his
home. The journey took two years, and he caught malaria twice. Born in
1928, Nghia lives in the village of Tien Hai with his wife Vu Thi Gai,
about 70 miles south east of Hanoi. They have four children and are
acting parents to one grandchild.