The recent popularity of the film and novel *Red Rain* has prompted many to revisit books about the war, including *Forever 20*. Compiled and introduced by writer Dang Vuong Hung, the book comprises the diary entries of martyr Nguyen Van Thac from October 1971 to May 1972.

First published in 2005, the book became a significant cultural and social event, receiving a special prize at the 1st Vietnam Book Awards. Following its impactful release alongside *The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram*, the Forever 20 Foundation was established. It continues to operate, honoring fallen heroes and inspiring patriotism in younger generations.

In early September, Kim Dong Publishing House re-released the book with revised content, additional photos, handwritten letters, and materials from Thac's family. The publishing house sold 5,000 paperback copies and is printing 3,000 more. Fahasa has exclusive rights to distribute 3,000 hardcover copies. Comments on several TikTok livestreams promoting the book show many people eager to purchase it and gain insight into the minds of young soldiers during the American War.

The book is one of the first publications in Kim Dong Publishing House's "Forever 20" series. Poet Hoang Nhuan Cam wrote the screenplay for the film *The Scent of Burning Grass*, based on the diary. *Photo: Publishing house*

Nguyen Van Thac was born in 1952 in Buoi village, Hanoi, to a family of artisans. When the US escalated the war in the North, his parents sold their house and workshop to evacuate to their hometown. With limited work at the cooperative, a large family, and dwindling resources, the family quickly fell into poverty. Nguyen Van Thac worked while attending school to help his parents. Despite these hardships, he remained a straight-A student throughout his 10 years of schooling.

In 10th grade, he won first prize in a writing competition for students across North Vietnam. His academic excellence earned him a place in the Hanoi Admissions Board's program for study in the Soviet Union. However, due to prevailing policy, most outstanding male students that year had to remain in Vietnam for military service. While awaiting his enlistment, he passed the entrance exam for the Mathematics and Mechanics Department at Hanoi National University. This coincided with the intensification of the American War, leading many students to interrupt their studies to join the army. Nguyen Van Thac enlisted on 6/9/1971.

Military life proved vastly different from what Nguyen Van Thac had imagined. The book offers readers a glimpse into the hardships and suffering of wartime. His diary entry from 3/10/1971 reads, "The forest isn't as poetic as I'd imagined. Tall, jagged trees appear eerie. Deep ravines and tangled vines conceal countless mysteries. My life will continue here." He described a march: "The first forest path I walked, my shoulders heavy with a backpack, sweat soaking my chest, shoulders, and back. The path stretched long and disappeared… Looking back, the same path… A strange and rugged path… What is in this backpack, so heavy it bends a soldier's back? Oh hill, we were strangers, but today my sweat has fallen upon your soil."

Despite the hardships, Nguyen Van Thac remained committed to his country, considering it an honor to be a soldier. This spirit permeates his diary. On 31/12/1971, he affirmed, "The path I've chosen, the path I'm walking, is absolutely right. I have no more doubts. I'll follow this path, one that demands nothing in return, a life devoted to my country. I don't want to live for personal interests. I want to serve my nation's needs."

Beyond his personal reflections, he wrote about the people and events he encountered: fellow soldiers, platoon leaders, company commanders, and regimental officers. On 20/11/1971, after parting ways with his company commander, he wrote, "The company commander is also gone. The army truly is a big family, and wherever you go, you're among family. No need for farewells. I gave the company commander a fresh haircut. A memory. That's enough."

On 10/4/1972, while resting at Quan Hanh station in Nghe An province, sitting in a local home, he wrote, "The biggest surprise is that the family I'm staying with has a son who was my teacher. Teacher Khang, who taught me math. And the youngest child in the house is a top student in North Vietnam. It strikes me: I've arrived in Nghe An, the homeland of Uncle Ho, of salted eggplant, of the old scholar. This is a land of learning."

The second page of the diary, which Nguyen Van Thac titled "Life Story." *Photo: Forever 20*

Throughout his diary, Nguyen Van Thac frequently mentions initials like P, N.A, A, or N.Anh, all referring to Pham Thi Nhu Anh, his girlfriend and confidante. While he served in the army, she studied abroad in the Soviet Union. Many entries mention her, providing a pretext for him to express his joys, sorrows, and longing from the battlefield. In the foreword, writer Dang Vuong Hung notes, "In just four months, he wrote her 500 pages of letters, some as long as 54 pages." With Dr. Pham Thi Nhu Anh’s permission, the publisher expanded the initials to Nhu Anh for easier reading.

On 4/10/1971, almost a month after enlisting, hearing songs about an interrupted rendezvous, Nguyen Van Thac confided, "Oh, how I miss her… I imagine her dear silhouette behind a resinous eucalyptus tree. Please don't be angry anymore. We've been apart for so long, what is there to be angry about… Or is P. angry because I didn't answer the letter from the end of June? I couldn't write, P., I just couldn't, because deep sorrow gripped my heart," and "I yearn for a summer morning, holding P.'s hand in the library… The captivating scent of books, or something, makes my heart flutter."

This longing remained constant for Nguyen Van Thac, surfacing most intensely during moments of exhaustion. While gathering bamboo in the forest on 21/3/1972, he wrote, "Arranging bamboo in an A-shape is best for carrying, making the top heavier, angled downwards, avoiding tangled vines. And if you fall, you can use it to brace yourself. I watch the A-shapes drift through the forest, feeling a mix of amusement, joy, hardship, and especially missing Nhu Anh. She probably can't understand what I'm going through. I miss Nhu Anh even more than my family! I can't hide it."

Portrait of martyr Nguyen Van Thac, who died on 30/7/1972 on the Quang Tri battlefield and is buried at Tu Liem Martyrs' Cemetery in Hanoi. *Photo: Forever 20*

A gifted writer, he imbued his diary with evocative and lyrical language. In one entry, reflecting on the brutality of war, he pondered, "How wonderful life is, in reality and in books. But how tragic life can be, too. Beauty mingled with sorrow. Poetry shimmering with tears. When will joy arrive with happiness, allowing couples to stroll peacefully through eucalyptus forests, bathed in soft green sunlight, with flocks of white doves dotting the woods?"

* The final diary entries of martyr Nguyen Van Thac

According to writer Dang Vuong Hung, Nguyen Van Thac's diary can be seen as a testament to the arduous and sacrificial, yet passionate and captivating, experiences of a young Hanoi intellectual in the early 1970s. General Vo Nguyen Giap encouraged students, youth, and the public to read the diary, along with *The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram*, to cultivate revolutionary ideals and sentiments, and to strive to build and defend the nation.

Phuong Linh