(VOVWORLD) - Hang Duong cemetery in Con Dao Special Administrative Zone is the final resting place of thousands of Vietnamese revolutionaries who laid down their lives for national independence and freedom. In July, people from all over Vietnam gather here to pay tribute to the heroic martyrs.
 Visitors gather around a memorial to pay tribute to heroic martyrs at Hang Duong Cemetery. (Photo: The Hung/VOV5) |
According to Ms. Pham Do Hoang Dung, a tour guide at the Con Dao special national historical site, there are 1,922 tombstones in Hang Duong Cemetery, divided into zones A, B, C, and D. Only 714 tombstones have names on them, 14 of which have been posthumously awarded “Heroes of the People’s Armed Forces.” The rest remain unidentified, she said.
Hang Duong Cemetery is open all day and offers visitors moving stories of Vietnam’s unyielding revolutionaries. “At 4 AM, the warden led her to his chamber and demanded that she kneel. She rejected him and said: 'I am not guilty, but my to-be executioners are,'” an audio guide told the story of heroine named Vo Thi Sau.
 Hang Duong Martyrs' Cemetery spans 190,000 square meters, divided into zones A, B, C, and D, with 2,000 tombstones. (Photo: The Hung/VOV5) |
In the evening, beneath the old casuarina trees, the cemetery glows with the light of hundreds of candles.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, a visitor from Vinh Long Province, said: “I deeply admire heroic martyrs. The first thing I did after arriving here was paying my tribute to them. We owe the peace we have today to our predecessors, who overcame so many hardships and sacrificed their lives for the Vietnamese nation.”
Hang Duong Cemetery has been a symbol of Vietnamese people’s epic struggle for independence.
 A tour guide shares stories about Hang Duong Cemetery to visitors. (Photo: The Hung/VOV5) |
This can be a spiritual journey. For the youth, the site is a reminder that to live is to dedicate. For the elderly, it evokes memories long forgotten.
Veteran Vu Thi Tham said she has been to Con Dao many times, and each trip has been a unique experience. Visiting Hang Duong Cemetery in July, a month of remembrance and gratitude, made her experience all the more special. “I want to visit Ms. Vo Thi Sau’s grave. I want to visit all of our heroes and martyrs. So many of them passed away at a young age. I want to see the prisons too, and to hear stories about them. I have been to many of them, but still want to come back. I’m overwhelmed and proud of our predecessors,” according to Tham.
 The tombstone of heroic martyr Vo Thi Sau in Zone B, Hang Duong Cemetery. (Photo: The Hung/VOV5) |
Tour guide Hoang Dung of the special national relic site, told VOV: “July is the month of gratitude, and we’ve seen a surge in the number of visitors. Individuals and representatives from various organizations have come to pay their respects to the heroes and martyrs here at Hang Duong Cemetery.
The tears and quiet footsteps of visitors add to emotional, solemn atmosphere in Hang Duong Cemetery in remembrance of those who protected the nation’s ever-lasting peace.