I didn’t know who Le Van Viet – who was executed by the French – was, though everyday I would pass by a street named after him in District 9. I only found out during my trip to Con Dao.

We are possibly so caught up with our daily lives that we have become indifferent toward the struggle and the lives that have been lost.

I stood for hours in front of Hang Duong graveyard, not being able to light enough incense sticks for the nearly 2,000 tombstones of both known and unknown martyrs there. We decided to spray salt and rice instead. Would that be compensation for their endless days in prison without food and with a craving for freedom?

Then I remembered Tran Van Long, Tran Tuan Kiet, Tong, Tri, Cao Nguyen Loi… those who were arrested during the student uprising, jailed and tortured in camp one.

Following their release, the revolutionaries drew the prison’s map, exposing this hell-on-earth to the outside world.

Don Luce, an American journalist and another American, Tom Harkin, visited Con Dao to show the American people and the rest of the world what was happening there.

I remember Pastor Pham Gia Thuy, who had pushed for improving the conditions inside the cells at Con Dao.

I remember names like Le Cau, Vo Thi Thang, Le Quang Vinh, Le Hong Tu. I particularly remember Le Cau, a former senior lieutenant colonel, who later returned to lead a normal life in Thu Duc District after 20 years in Con Dao. When he passed away, a pathway in one of Thu Duc’s villages was named after the former prisoner.

I remember Doan Ngoc Nam, my former cellmate who had to remain in Con Dao after April 30, 1975, and there were Tinh, Hai, Qui, Hoang, Quang, Thai… they spent their best years of life incarcerated on the island.

I remember all the patriots and friends. Some were able to return to the mainland after April 30, 1975. Some are now lying in peace in Hang Duong graveyard.

As for some others, their remains are somewhere on this island.

Along with VietinBank, Thanh Nien hopes to build a bell tower at Hang Duong graveyard and a memorial, and provide scholarships for children of Con Dao residents and its former prisoners.

We, who have been fortunate to survive such a horrific conflict, want to show our gratitude.

With its special place in history, Con Dao Island will constantly remind us that this country and its people would never accept not being free.

The former prisoners had fought for the right to live in an independent country.

Their spirit, I believe, still remains with us.

By Nguyen Cong Khe