Each year, an entire village in central Vietnam holds a single memorial day - not for one person, but for hundreds who sacrificed their lives. In Cam Sa (Da Nang), there’s no need to recount tales of war. Every home tells its own story of loss and valor.

“Step outside, and you meet a hero”

In the blazing July sun over the white sand of Dien Ban, 67-year-old Nguyen Van Phuoc bowed in reverence as he lit incense in the family’s ancestral temple, located in Cam Sa ward, Dien Ban Dong, Da Nang City. The rising smoke was light, but the memories weighed heavily.

His family alone counts 14 martyrs and 4 women honored as Heroic Vietnamese Mothers.

“My grandmother, my mother, my aunt, and my uncle’s wife were all named Heroic Vietnamese Mothers. Three of my older brothers served - one rose to lieutenant general, and two died in action. But in this village, that’s not even exceptional,” Phuoc said slowly, as though leafing through the pages of a timeworn memory.

Cam Sa was once a small coastal fishing village in Dien Nam Bac commune, part of what was then Quang Nam province. During the war, this parched strip of land became a "fire belt" where residents worked their fields by day and became guerrillas and couriers by night.

During 1967 and 1968, the village endured multiple raids and was repeatedly burned down. Yet each time it fell to ashes, the people of Cam Sa returned and rebuilt, with nothing but their bare hands.

This small village has recorded 503 martyrs, 111 Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, and is the birthplace of five generals. Among them was Major General Pham Ban, Hero of the People's Armed Forces and former Commander of the Quang Nam - Da Nang Provincial Military Command; and Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thang, former Political Commissar of Military Region 5 and elder brother of Nguyen Van Phuoc.

“In my village, you can't walk far without meeting someone whose family was torn by war. Everyone here could be the descendant of a martyr. It might sound like an exaggeration, but here, you really do step outside and meet a hero,” said Phuoc.

A single memorial day for an entire village

Every July 27, Cam Sa becomes a place of solemn ceremony and heartfelt remembrance. Drums sound from every home, as descendants return to pay tribute. Even families who no longer have living relatives are honored by neighbors lighting incense on their behalf.

Phuoc’s family is no exception. “If we held individual memorials, we’d never finish. So we commemorate everyone on July 27, the day of war invalids and martyrs,” he explained.

He guided us to the Memorial Stele of Seven Martyrs - recognized as Dien Nam Heroes - and paused silently before the stone marker recounting the fierce battle of January 19, 1972.

That day, a battalion of enemy troops supported by tanks, artillery, helicopters, and gunboats launched a surprise attack on the commune. Surrounded on all sides, seven local militia and officials fought to the end - killing 47 enemy troops, destroying tanks, shooting down a HU1A helicopter - before sacrificing their lives.

Among them was Nguyen Thang, one of Phuoc’s brothers and the younger sibling of Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thang. “He fell on the very soil where he was born. Now, there’s only his name etched in stone,” Phuoc said quietly.

Memories engraved in stone and bloodlines

Veteran Tran Quoc Dung, 70, now head of Cam Sa ward, still vividly recalls the night of December 8, 1968, during the Tet Offensive. “Artillery rained down from Con Khe like a flood,” he recounted.

Dung’s family lost 15 members to the war. His grandmother was a Heroic Vietnamese Mother, his mother a wounded veteran. He himself served in Cambodia and now lives with a Class 3 war injury.

In 2019, with contributions from locals, Cam Sa built the Memorial Stele of the Seven Martyrs, a symbol of collective grief and resilience.

Though the war ended decades ago, its memories are alive in every corner of the village. Where once stood humble thatched huts now rise solid concrete homes. Children laugh on their way to school. The roads are paved and clean. Peace has returned, but gratitude remains.

Inside Cam Sa’s traditional house, a stone stele commemorates all the martyrs and Heroic Mothers of the village. At its center, the national flag and a statue of President Ho Chi Minh preside over the memorial.

At the top of the stele are the mothers’ names. Below them are the names of their fallen children - linked together like a continuous lifeline, flowing through generations. Each engraved line tells a silent tale of sacrifice and love for the nation.

“Every year, new names are added. Some were honored posthumously, but none are forgotten,” said Dung.

Legacy that lives on

Even after peace returned, the blood of heroes flows in the descendants. Many children and grandchildren of martyrs and veterans have become military officers and police, continuing the tradition of service and sacrifice.

The phrase “step outside and meet a hero” is often used figuratively. But in Cam Sa, it is a living truth.

On land once drenched in fire and smoke, kitchens still burn warmly every year for the village-wide memorial. No one speaks of sacrifice with lofty words - they simply live in a way that honors the names that have become immortal, breathing life into the spirit of their village.

Ha Nam