Hanoi (VNA)- A series of the most popular wartime diaries written by 30 martyrs andsoldiers has been released by the Writers' Association Publishing House onthe occasion of the 45th anniversary of Reunification Day (April 30).

Nhat Ky Thoi Chien Viet Nam (Wartime Diary) consists of four volumes, with eachvolume having over 1,000 pages. Writer and war veteran Dang Vuong Hung compiledand edited the work from 2004 to 2020.

The poetic and pure language of the diaries which are full of desire for apeaceful life is sure to move readers, according to Hung.

"The truthful diaries help readers to imagine the fierce battlesfought during the national resistance against the US," Hung said.

"The battles were dangerous and there was no boundary between life anddeath. Everything we read in the book is true and though it may be crudeit's also fresh and alive because it is real people, real events andvery real moods.

"No one can compel people to tell the truth about pent-up resentment,injustice, sadness or even 'living in fear', but the writers herewere willing to speak out."

The book includes the two most popular diaries entitled Nhat Ky Dang ThuyTram (Dang Thuy Tram's Diary) and martyr Nguyen Van Thac's Mai MaiTuoi 20 (Forever Twenty).

Nhat Ky Dang Thuy Tram was penned by female doctor Dang Thuy Tram in the 1960swhile she was working in a field hospital in Quang Ngai province. The youngdoctor was killed by US troops in June 1970 at the age of 27.

The diary was found and preserved by American soldier Fred Whitehurst,who donated it to the Vietnam Center and Archives at Texas Tech University35 years later. Officials, with the aid of veteran Tom Engelmann and Americanwriter Lady Borton, were able to locate Tram's family, and the diary wasreturned to them in 2005.

That same year, thousands of copies of the diary were published inVietnam, and it became a phenomenon. It has been translated into English, Korean,Thai and Spanish.

Diaries by martyrs such as Chu Cam Phong, Duong Thi Xuan Quy and NguyenMinh Son are also included.

The series is a valuable work conveying a message of good and humanity,said the writers association's deputy chairman Nguyen Quang Thieu.

"These diaries were written on the battlefield and tell us what thewriters most wanted to say knowing they might never return to their familiesand homeland," Thieu said.

"Only when death is near the voices of people become the most truthful.And that honesty has proved their patriotism and their love of independence andfreedom. They devoted all their young years to the fatherland."

"Many years after the American War, researchers have said that thegreatest discovery the Americans made in Vietnam is the Vietnamese culture. Thediaries by Vietnamese soldiers have tremendous value to Vietnameseculture, not just the national resistance for liberation," said the writer./.