Mung Sinh Nhat Cau Tam

April 13th was the birthday of Cau Tam, my mother's youngest brother. At 18, he enlisted in the southern vietnamese army and was MIA since the early 1970s -- I want to say it was either 1973 or 1974. He was stationed near Nha Trang, and was ill the day my grandmother came to see him, which was the last time anyone in our family saw him alive. He'd enlisted after arguing with my grandfather, and had only been in the army for a little while. Ong Ngoai was a discipliined and difficult sort of man who could not tolerate Cau Tam's teenage, laissez-faire attitude, and like any 18 year old, Cau Tam couldn't stand being told to do something with his life.

After Ba Ngoai visited him, the campsite was bombed, they infirmary was scattered, he disappeared. His body was never found, and his name never appeared on any lists of the dead. We don't know whether he disappeared over the Cambodia border or maybe died in some field or on some road or... Grandma stil carries hope that we'll find him one day, or perhaps receive word, finally, that he is buried somewhere in Vietnam.

Happy birthday, Cau Tam.

Hom qua la ngay sinh nhat cua Cau Tam. Neu Cau Tam con o day, minh se chuc mung cau tam duoc them mot tuoi. Mung ngay ay cau ra doi...

Photo by Melissa Ma.