The embroidered handkerchief - A keepsake by Ms. Hoang Thi Nguyet
"Flowers remain beautiful amidst life's storms,
Through countless trials, they still bloom bright."
These verses were delicately embroidered on a keepsake handkerchief by Hoang Thi Nguyet (Huynh Thi Nghiep), a young woman from An Truyen village, Phu An commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue. The piece was crafted during her imprisonment at Phu Tai Prison, Quy Nhon, between 1968 and 1973.
Having joined the resistance as a local guerrilla fighter, by 1968, Nguyet had risen to become the Squad Leader of the An Truyen Guerrilla Unit. In August of that year, she was captured by the enemy and incarcerated at Phu Tai Prison. Despite the harsh conditions, Nguyet displayed unwavering resilience, organizing study sessions, sewing, and embroidery with her fellow prisoners to maintain their revolutionary spirit.
Without access to proper materials, she resourcefully repurposed fabric from enemy-issued clothing, cutting it into a handkerchief. Threads for embroidery were painstakingly pulled from the torn garments of her fellow prisoners. On this makeshift canvas, she stitched stirring poetic lines and the inscription: "In memory of August 9, 1968. Overflowing with the love of my homeland."