Moved by his quiet, gentle demeanor, My took him home and gave him shelter. His wife, Huynh Thi Hang, initially protested, but relented after he explained the man’s situation. From that day, the couple, who already had seven children, welcomed another into their home.

The young man could recall only fragments of his identity. He said his name was Tong and he had served as a soldier in Cambodia. He believed he was from the central province of Thanh Hoa but could not remember his age, military unit or any of his relatives. When asked, he simply smiled or shook his head.

Soon after settling in, he began suffering from recurring bouts of malaria, a condition he had developed during his military service in Cambodia. My treated him with traditional herbal remedies, and the fevers eventually subsided.

Tong’s memory remained unstable. He once lost the family’s cow while herding it. Another time, he accidentally cut grass in a stranger’s field and was beaten. My had to step in and apologize on his behalf.

Despite these difficulties, he was kind, hardworking, and quickly became liked by the family.
“There were times he would go missing, and my father would search for him everywhere while we stayed at home crying, terrified we would lose our brother Tong,” Kim Nam, the couple’s fourth daughter, recalls.

Though the family lived in poverty, they shared what little they had with him. My tried several times to register Tong as a household member, but authorities rejected the requests due to his lack of identification. As the siblings grew up and married, Tong remained with his foster parents. When My passed away, Tong mourned silently for months.

Years later, when his foster mother Hang moved to Binh Duong Province near HCMC for work, Tong stayed behind. He lived alone, earned a living doing odd jobs, and tended to My’s altar daily. “There was always incense burning on my father’s altar whenever Tong was home,” Nam says. His foster family members offered to take him in or support him financially, but he always refused.

He lived modestly, saved what little he earned, and occasionally sent gifts to nieces and nephews. Known for being tidy, disciplined and self-sufficient, he never asked for anything. Over time the stability of life with his foster family helped improve his health, and bits of memory began to return. But at times he would wake in the night thinking he needed to rush to the fields, or suddenly ride off on his bicycle without warning.

Recently he began to express a longing to find his birth family. Then, one day, a wave of memory returned. He said his real name was Nguyen The Long.

He remembered living near Dai Market, having a mother named Cuc and a brother named Kim, and being from Quang Hai Commune in Quang Xuong District, Thanh Hoa Province, near the sea. Determined to help, Minh Vuong, 19, Long’s foster nephew, searched online and reached out to community groups and local authorities. “I messaged the commune police to ask for help to verify his identity,” Vuong says.

On April 9 Quang Hai Commune police chief Hoang Chien received Vuong’s message and began investigating. After reviewing a video Vuong had sent of Long recounting his story, Chien found a match: Nguyen The Long was listed in local records as a fallen soldier. His family, still living in the area, had received a death notice in February 1980 stating he had died in action after serving in Cambodia since 1976.

The family watched the video and immediately recognized him. “His family is preparing to travel to An Giang in the coming days to take him home,” Chien says. “We will provide him with new ID papers and medical care so he can access all benefits.” Long’s nephew, The Hai, 41, who lives in Hanoi, says the family was stunned. “We spent years searching for his remains, never imagining he might still be alive.”

Huynh Thi Hang (far left), Tong’s adoptive mother, speaks with his biological family visiting from central province of Thanh Hoa, evening of April 11, 2025. Photo courtesy of the family

Family members from Hanoi, HCMC and Thanh Hoa quickly organized a trip south. On the morning of April 11 they met his foster mother in Binh Duong before continuing on to An Giang. After speaking with his biological relatives, more of Long’s memories returned. He described in detail the wooden house near the beach where he grew up and named each of his siblings.

When asked if he wanted to return home, he sometimes nodded but at other times said he would wait a few more months. He joked with his nieces and nephews that he planned to dismantle his bicycle and take it back to Thanh Hoa, prompting laughter from the entire family.

Though he has not yet left, Long’s foster family in An Giang already feels his absence. They are happy his birth family is overjoyed and grateful he survived. “Our nieces and nephews said they will accompany him back so he feels more comfortable,” Nam says. “If life in Thanh Hoa does not suit him, we will always welcome him back to his home in An Giang.”