The lesson is clear: that of self-giving out of love for the other. Hope takes the dream beyond hard times, past the darkness of war and the injustices of society. Thuy's selfless demonstration of love is an inspiration for youths all around the world. Phil Shannon asserts that "Thuy's diaries have been a success in Vietnam, especially among young people who make up two-thirds of the population. Here was the human face of war, seen through, as Frances Fitzgerald records in her excellent introduction, "a brave, idealistic young woman, prone to self-doubt and vulnerabilities, a romantic in spite of her discipline." …[destined] to free her country and to find love, the dreams of a young woman for peace -- "the dream of mine and of thirty million Vietnamese." 2

Frederick Whitehurst, a Vietnam War veteran, cited by Michael Sullivan recapitulates Thuy's vision of the invaluable nature of life as he struggles to come to terms with himself. His passion wells up thus: "I'm not a pacifist, I'm not at all," he says. "I come from a military family. I'm a...

& #8230; when you put a bullet into a human being you cannot take back that thing called life. You cannot get it back, and Dang Thuy Tram describes so deeply what that thing is, that thing called life. And a bullet went right through her forehead and in that instant, she was gone. Can we think of another way to do this?"3
As a last resort for hope Thuy exhorts us in dark times of loneliness to seek for strength in love so that we can face the difficulties of life that lie ahead in a meaningful way and bring solace to others in their time of need, to make our dream for peace come true.

End Notes

1 USCCB, New American Bible, (2002 Online Edition), I Corinthians 13:4-8,

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians13.htm

2 Phil Shannon, "A diarist of the tragedy of war," (2008), http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/39042

3 Frederick Whitehurst cited in Michael Sullivan, "A Wartime Diary Touches Vietnamese," (2011), http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6492819