Original subtitles

When I heard about this project, I felt excited...

...because for the nation and people of Vietnam...

...the Ho Chi Minh Trail is a historical path.

A link on the path to independence and freedom for our entire nation.

And lots of Vietnamese people's blood has been shed on this road.

It is indeed a journey that I believe will be exciting and meaningful.

I started biking when I was 16.

I became a cyclist and was determined to become the best biker in Vietnam.

Huyen is an athlete...

...who was an idol in Vietnamese cycling.

Because Huyen won four Southeast Asia Games gold medals.

In four consecutive events.

For an athlete in Vietnam, there has never been one...

...who claimed such a record.

After putting an end to my competing career, I became a coach.

I've heard a lot about the Ho Chi Minh Trail since childhood.

Not until now does my dream of riding on the Ho Chi Minh Trail come true.

I am quite nervous, but also excited about it.

-This is Rebecca. -It's nice to meet you.

Both my uncle and my father...

...experienced the American Resistance War.

At that time, America was our enemy.

One big problem is how to overcome barriers among people...

...to connect their hearts and souls so they can understand each other.

In the past, I would imagine a U.S. soldier...

...dropping bombs to kill my compatriots.

I had never thought of her father in the photograph as an actual person.

I thought that he was just one of war's victims.

Just like Rebecca's family.

So far, the biggest challenge to me is my stamina.

And the thing I worry about the most, that I ponder a lot about...

...it's how to become a real friend to Rebecca.

I think to all Americans, whether they joined the war or not...

...the war has gone and so has the past.

If possible, I will do what I can...

...to ease the pain of war.

We had thought that he had to discontinue the role...

...of guide and interpreter for Rebecca and I...

...as well as the whole group.

Along the trail, there are so many bomb craters.

That really reflects the harshness of the war.

We knew one thing for sure, that it was very painful.

And I think that war is the most cruel thing.

And I still do not understand what it was for.

I am one of the coordinators who guide the track...

...speak to local people...

...and translate between her team and local people.

It was the first time in my life I have ever seen a bomb let...

...and I knew it could go off at any time.

People's lives were still threatened...

...though war has passed for 40 or 50 years.

I couldn't understand Rebecca's emotions fully.

She didn't express her feelings to me...

...but I did feel that she was holding in a lot.

Because of the bomb left from the war, I lost my eye.

I lost my arm.

When we clear our farms, that's scary.

I’m scared, but if we don't do it, how can we feed ourselves?

Maybe it's a bomb.

Bring it out.

Gently, gently.

Good afternoon, ma'am.

These girls are foreigners.

Would you mind telling us where people lived in the war?

Can you tell them?

We lived in the cave, the forest.

We lived in the mountain.

During the war, how long did you stay in the cave?

Very long.

How long, days or months?

Five to six years.

She was born there. Her brother was born there.

Two of us really struggled.

I wasn't as strong, so Rebecca was always by my side to support me.

The trip to the cave, it was lengthy and gobbled up too much time.

It took too much time while Rebecca always wanted to forge ahead...

...to get to her dad as soon as possible.

And I really felt for her.

Rebecca and I were born in very different cultures.

However, very soon I found one thing in common between us.

She lost her father when she was a child...

...and I lost my mom since I was 8.

We both have a family, we have feelings...

...have fathers and mothers that we've lost.

My life with two kids has various difficulties.

However, it's my kids who give me strength and motivation in life.

So at that time I felt utterly tired, drained and forlorn.

After two strenuous days, I was exhausted and I felt like giving up.

When the planes came, people came inside.

This was a house and a kitchen.

When they excavated, I joined them.

I worked as a laborer.

When we found something hard, the Americans would come get it.

Then they told us whether it was the bomb or plane debris.

Mr. Airh told us what happened.

They screened to search for the remains...

...such as bones, teeth, or things like nails.

They found and screened two teeth and they brought them back to the U.S.

Luckily they were Rebecca's father's.

There was another pilot, but he wasn't lucky.

He flew with Rebecca's father, but his remains were never found.

They shot the plane from far away and followed.

It's okay, it's okay.

It's still the same.

How blissful and ecstatic she was.

To find someone who knew the last moments of her father.

A daughter who lost her father since the age of 3...

...and in all those years until she is 46...

...she has always been longing to return to her father...

...and reconnect with him.

It was a very strange tree, very old.

I could sense Rebecca's intense emotion.

And I thought she looked at that tree...

...as if she was waiting for her father to emerge from the tree.

I didn't see a strong athlete but a daughter coming back to her father.

Just like she was saying, "Dad, are you seeing me?

It's me."

When I took Rebecca to her father, where the plane crashed...

...l guess, from her expressions, she felt both sad and happy.

My feelings towards the event that I met Rebecca...

...l felt sorry for her.

I would go out and find my father too, if it was my father.

She came here because she is a good daughter.

Laos or other nationality, we are all human.

We have feelings.

I'm so happy that we could help her.

As long as I am alive...

...l will tell my children not to cut down that tree.

Since Rebecca started the journey...

...back to where her father died...

...she was very persistent and eager to get there immediately.

Day after day, she became more and more impatient.

She yearned for it.

And I believe it was the biggest hope...

...the cause for which she did this trip.

It was to find the love that she had not been granted since her childhood.

After she saw bomb craters...

...the local people’s hard and poor lives along the Ho Chi Minh Trail...

...l realized that she became more and more open-hearted.

It felt to me that she had changed significantly.

After a very long journey on Ho Chi Minh Trail...

...seeing the harshness of the war with my two eyes...

...my opinion about war became clearer.

I understand the biggest pain of humanity is war.

I felt cheerful and happy.

Through the last day of the journey...

...l could never have imagined that I could be so strong.

I think I'm lucky to see such a woman in my life.

Not knowing when we would meet again...

...l feel so sad, that I had to say goodbye to a sister...

...a friend who had shared difficulties side by side with me.

I realized the war was over and the war is still there.

When Rebecca found her father...

...it was a source of enormous happiness to her.

It was the feeling, I think.

That is the healing pains of war.

We need to heal those wartime pains.