Đặng Thùy Trâm facts for kids
Đặng Thùy Trâm (born November 26, 1942 – died June 22, 1970) was a brave Vietnamese doctor. She worked as a surgeon, helping injured soldiers during the Vietnam War. Her special diaries, which tell the story of the last two years of her life, became very famous after they were published in 2005.
Growing Up
Trâm was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, on November 26, 1942. Her family had been doctors for three generations. Her father, Đặng Ngọc Khuê, was a surgeon. Her mother, Doãn Ngọc Trâm, was a pharmacist. Trâm was the oldest of five children. She had three younger sisters and a younger brother.
She went to high school at Chu Văn An High School (Hanoi). Later, she studied at the Hanoi Medical University. On December 23, 1966, Trâm joined many other people. She traveled by truck to the Quảng Bình Province. There, she started her important work as a doctor for soldiers.
Her Diaries
One of Trâm's handwritten diaries was found by US soldiers in December 1969. After she died in a battle on June 22, 1970, a second diary was found. A 22-year-old soldier named Fred Whitehurst took it. He was told to burn the diaries. But a Vietnamese translator told him not to destroy them. Fred kept the diaries for 35 years. He hoped to give them back to Trâm's family one day.
When Fred returned to the United States, he tried to find Trâm's family. At first, he was not successful. He later earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. He joined the FBI. Still, he could not reach anyone from the Vietnamese embassy.
In March 2005, Fred and his brother Robert went to a meeting. Robert was also a veteran of the Vietnam War. At the meeting, they met a photographer named Ted Engelmann. Ted was also a Vietnam veteran. He offered to look for Trâm's family during his trip to Vietnam. With help from Do Xuan Anh, Ted found Trâm's mother, Doãn Ngọc Trâm. Soon after, he found the rest of her family.
In July 2005, Trâm's diaries were published in Vietnam. The book was called Nhật ký Đặng Thùy Trâm. It quickly became a bestseller. In less than a year, over 300,000 copies were sold. Many people compared Trâm's writings to those of Anne Frank.
In August 2005, Fred and Robert Whitehurst traveled to Hanoi. They met Trâm's family there. In October of that year, Trâm's family visited Lubbock, Texas. They saw the diaries kept at the Texas Tech University Vietnam Archive. Then, they visited Fred Whitehurst and his family.
The diaries were translated into English. They were published in September 2007. The book included family photos and pictures of Trâm. The diaries have been translated into at least sixteen different languages. In 2009, a Vietnamese film about Trâm was released. It was called Đừng Đốt (Do Not Burn It).
Her Death
Trâm was 27 years old when she died. This happened on June 22, 1970. She was in Đức Phổ, Quảng Ngãi Province, Vietnam. She and another person were killed by a US patrol. They were traveling on a jungle path in Quảng Ngãi Province.
