Patriotism: Heroic Mother Nguyen Thi Thao lost three children during the American War. She is one of HCM City's Cu Chi District's more than 700 Heroic Mothers receiving special care from local authorities and organisations. — File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS) — HCM City Television (HTV) is running a documentary series on the lives of 100 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers who lost children in the war.

The latest episode of the 100-part series, Huyen Thoai Me Viet Nam Anh Hung Nguyen Thi Thao (The Legend of Vietnamese Heroic Mother Nguyen Thi Thao), will air tomorrow night on HTV9.

The 20-minute episode features Thao, who is from Cu Chi District, a land with a heroic tradition during the war.

Thao and her husband joined the revolutionary movement when they were both 20 years old. In 1955 her husband was captured and sent to Con Dao Prison. After 1975 he returned home but died because of his suffering in prison.

She lost both sons and a daughter to the American War.

The 89-year-old now lives with her grandchildren and is supported by local organisations.

She is one of 715 Heroic Mothers in Cu Chi District who lost children during the war.

"We began filming in 2012 as part of HTV's long-term filming project that highlights national heroes during different periods," said Vo Anh Can, one of HTV's 12 directors who were involved in filming.

To perfect screenplays for each episode, Can and his staff worked with the HCM City Museum of Southern Women, which stores and displays documents and photographs of 200 of the 47,000 Heroic Mothers living across the country.

"Our first episode is about Heroic Mother Vo Thi Thai of Ca Mau Province. It aired on National Day, September 2, last year and left a very strong impression on viewers," he said.

"We have received hundreds of letters from people nationwide to encourage our work. Many of them are young and said they cried while watching Heroic Mothers," he added.

"We understand that our films help youth learn more about their country's heroic history and people, particularly women, who sacrificed all they had for the peaceful world for us today."

The previous episode of the show, broadcast last week, was about Tran Thi Xua of Ben Tre Province, who lost her only son in the war.

She is one of 2,000 Heroic Mothers in Ben Tre.

"Our sons sacrificed their lives in the American War because they believed their mother's lives would be better in an independent nation," the 89-year-old woman, who lives alone in a ‘gratitude house' in Binh Dai District, said.

HTV has divided its crew into several teams to fan out into outlying areas of provinces around the country, including lands renowned for their heroism like Ca Mau, Nghe An and Quang Ngai, to film Heroic Mothers going about their daily life.

Dozens of skilled directors, scriptwriters and cameramen participated in the filming.

The series is broadcast at 7pm every Friday. — VNS