One day in April 2021, while working as a marketing professional, Trung received a message from his friend asking him to help restore the photo of his fallen uncle. The original picture was taken long ago, faded and was no longer intact. A few days later, Trung restored the image and sent it back to his friend. After receiving the photo from Trung, his friend burst into tears.
That emotional moment marked a turning point in Trung’s life. He shared: “My friend’s tears of joy inspired me and several friends to establish a group restoring the portraits of martyrs nationwide. Our first project was restoring the portraits of 75 fallen soldiers to present to their families on July 27, 2021.”
Later, Trung and Skyline continued working on dozens of other small and large projects, including restoring 200 photos of martyrs in Hai Duong Province and 100 photos of martyrs in Ha Tinh Province, presenting pictures to the Dien Bien Phu Museum on May 7, 2024, presenting images of ten female volunteers at Dong Loc T-Junction, and donating photos to General Nguyen Chi Thanh Museum.
After four years, Trung’s group has restored over 6,000 portraits of martyrs nationwide. Some photos only took a few hours to restore, but some took days and months.
Each photo is restored with not only technology but also the gratitude of the younger generation towards those who have sacrificed their youth for national independence.
“When I began this job, I thought it was a good thing to do. But over time, I feel that it is my mission. Compared to the sacrifices of the previous generations for the country, what my friends and I have done is very small. Therefore, I always dedicate myself to this job”, said Trung.
In October last year, La Van Quy from Bac Giang Province messaged Trung through a social media platform, asking him to help restore a photo of his uncle, Giap Xuan Sinh, who was born in 1956 and sacrificed his life in 1974 in Binh Dinh Province. Sinh’s family only has his student ID card photo as the worship image.
For nearly 50 years, Sinh’s mother, Trieu Thi Sung, has always cherished the hope of having a photo with her son. At 99 years old, with very frail health and occasionally in a coma, she would still deeply miss her son whenever she was conscious. Sung’s story motivated Trung and his friends to restore the photo for the family.
Quy recalled “Receiving the photo of my uncle, my grandmother exclaimed in tears: That is really my son, he looks exactly like his father.” Since then, Sung’s health has improved quickly and celebrated her centenary with her children and grandchildren in great happiness.
Behind more than 6,000 photos are thousands of such moving stories. They are all motivation for Trung and Skyline to stay firm on their chosen path.
In 2025, Trung and his group will continue working with localities nationwide to restore the portraits of martyrs, heroic mothers and heroes of the armed forces. Additionally, the group employs technology and artificial intelligence to recreate history more vividly, with historical footage.
