On June 14, the Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue Police Department (PCCC&CNCH), Ministry of Public Security, announced that President Vo Van Thuong had just signed Decision No. 704/QD-CTN on conferring the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to 6 groups and 1 individual under the Ministry of Public Security.
The only individual to be awarded this noble title is Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh , Deputy Captain of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Team (Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police).
Portrait of "firefighting and rescue hero"
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh. Photo: BCA
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh (42 years old, from Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province) has worked in the industry since February 2001 and has been awarded the title of Advanced Soldier and Emulation Soldier at the grassroots level for many consecutive years.
Colonel Huynh Quang Tam, Head of the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department (PC07) of Ho Chi Minh City Police, said that in more than 20 years of working, Lieutenant Colonel Thanh has achieved many outstanding achievements and is a typical example of progress in the police force.
Accordingly, Lieutenant Colonel Thanh was always present and excellently completed his tasks at hot spots of rescue and relief such as participating in the rescue and relief to find missing victims in Coc Chia cave about 220m deep in Cao Bang province in 2019; participating in the rescue and relief to find victims in a cave about 280m deep in Ha Giang province in 2020.
Recently, Lieutenant Colonel Thanh and 4 of the most elite officers and soldiers of PC07 gathered to join the Ministry of Public Security's rescue team to support search and rescue after the earthquake disaster in Türkiye.
Lieutenant Colonel Thanh was the one who persistently dug and discovered traces of life of the victims and combined with the international rescue force to bring the surviving victims out of the completely collapsed building and found 14 victims' bodies and brought them out.
Breathtaking rescue scenes
More than 10 years ago, the U Minh Thuong forest fire in Kien Giang province lasted for nearly a month. Lieutenant Colonel Thanh, along with 30 officers and soldiers, dozens of pumps and three fire trucks bravely "fought" the fire under the direct command of Colonel Le Tan Buu, former Director of the City Fire Prevention and Fighting Police.
He recalled that the terrain of U Minh forest was rugged, with a large area (thousands of hectares of primeval forest), dense vegetation, deep mud, and many dangerous animals and plants... firefighting tools could not be deployed. After nearly 20 days of the entire force facing the fire, straining their strength and will to come up with effective combat plans, the fire at the attack points was gradually subdued.
During this battle, the lives of Lieutenant Colonel Thanh and his teammates were close to death. Mosquitoes were everywhere, there was no water to bathe, they had to travel several kilometers to find water, living conditions were extremely difficult, the brothers had to take turns on duty to put out fires over an area of 5 - 7km². But with the spirit of "Forgetting oneself for the country, serving the people", Thanh and his teammates overcame all dangers and difficulties, ready to sacrifice their lives to excellently complete the assigned mission; protecting 700 hectares of primary forest, preventing the fire from spreading to 10 thousand hectares of planted forest.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh at the meeting with the People's Public Security Delegation attending the National Conference to commend and honor advanced models. Photo: BCA
Talking about the rescue of victims in the scaffolding collapse of the CR4 project, Phu My Hung Urban Area in 2008, Lieutenant Colonel Thanh still feels suffocated to this day. At that time, above was a female victim who had died and was stuck on the scaffolding, and the victim's family requested that she be taken down immediately. Below was a victim trapped in a pile of crushed concrete, still alive but her life was "hanging by a thread". Lieutenant Colonel Thanh both encouraged and did ideological work with the family of the victim trapped on the scaffolding above; discussed with the doctor present at the scene about the health of the victim trapped in the pile of concrete below about the time allowed to ensure the victim's life; received orders from the commander and consulted with his teammates about the rescue plan.
Putting his faith in himself, hoping for a miracle to come to the victim and calculating the time, Lieutenant Colonel Thanh decided to carry out the task for a maximum of 20 minutes. In the narrow space, he used his hands to carry each stone, sand, and gravel that was covering the victim, while using his body to support the top of the scaffolding. "After about 17 minutes, I tried to hug the victim and push him up, but when I saw that he could move, I breathed a sigh of relief, forgetting that my body was bearing a large amount of concrete and that the scaffolding could collapse at any moment. When the victim was brought out safely, I could only hug my teammates and commanders and burst into tears," Thanh recounted, his voice still filled with emotion.
In February 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Thanh was mobilized to participate in the rescue and relief work in a cave about 280m deep in Ha Giang. Due to the rain that lasted all night, making the cave even more humid, the cold seeped into his bones. The cave was pitch black, the only light source was a flashlight the size of a chicken egg attached to the front of his helmet. The deeper he went, the more difficult it was for the rescue soldier to breathe and the feeling of excitement increased many times. At times, the intention to give up halfway through the cave flickered in his mind because the deeper he went, the sharp rocks pointed in all directions as if they were about to cut into his skin.
"Never, while on duty, have I missed and longed for the moment of returning home to my hard-working wife and two little daughters like this. After nearly an hour of "brain-weighing" and mental challenges, the rain stopped, and I was extremely happy when the communication equipment was reconnected. In nearly 22 years of rescue work, this was the first time I had to participate in such an extremely dangerous and difficult incident," Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh said.
When he reached the bottom of the cave and brought the victim's body up, his whole body smelled of water from the corpse, but his teammates still hugged him tightly. The victim's family burst into tears and continuously clasped their hands to thank the rescue team.
Lieutenant Colonel Thanh (standing in the middle) and his teammates were welcomed and congratulated by the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department upon successfully completing the international rescue mission and returning from Türkiye. Photo: BCA
Most recently, he and his teammates participated in a special mission of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, searching and rescuing victims in Türkiye. At the end of the mission, the Ministry of Public Security's rescue team saved one person's life and found 14 victims' bodies, bringing them out. The team was recognized and highly appreciated by the Turkish people and international rescue forces for their capacity and working spirit.
As the person who directly pulled the surviving victim from a depth of 7 meters under the rubble in Türkiye, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh said: I was assigned the task of approaching the victim. At that time, it was impossible to use machinery to approach because it would be dangerous for the victim. The only way was to dig a hole and crawl in, although it was very dangerous, it had to be accepted.
"While going down under the giant collapsed concrete layer, I used my hands to dig up soil, rocks, and concrete, moving continuously while talking to the victims. When bringing the victims up, their families could not believe that their loved ones could be saved. Everyone clasped their hands and bowed their heads to thank the Vietnamese rescue team," Thanh proudly said.
Along with Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh, 6 groups were awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces, including:
Drug Crime Investigation Police Department, Hanoi City Police;
Drug Crime Investigation Police Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police;
Drug Crime Investigation Police Department, Lang Son Provincial Police;
Firefighting and Rescue Team (Firefighting and Rescue Police Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police);
Firefighting and rescue team, area 4 (Firefighting and rescue police department, Hanoi City Police).
Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Team on the River (Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department, Hai Phong City Police).
Source: https://danviet.vn/chan-dung-trung-ta-42-tuoi-vua-duoc-chu-pich-nuoc-tang-danh-hieu-anh-hung-20230614185130578.htm
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