Commander of Vietnamese military forces supporting Myanmar: 'Finding missing people is like finding relatives'

Twice General Nguyen Tan Cuong told him "the general is on the run"

On March 30, the Ministry of National Defense held a conference to assign tasks to forces participating in overcoming the consequences of the earthquake in Myanmar. Here, General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defense, encouraged and assigned tasks to 80 soldiers.

Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Department of Rescue and Relief

PHOTO: DINH HUY

In particular, General Nguyen Tan Cuong twice instructed Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Department of Rescue and Relief - commander-in-chief of the forces of the Vietnam People's Army participating in overcoming the consequences of the earthquake in Myanmar, to have the right to be a "general on leave", and to proactively handle issues that can be decided on the spot, avoiding "losing the opportunity".

Also at the conference, Major General Pham Van Ty promised to unite, stick together, and be determined to overcome difficulties and hardships, and excellently complete all tasks in helping Myanmar overcome the earthquake disaster.

"During our mission, we determined that searching for victims in the rubble was like searching for our own relatives. This is the sentiment and responsibility of our country, our people, and our army," he emphasized.

General Nguyen Tan Cuong hugs and encourages Major General Pham Van Ty.

PHOTO: DINH HUY

Major General Pham Van Ty once served as the commander-in-chief of the army that went to Turkey to provide relief after the earthquake disaster in February 2023. Sharing more about this rescue mission, he emphasized that "with modern equipment, combined with the search capabilities of sniffer dogs and experience in providing relief in Türkiye, the top priority is to quickly search and rescue victims still trapped in the rubble."

In addition, 30 military doctors have experience in international missions, are fully qualified in internal medicine, surgery, emergency treatment and first aid. Thereby, establishing a field emergency unit to treat and provide free medicine to people injured by disasters.

Commenting on the difficulties, Major General Pham Van Ty said that there was a language barrier, and that there could be aftershocks at the scene in Myanmar after the earthquake.

Every soldier's inseparable item when providing relief

Carrying out an earthquake relief mission abroad for the second time, Lieutenant Colonel Lai Ba Thanh (doctor of the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Department, Military Hospital 103) said that at around 3:00 p.m. on March 29, after receiving instructions from the leaders of the Ministry of National Defense, the medical team quickly prepared forces and equipment.

Compared to the relief preparations in Türkiye in 2023, for Lieutenant Colonel Thanh, this mission is more special because it is earlier and more dangerous. Besides, the terrain and weather in Myanmar are different from Vietnam and the political situation is also complicated.

Lieutenant Colonel Lai Ba Thanh

PHOTO: DINH HUY

According to Lieutenant Colonel Thanh, to carry out the mission, each soldier must master their own survival skills, understand search and rescue skills, and coordinate with other forces to ensure the safety of the entire team.

The lieutenant colonel revealed that his inseparable item would be a backpack containing personal equipment that could ensure survival in harsh environments. In particular, he must have the will and determination to complete the mission above all else.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Trung Dung, Deputy Chief of Staff of Brigade 229, Engineer Corps, shared that the engineering team on this mission consists of 30 people, including 6 officers and 24 professional soldiers. Those selected all have strong political will, good professional qualifications and are proficient in using 2-3 pieces of equipment. In addition, there are soldiers who have participated in the United Nations peacekeeping engineering team.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Dung, the rescue equipment used in rescue operations is mainly small, portable rescue equipment but has a very high ability to detect and search for victims. Typically, the X-ray equipment can search for victims 15 meters away, 10 cm from the wall.

On the evening of March 30, a rescue team of 106 people from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, along with relief goods, landed at Yangon airport, Myanmar. The Vietnamese delegation then continued by car to the gathering point in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, more than 450 km from Yangon, to discuss and coordinate with the other side to deploy a plan to search for the victims.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chi-huy-luc-luong-quan-doi-viet-nam-ho-tro-myanmar-tim-nguoi-mat-tich-nhu-tim-nguoi-than-185250331054905831.htm