Coming to Truong Sa - a journey of special emotions

The feeling of setting foot on Truong Sa - the sacred archipelago of the Fatherland for the first time during the recent voyage was both an honor, a pride and a sacredness for me, with many impressions left behind...

“I am listening to the Fatherland calling my name/ With the sound of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa waves hitting the rocks…”. The melodies of the song “The Fatherland calls my name” have always echoed in my head since I knew I would be one of the 120 members of the Hanoi Working Group visiting and encouraging the cadres, soldiers and people of Truong Sa island district, DK1 Platform, in 2024. The day I received the notice to go on a business trip to Truong Sa, I was filled with excitement, honor and pride. I spent a lot of time reading documents about Truong Sa.

On a historic morning in late April in Khanh Hoa, a Navy vehicle picked us up from the guest house to Cam Ranh International Port to begin a voyage of more than 1,000 nautical miles (nearly 2,000km) to Truong Sa - an inseparable part of Vietnam's territory.

Because this was a long business trip and my first at sea, I had prepared more carefully and thoroughly than I had for other business trips on land. The first two nights I stayed at a guest house on land in Khanh Hoa and when I got in the car to Cam Ranh International Port, I always turned to my colleague sitting next to me to tell her about my feelings of excitement and anxiety as a way to reassure myself. The anxiety was not because I was afraid of difficulties or hardships, but because I was worried about how to adapt as quickly as possible to life on the ship so that I could continue working in the coming days in Truong Sa.

When the car arrived at the port, we were getting our luggage to board the ship, a Navy officer announced, "Which room are the delegates staying in? Please notify the soldiers to help move their luggage down?". At this time, in front of me were dozens of Navy officers and soldiers who were ready to support the delegates of the working group. When we got to the assigned room on the ship, on each delegation member's bed was a neatly folded pillow and blanket. Besides, there was also a pith helmet and a bag of personal belongings that had been prepared.

The impressions of the thoughtfulness and responsibility of the Navy officers and soldiers made not only me but also the members of the delegation exclaim "excellent" when asked about the logistics work on the ship.

At exactly 9:15 a.m. on April 19, Truong Sa 571 ship blew its horn three long times to greet the mainland and brought more than 250 members of Working Group No. 10 to visit the soldiers and people of the islands of Truong Sa archipelago (Truong Sa district, Khanh Hoa province) and DK1/8 Que Duong platform. The ship, 71m long, 13.2m wide and 6m high, like a "giant fish" in the ocean, slowly parted the waves and left Cam Ranh International Port to bring affection from the mainland to Truong Sa.

In the middle of the sunny and windy open sea, we, the mainlanders, who are lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the islands of our Fatherland, all share the same honor, pride, excitement and a bit of excitement when starting our journey to the distant island.

While still bewildered, not yet used to the new space and the dizzying, swaying feeling of the ship, it was time for lunch. According to the announcement on the ship's public address system, our room went to the dining room on the B floor to have dinner. With limited storage conditions on the ship, the meal still had enough vegetables, meat, fish... With the habit of liking to learn, so right after the meal, I decided to "visit" the kitchen - where the daily dishes on the ship would be produced.

In the hot and greasy kitchen, I had only been standing for less than a minute and my back was already soaked with sweat, yet the chefs of Truong Sa 571 were still busy preparing daily meals for the entire ship. It seemed simple, but with limited food storage, preparing meals for more than 250 people on board was really hard work for the "cooks".

Since it was the first night and I was still not used to the rocking of the ship, I woke up at 3am and went out to the ship’s corridor for a walk. As I passed the 20m2 kitchen, I could still hear the bustling laughter, mixed with the urgency and responsibility of the people we affectionately called “cooks”. Each person took on a part of the task to prepare breakfast for the next morning for the crew members on board.

With such a large number of meals, it was already difficult and arduous on land, and on the ship with cramped and precarious facilities, the preparation work was even more difficult and arduous. During the 7-day voyage with our group, they were always the first to wake up and the last to go to bed. Feeling that, members of the working groups of the Hanoi City Delegation took turns in the kitchen to provide spiritual support to the "cooks".

According to the soldiers in the Truong Sa 571 ship service team, due to the large amount of food each meal, the cooking team is often divided into shifts to ensure the progress and quality of each meal. Cooking on the ship is much more difficult than cooking on shore, especially when the ship passes through rough seas with big waves, it is very difficult for the chef to maintain balance. In addition, the cooking space is not spacious and comfortable, so the serving officers and soldiers must be flexible, divide the work appropriately, cook which dish first, which dish later so that the food does not get cold when brought to the dining table.

Not only the "cooks", the crew's tasks are also extremely difficult, from being on duty, operating the ship to ensure safe operation to bringing goods and people to the islands safely. According to the crew, to bring the working group in and out of the islands according to the correct route, ensuring safety is always a task that must be carefully calculated. The terrain of the islands is complicated, except for the large Truong Sa island with a wharf, the remaining islands cannot be approached by Truong Sa 571 ship but must anchor about 1 - 2 nautical miles away. Bringing people and goods to the islands is "increased" by motorboats, each trip carrying about 15 people.

I still remember the day the ship arrived at the DK1/8 Que Duong Platform, according to the announcement from the ship commander, with the sea situation that day, our group could go up to the Platform to visit the officers and soldiers. However, to get the members of the working group up, it required a great deal of effort. Docking and anchoring the boat in the middle of the waves so that the members of the group could get up to the Platform was an “art”. To get up to the Platform was also a “battle” of coordination between the sailors driving the boat and the soldiers on the Platform because just a small mistake could easily cause injury…

During that voyage, each member of the delegation had beautiful feelings and memories about the islands of the Fatherland, Truong Sa, DK1 Platform and always thanked the officers, soldiers and sailors of Truong Sa 571 ship for their utmost efforts to ensure the delegation's safe trip.

(To be continued…)

15:11 05/30/2024

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/den-voi-truong-sa-hai-trinh-cua-nhung-cam-xuc-dac-biet.html