TPO - On the last day of the lunar year, there are ships rushing to dock so that fishermen can return home to gather around a family reunion dinner, while there are ships carrying marine soldiers setting sail to carry out the task of protecting the sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.
 |
“Ahead, at a distance of 500, 600 and 200, there are two barges going in the opposite direction, one on the right,” said comrade Dao Hong Anh (born in 1980, Hai Phong) Ship 636, Squadron 137, Brigade 169, Navy Region 1 on the 30th of Tet instead of asking his wife and two children if they wanted to buy peach branches or kumquat pots to display in the house this Tet like many other husbands and fathers. Comrade Dao Hong Anh confided that in 2000, after celebrating Tet with his family, he left for military service and 6 months later was shocked to receive the news that his mother had passed away at the age of 49. However, due to the remote conditions, it was a year later that he returned to his hometown to burn incense for his mother. In 2013, his father also asked to go to the temple. Since then, every time he returned home to visit, he always assumed that the first two things he had to do were to burn incense for his mother and go to the temple to visit his father. For the past few years, he has not been home in time for Tet, so the two tasks mentioned above have been "delegated" to his wife and children, and this year will probably be the same...
 |
| Comrade Dao Hong Anh (born 1980, Hai Phong) Ship 636, Squadron 137, Brigade 169, Naval Region 1 while on duty on Tet holiday. |
According to comrade Dao Hong Anh, ship 636, in the Gulf of Tonkin, from October to December every year, especially near Tet, the waves and winds are very strong. There are waves that keep the whole ship awake all night because of the strong shaking. But no matter how big the waves and winds are, without orders to take shelter, the crew members are always steadfast in sticking to the sea, and teammates encourage each other to try their best to complete their duties of duty, patrolling the assigned sea and island areas, searching for and rescuing, and performing other emergency tasks. During the recent cold spell, the waves were 4-5m high, and a fishing boat of fishermen at Bach Long Vy port broke its anchor. Upon discovering the incident, officers and soldiers of ship 636 immediately rushed to the rescue in the spirit of ensuring absolute safety for the fishermen and finally successfully pulled the boat for them. At the same time, officers and soldiers on the ship also donated some necessities to fishermen whose fishing boats had problems so they could celebrate Tet with peace of mind.
“After that, the fishermen and their families called the ship to thank them and said that on the vast ocean, the navy soldiers were the support for them to confidently go out to sea and earn a living. Listening to the fishermen’s simple, somewhat tearful voices, we felt their gratitude and respect for the marine soldiers. And that was the motivation for us to persevere at sea,” said comrade Dao Hong Anh.
As for Lieutenant Colonel Pham The Tung (born in 1976, Hai Phong, pilot of ship 636), due to the nature of his job, he has had to celebrate Tet away from home for many years. Because during holidays and Tet, the navy has to carry out stricter tasks to ensure security at sea, so that people can enjoy the spring and celebrate Tet. Lieutenant Colonel Tung said that he has been in the military for nearly 30 years and during his journey of serving at sea, there are memories that he can never forget every Tet holiday.
 |
| Lieutenant Colonel Pham The Tung (born 1976, Hai Phong) Ship 636, Squadron 137, Brigade 169, Naval Region 1 while performing a mission in the cockpit. |
Accordingly, in 2019, while returning from a long mission at sea, ship 636 received a mission to rescue a fishing boat of Nghe An fishermen that was sunk by a cargo ship with 19 crew members in an area about 34 nautical miles south of Bach Long Vy Island. Upon arrival, Lieutenant Colonel Tung's ship coordinated with the search and rescue unit to rescue and receive 9 surviving fishermen to care for them and give them their clothes. After that, the whole ship continued to search for the missing fishermen in a sea area of nearly 1,000 nautical miles.
 |
Rescue operations continued for many days and nights, officers and soldiers on the ship tried their best to observe and search in the hope of finding the fishermen who were still alive. However, after many days of racing against time, Lieutenant Colonel Tung and his teammates had to accept that they could not bring the missing fishermen back to their families. The story Lieutenant Colonel Tung told was also a memory that Major Ngo Quang Han (born in 1974, Hai Phong) who had 32 years of service in the military always remembered. Because, among the victims of that shipwreck, two were father and son. However, the father's body was found, but the son remained forever at the bottom of the deep sea with the broken ship.
  |
| Major Ngo Quang Han (born 1974), Ship 636, Squadron 137, Brigade 169, Navy Region 1, said that the most regretful thing for marine soldiers is not being able to rescue the unfortunate fishermen in time so that their families can reunite during Tet. |
"A surviving fisherman said that when the ship began to sink, while everyone was frantically looking for life jackets, the father was still trying to find his son and then became exhausted in the fierce waves. At the time the ship crashed, many people were sleeping in the cabin because they had stayed up all night fishing and fishing. In addition, the waves were big at that time and there were many currents under the sea, so it was difficult for them to escape when the ship sank. The most regretful thing for us marine soldiers is that we could not save the unfortunate fishermen in time so that their families could reunite during Tet," Major Han choked up.
On the eve of the New Year, Rear Admiral Tran Xuan Van, Party Secretary and Political Commissar of Naval Region 1, expressed that "only when the sea is calm will the shore be calm" and that preserving
the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland is the responsibility of the Vietnamese People's Navy soldiers in general and Naval Region 1 in particular.
"We always educate our soldiers to have a strong political stance, high solidarity and unity. Especially during the traditional Tet holiday of the nation, we are always ready with high fighting spirit along with the viewpoint of enjoying the new spring, not forgetting our duties. Determined to maintain a peaceful, stable and developing marine environment. So that people can celebrate Tet happily, warmly and happily. Hereby, on behalf of the officers and soldiers of Naval Region 1, please allow me to send to the people and soldiers nationwide wishes for a happy, peaceful, prosperous and happy new year. Happy New Year".
After the New Year greetings from Rear Admiral Tran Xuan Van, there were ships hurriedly docking so that fishermen could return home to gather around a family reunion dinner, and there were ships carrying marine soldiers such as Comrade Dao Hong Anh, Lieutenant Colonel Pham The Tung or Major Ngo Quang Han, putting aside the joys of the New Year to set sail to carry out the task of protecting the sovereignty of the beloved sea and islands.
And somewhere on the decks of ships, a song is sung: “We are navy soldiers. We do not fear the rain, we overcome storms. We stand at the forefront of the wind and waves to protect our beloved sea. We always carry within us the love for our homeland…”.
Implementation and design: Loc Lien
Tienphong.vn
Comment (0)