Last day of the year in Truong Sa

The soldiers often call Truong Sa Island “Big Truong Sa” to distinguish it from “Little Truong Sa” which is Truong Sa Dong Island. However, no matter what it is called, everyone must admit: Truong Sa Island is the center of the entire archipelago, because this is where Truong Sa town of Truong Sa District, Khanh Hoa is located.

Panoramic view of Truong Sa island

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Weighing anchor in the afternoon, after more than an hour at the mouth of Cam Ranh Bay (Khanh Hoa), ship 561 in the big port was still shaking like a ghost because of the big waves and strong winds.

After more than 36 hours of struggling through level 5-6 waves and strong winds that pounded the ship’s hull, we finally saw Truong Sa Island appear in the middle of the white sea with white-capped waves. While we were wondering “how can we dock with such big waves?”, we saw the ship rev up its engine, rise up, and after a few minutes, it was safely in the spacious northwest port of the island, completely free of strong winds and waves.

Ship 561 (Flotilla 411, Brigade 955, Naval Region 4) docked at the Truong Sa island port.

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People in Truong Sa said that the island has two ports: "chua port" (located on the east side of the island, right next to Truong Sa pagoda) and "station port" (in the ship lock, behind Truong Sa town medical center).

During the “calm sea” season, from March to June of the solar calendar, ships going to Truong Sa island often dock at the “temple port”. During storms and rains, at the end of the year, they dock at the “station port”…

Truong Sa island port is a place to take shelter from storms and ensure logistics for vehicles operating at sea.

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For Vietnamese fishermen, Truong Sa port is a "red address" for sheltering from storms, resting during trips, and providing fishing logistics.

Even like Mr. Nguyen Van Phong (33 years old, living in Phuoc Dinh commune, Thuan Nam district, Ninh Thuan), captain of ship NTh - 90409 TS, during the summer, he took his son Nguyen Pham Su Min (12 years old, studying in primary school) on a fishing boat and stopped at Truong Sa island port for his son to visit the island for several days and nights to "really know what our country's sea and islands are like"...

Boy Nguyen Pham Su Min plays soccer on Truong Sa island

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When ship 561 docked at the “station port”, households on the island were bustling to receive Tet goods sent from the mainland. From sticky rice, dong leaves, pigs and chickens… to apricot trees budding flowers.

Trees were transferred to Truong Sa island, planted on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of Quy Mao.

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Mr. Lam Ngoc Vinh, head of household 5 (residential area of Truong Sa town) lingered until almost noon to wait to receive the casuarina seedlings. While loading the seedlings onto the truck with the soldiers of Combat Group 2, Mr. Vinh laughed heartily: “The other day, Hoai Nhon Town, Binh Dinh sent Truong Sa a few thousand coconut seedlings to plant throughout the archipelago. The whole country contributed to greening Truong Sa, we also contributed a few specialized trees to block wind, sand, and salt to protect the new trees, planted right on this Tet holiday”…

Some pictures of green on Truong Sa island, the last day of the year.

The sovereignty landmark on Truong Sa island lies amidst the green of trees.

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Sedimentary stone slab engraved with the poem "Nam Quoc Son Ha" by Ly Thuong Kiet, solemnly placed in front of the Truong Sa Island Command Headquarters

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