Journalist Dinh Quang Thanh with a lucky moment in his professional life

Journalist Dinh Quang Thanh, a former reporter for the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), entered journalism with a passion since childhood. Ever since he was a student, he has always built a high sense of responsibility and listened to valuable knowledge from previous generations.

Having studied journalism and photojournalism since 1960, he has learned from many generations of experience along with field trips that have helped him develop his own unique way of thinking and doing journalism and photography.

Journalist Dinh Quang Thanh, a former reporter for Vietnam News Agency, introduces to reporters the war relics he still keeps. Photo: Le Tam

In the last days of March 1975, journalist Dinh Quang Thanh was assigned by the leadership of Vietnam News Agency to join the "Spearhead Team" to report on the 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising (the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign). In the arduous atmosphere heading towards Saigon, he traveled day and night, arriving in Hue and continuing his journey to Da Nang. On April 21, 1975, Xuan Loc town was liberated, and he and the 304th Division continued their march to Saigon. Throughout that journey, each photo he took was associated with memorable memories and stories.

He was also present at the bombing of Tan Son Nhat airport, which was at the crucial moment of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. The battle had a strategic purpose and significance, and was truly a surprise attack that stunned the enemy, creating favorable conditions for the combined arms troops to develop an offensive position, pushing the enemy quickly into a state of complete collapse.

On April 28, 1975, our artillery positions fired at Tan Son Nhat airport. At noon on April 30, the "Determined to Win" flag of our army flew atop the flagpole of the puppet Air Force Command. However, it was not until 2:00 p.m. on April 30 that Tan Son Nhat airport was completely silent.

At that time, there were still bullets and fierce resistance from the enemy, but in the midst of the smoke and fire, he saw a group of our soldiers running across the runway, pursuing the enemy in the airport. He immediately raised his camera and continuously took pictures of that historic moment. It can be said that at that time, Tan Son Nhat airport was quickly paralyzed, half of the planes on the airport were hit by bullets. At the same time, our troops began to rush forward.

The photo "Road to the Front" talks about the time of fierce bombardment of Tan Son Nhat airport, taken by journalist and photographer Dinh Quang Thanh.

Journalist Dinh Quang Thanh shared: “I tried to find the best angle and area to get special photos, how to make those photos make the enemy terrified and evoke the spirit of our army in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. Everything happened so quickly that I could not imagine how big the airport was at that time, how many planes there were, I simply tried to get to the place where the event took place to get the most impressive photos” .

Not only was he present at the big battle at Tan Son Nhat airport, the moment he entered the Independence Palace with the liberation tanks also brought him a lot of emotions.

“I never thought, never imagined that I could enter the Independence Palace at this historic moment. In the life of a journalist, there are not always major events in the history of the nation. Not as many as now, and at that time, there were also quite a few journalists who could enter the Independence Palace. Journalists did not simply collect news and take photos to send to the editorial office, but also ate with the soldiers, lived with the soldiers, volunteered for battles, and endured the hardships of bombs and bullets with them. There were times when bullets exploded right next to us, witnessing many sacrifices and losses,” journalist Dinh Quang Thanh recalled.

He said that he did not directly go to battle, was not trained to fight, use weapons, but he had the opportunity to go to the army units, the youth volunteers and join them in many of the fiercest battles during the war years. Many major battles had strategic significance, went down in history, being present to record, he considered it a duty of a wartime journalist, wishing to contribute a small part to the struggle to liberate the South and unify the country.

Vietnam News Agency reporter Dinh Quang Thanh meets and collects information from Saigon people on Liberation Day, April 30, 1975. Photo: VNA

“We had many days with the army enduring many hardships, enduring enemy bombs and bullets, and being present at the Independence Palace at noon on April 30, 1975 - an important and meaningful historical moment, for me it was an extremely lucky thing in my professional life,” journalist Dinh Quang Thanh confided.

Having been involved in journalism for decades, journalist Dinh Quang Thanh always believes that to be a good journalist, knowledge of social culture is extremely important. The better a journalist is, the broader his or her cultural knowledge will be.

“Photojournalists are the same, they must know how to apply that socio-cultural knowledge combined with professional photography skills, to build a contemporary picture. Journalists also always need to learn a lot, read a lot… because the world is vast, knowledge is endless” - journalist Dinh Quang Thanh emphasized.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nha-bao-dinh-quang-thanh-voi-gio-phut-may-man-trong-cuoc-doi-nghe-nghiep-post293684.html