I am a soldier in the green uniform.

Captain Bui Thai Trung (left) and Lieutenant Trieu Kim Van were honored as "Outstanding Young, Talented, and Exemplary Soldiers in the Green Uniform" of Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 - Photo: K.ANH

First Lieutenant Trieu Kim Van currently works at Can Thanh Border Guard Station, while Lieutenant Bui Thai Trung is the captain of a border guard vessel in Squadron 2. They are among the 35 border guards recently honored by Ho Chi Minh City as "Outstanding Young, Talented, and Exemplary Border Guard Soldiers" in 2024.

My brothers and I often went down to visit the local people. Sometimes we just chatted and talked, other times we worked together, and we became close friends. The locals would tell the border guards everything that happened in the area.

First Lieutenant TRIEU KIM VAN

Close to the people: "3 close ties, 4 shared interests"

Trieu Kim Van is currently the deputy head of mass mobilization at Can Thanh Border Guard Station. No one in his family pursued a military career, yet Van chose to attend the Border Guard Academy. After graduating, he started working at Can Thanh Border Guard Station in 2021 with the thought, "Joining the military allows me to contribute my strength to building and protecting the Fatherland."

Being a border guard requires being close to the people, coordinating with local authorities to help them with their livelihoods and poverty reduction. This is not only an important task but also a goal. Based on practical experience, the unit adheres to the "3 clings, 4 together" principle. This means clinging to the unit, clinging to the locality, and clinging to policies and guidelines. The "4 together" means eating together, living together, working together, and speaking the local language together. "This principle helps us to better understand the local situation and the population thanks to the information provided by the people," Văn explained.

In Can Gio, the majority of the population relies on the sea for their livelihood. Therefore, Van and his teammates advised and coordinated with the local authorities to create many models to help people change their lives. For the people, the unit provided support in the form of livelihood tools; for students, the border guards had a program to help them go to school.

Every activity and program incorporates the goal of raising awareness while simultaneously giving gifts to people in difficult circumstances. Therefore, even though he hasn't worked at the police station for long, Văn is now like a son to the people of Cần Thạnh town (Cần Giờ district).

Van vividly remembers the boat fire on the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2022, shortly after he started working at the unit. Upon receiving news from the locals, Van and his colleagues quickly rushed out to sea, and luckily managed to save the boat in the middle of the night without any casualties. At the beginning of 2024, upon receiving news of a scrap metal warehouse fire, he and his colleagues quickly arrived at the scene, rushing into the flames to check for any trapped people and helping the locals extinguish the fire.

Captain of the border guard ship

In 2015, the Haiyang 981 oil rig incident, which violated Vietnam's sovereignty in its waters, prompted Bui Thai Trung (from Nghe An province) to decide to apply to the Naval Academy. After graduating and being assigned to work at the Border Guard in Ho Chi Minh City, Trung became the captain of the BP 14-12-02 vessel belonging to Squadron 2.

Squadron 2 manages a vast sea area of ​​nearly 2,800 square kilometers, where the security and order situation is quite complex, especially regarding smuggling, trade fraud, and illegal mining. As a captain, patrolling, coordinating patrols, and controlling the sea area under its management is not only a duty but also a command from the Fatherland.

During patrols, Trung and his unit apprehended and dealt with six cases involving 11 vehicles illegally extracting and transporting sand in the area, confiscating evidence, imposing fines totaling nearly 530 million VND, and forcing the offenders to return an amount equivalent to the value of two vehicles involved in the violations, totaling over 7.5 billion VND.

On another occasion, also during a patrol, he and his teammates apprehended and dealt with a vessel transporting 121 cubic meters of illegally obtained diesel fuel, imposing a fine of over 2 billion VND. Both incidents were commended by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, and he personally received a certificate of merit. Trung also contributed to the search and rescue of a sunken boat in the Can Gio sea area, recovering a victim's body and salvaging a local fishing boat.

Lieutenant Trung also participated in the "Clean the Sea" campaign, took part in the "I am a Border Guard Soldier" training semester at sea, and the "Helping Children Go to School - Children Adopted by Border Guard Posts" program. The Secretary of the Youth Union of Squadron 2 is also very passionate about volunteering for social welfare in the local area.

Last year, he advised and directly mobilized his unit to donate over 1,100 gifts, 60 scholarships, 300 national flags, the "Green House" project, along with 2,500 notebooks, and planted new trees... The estimated value of these activities is over 800 million VND. "I think becoming a border guard was a stroke of luck, but every day I become more proud, more loving, and more attached to the unit," Lieutenant Trung shared.

For the peace of our borders and islands.

Commending 35 "Outstanding Young Border Guard Soldiers" of Ho Chi Minh City in 2024, Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union Ngo Minh Hai said that the soldiers have been and are continuing the glorious tradition of the border guard force of the city named after President Ho Chi Minh.

In their work, each individual is always proactive and pioneering in carrying out tasks, courageous and resourceful in combat, creative and diligent in labor and study, actively participating in mass activities and social activities in their stationed areas, contributing to the firm protection of border and maritime sovereignty.

"You have actively fought against crime and ensured security and order in the maritime border areas and port checkpoints in the city. This is a typical image of border guards who constantly study, train, and dedicate themselves to the peace of the border, the islands, and the stable development of the city," Mr. Hai emphasized.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/toi-lam-linh-quan-ham-xanh-20240304085825889.htm