80 years of Vietnam News Agency: Love stories overcoming difficulties

As a strategic and trustworthy information agency of the Party and State, a strong national news agency in the region, over the past 80 years, generations of Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reporters have been present in every part of the country, in every revolutionary period. Among them, GP10 (GP10: Liberation - 10th session) - a special class of reporters, worthy of a title, contributing to the glorious history of VNA.

This is the largest class of VNA reporters and battlefield technicians, supporting the South in its most fierce and decisive phase, for the final battle - liberating the South.

Reporters, telegraphers, and technicians who grew up in the heat of battle upon their return held many important positions in the agency, passing on the flame of dedication to the next generations to continue writing the glorious history of the news agency.

During those difficult days, love - the flavor of life filled with memories and commemorations, was like a connecting thread and an indispensable driving force to nurture the determination of each member of class GP10 on the battlefield of bombs and bullets.

Fateful relationship

On March 16, 1973, right in the most fierce period of the resistance war against American imperialism to save the country, the train passed through bombed and bullet-ridden areas, carrying reporters, technicians, and news agency telegraphers to support the hot fronts from Inter-zone 5 to the southernmost part of the Fatherland.

The young men and students of class GP10 in their twenties at that time, with knowledge, patriotism, and the passionate hearts of youth, did not fear danger, and were ready to set out to carry out their duties as journalists-soldiers on the battlefield.

More than 50 years have passed, but the memory of the time he accompanied more than 100 reporters and editors of the GP10 course to the South to reinforce the Liberation News Agency (TTXGP) is still intact for journalist Vuong Nghia Dan, former reporter for Le Courrier du Vietnam newspaper.

Journalist Vuong Nghia Dan and her husband Vu Long Son, a former photojournalist for VNA, were the first couple to hold a wedding for the GP10 class at VNA; more than 50 years later, their love remains strong. For them, love nurtured through difficult and challenging years will become more profound and everlasting.

Journalist Vuong Nghia Dan and her husband Vu Long Son, a former photojournalist for VNA, are the first couple to hold a wedding of the GP10 class at VNA. (Photo: Nam Suong/VNA)

Mrs. Dan shared: "We met when we joined the GP10 training course. Our love grew during the long marches along Truong Son road and blossomed when we worked together on the battlefield."

During the days on the march, Mrs. Dan often received letters from Mr. Son sent by wounded soldiers going north. However, it was not until Mr. Son got malaria and had to stay at the field medical station, until Mrs. Dan's convoy arrived, that the two were able to travel together.

After three months of arriving at TTXGP, settling down in the base, and with the approval of the agency, on September 16, 1973, the wedding of two journalists Vuong Nghia Dan and Vu Long Son was held. That was the first wedding of the GP10 class in the forest. Then everyone continued to do their own tasks. Mrs. Dan was mainly in charge of receiving information from the fronts, synthesizing and editing, while Mr. Son followed the combat units to take photos and collect documents.

More than a year later, their happiness was multiplied when the baby was born in the middle of the old forest in the base of the Vietnam News Agency in Tan Bien - Tay Ninh . The work of the two journalists continued regularly, she still did her daily editing work while he followed the troops, sometimes returning home after 2-3 months.

Journalist Vuong Nghia Dan said: “Back then, communication was not as smooth as it is now, so whenever Mr. Son left, he had no news. Only when he returned did he know he was still alive. While raising my child, every day, I still went to work in the fields, carried rice with everyone..., rested a bit and then came back to take care of my child.”

The most memorable memory of the love of journalist Vuong Nghia Dan and his wife was when Mr. Son followed a special forces unit to participate in the Bau Nau battle, then returned to the artillery unit on the other side of Ba Den mountain (Tay Ninh). Occasionally, when someone went back and forth, she received a letter from her husband hastily written: "I'm still well."

"On April 30, 1975, Saigon was liberated, but 10 days later, I still hadn't seen Son return. I was very worried. Everyone around me was very concerned, but no one dared to say anything. Even I thought he might not return... Then, more than half a month later, he returned, carrying a backpack full of film. Only then did I truly let go of the worries and burdens in my heart," Ms. Dan recalled.

According to Mrs. Dan, after April 30, Mr. Son continued to take the bus from Saigon, across the Mekong Delta to Ca Mau cape to take photos of the liberation celebration, and then returned. In the midst of the bombs and bullets, the hardships and deprivations, friendship and love were tested through hardships, but like a predestined relationship..., remained strong.

Born in the war zone, the eldest daughter of two journalists Vuong Nghia Dan and Vu Long Son, journalist Vu Mai Linh Huong, currently the Head of the Editorial Board of the VNA's Foreign Affairs News Department, shared that every time she and her parents look back at the photos taken by Mr. Son and his colleagues, which have been saved in the family album until now, she always feels moved and proud of the sacrifices and hardships of her parents and the GP10 reporters."

Perhaps thanks to the memories of that difficult time, through the stories my parents and my GP10 classmates told me about their days working on the battlefield, I don't know when I developed a love for journalism. After graduating from the University of Foreign Languages, majoring in French, I passed the entrance exam to VNA and was assigned to work at the first and only French-language newspaper of VNA in particular, and Vietnam in general - Le Courrier du Vietnam. That is also the way for me to inherit and continue the heroic tradition of the previous generation of VNA journalists," journalist Vu Mai Linh Huong shared.

A "special" wedding according to the new lifestyle

Being part of the same generation of GP10 reporters assigned to Inter-zone 5, but unlike the two journalists Vuong Nghia Dan and Vu Long Son, who had to go through many hardships, the couple Cao Trong Nghiep (former Deputy Head of the Photo Department of VNA) and Le Thi Kim Thoa (former reporter of the Editorial Department of VNA Domestic News) had a wedding after the day the South was liberated.

Having known each other since the days they worked together in the same shack until they confirmed their love, the gifts Mr. Nghiep received from Mrs. Thoa, from a pair of sandals, a fountain pen, and the short meetings during their journalism journey... gradually brought the two together.

In 1975, Mrs. Thoa was transferred to work in Hanoi , Mr. Nghiep continued to stay in Nha Trang. After liberation, in 1976, Mr. Nghiep went to the North for the first time and met Mrs. Thoa again, when she was participating in the construction of the VNA apartment complex.

Journalist Cao Trong Nghiep. (Photo: Nam Suong/VNA)

Journalist Cao Trong Nghiep shared: “What we used to bond with and share on the battlefield is very different, it is understanding and sympathy for each other. From the initial affection for each other, it gradually turned into love...”.

In 1977, the couple decided to hold a wedding, a “special” wedding according to the new lifestyle. Mr. Nghiep said: “Because he knew I had returned from the battlefield in the South, the cadre told me that there was no need to post a wedding notice within a week but to get married immediately. Before leaving, he also told me not to organize anything, then wrote me a ticket to go to the commune’s trading cooperative to buy 5 packs of Tam Dao cigarettes, 4 packs of tea, 1kg of biscuits, 1kg of candy...”.

“The simple wedding was held in the countryside (Phu Tho), very neat and discreet, no backdrop, new clothes, guests were only a few relatives, friends and colleagues. At that time, traveling was still difficult, after the wedding, everyone had dinner at 3 pm, although hungry, my wife and I always cherished everyone's affection,” Mr. Nghiep recalled.

Due to the distance between their working areas, the two journalists' later married life also had many difficulties. It was not until 1983 that Mr. Nghiep and Ms. Thoa were arranged by the agency to work together at Thanh Hoa Branch (now Thanh Hoa Resident Agency) and for more than 10 years "we ate rice from the same pot."

The love of two GP10 journalists, despite going through many hardships and challenges, thanks to their faith in "the person they chose," they still stick together throughout the journey of nearly half a century.

The couples who grew up from the Special Reporter Training Class - GP10, whenever they remember "the time when they were in their twenties", all have a very special feeling. Because to come together, they had to go through many hardships, many challenges that seemed impossible to overcome, to stick together, build a happy family and pass on their passion for the profession to future generations./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/80-nam-thong-tan-xa-viet-nam-nhung-chuyen-tinh-vuot-gian-kho-post1061810.vnp