Teacher and letters 'crossing the waves' to send to navy soldiers on remote islands

Ways to send letters across the waves to soldiers

After many years of teaching, Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc (35 years old), a teacher at Quang Trung Primary School ( Ninh Binh province), realized that students learned about the sea and islands through textbooks, but that knowledge was always far away. They could remember the names of islands and events, but they could hardly imagine that offshore there were people on guard duty, awake when they had fallen asleep.

That question haunted the young teacher for many years: how to make students love their country with a real action, even a very small one. And the idea of writing a letter to the soldiers came to her very naturally.

“At first, the experiment was only conducted in one class. But the changes in the students after each letter surprised me. They talked more about the sea and islands, and were more curious about life at the forefront. Their hesitation turned into genuine interest. From one class, the activity spread to the whole school, then to neighboring areas, and then to many provinces and cities,” Ms. Ngoc said.

Ms. Ngoc and her students prepare handwritten letters to send to soldiers on remote islands.

PHOTO: NVCC

According to Ms. Ngoc, each letter-writing session lasts nearly a month, from choosing the topic, guiding how to address each other, and how to tell the story naturally and sincerely. Students write drafts, she reads each letter and edits it with them.

Among the hundreds of letters Ms. Ngoc has read, there is one that she will always remember. A 7th grade boy wrote: “Uncle, you can’t come home this Tet. I cried and I felt I had to grow up quickly to be like you guys and protect the country.”

Ms. Ngoc said she had to stop halfway through because she was choking. There was also a class making letters out of rice grains, each grain meticulously arranged to form the shape of a sea or island.

Ms. Ngoc said she once went to Con Co Island ( Quang Tri Province) in 2025. The ship was not far from the island, but the big waves prevented the group from reaching the shore. The exchange between the working group and the soldiers took place... through a small TV placed on the deck. "The wind blew strongly, the waves hit continuously. But on the screen were tanned faces, very gentle smiles," Ms. Ngoc said. That moment made her understand more deeply that Tet for the island soldiers does not have reunions, the greatest joy is to keep the mainland peaceful.

"Even though we only looked at each other through the screen, the exchange was still unusually warm," Ngoc said.

Ms. Ngoc and her letters crossed the waves to send to soldiers on remote islands.

PHOTO: NVCC

The soldiers told Ms. Ngoc that they considered the students’ letters as special spiritual gifts. Some hung the letters on the corner of the Tet decoration, some drew pictures and sent them to the students. Ms. Ngoc remembers the image of the soldiers gathering to read the letters and smiling, some were silent with emotion. “I think the students will be very happy to see how you preserve each letter,” Ms. Ngoc said.

When she told these stories, Ngoc’s students were very moved. Some asked to write more letters, some to draw more pictures, some to color the national flag. Many said that they dreamed of going to the island to do their duty in the future.

Participating in the letter writing activity, Le Nguyen Kim Chi, a student at Ninh Van Secondary School (Ninh Binh Province), said: “When writing letters to the soldiers, I was honestly very emotional. I just wanted to ask about their health and tell them a little about my hometown Hoa Lu, which has beautiful limestone mountains, green fields, clear rivers, and is also the first capital of our country. In the letter, I just want to send you my sincere thanks, hoping that you will always be healthy to guard the sea and sky of the Fatherland. I also promise myself to study hard, be obedient, and try my best to grow up to become a useful person, worthy of the sacrifices of the soldiers on the remote islands.”

Elaborately decorated letters sent to the Spratly Islands

PHOTO: NVCC

In parallel with writing and organizing the letter writing, Ms. Ngoc developed the Digital Journey project - Vietnam My Love, applying technology, AI, digital exhibitions, and historical photo restoration to bring history closer to students. The project has reached more than 3,000 students in 13 provinces and cities. Ms. Ngoc said she does not expect any big changes. She just wants students to see history closer to themselves, understand it more, love it more, and then naturally want to do good things for the community.

Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc is an outstanding young teacher with a series of achievements such as: Being one of the 5 educators to be a finalist of the Vietnam International Award 2025 in London; National Outstanding Youth Title following Uncle Ho's teachings in 2025; Outstanding Young Teacher at the Central level in 2022; Outstanding National Youth Union Officer receiving the Ly Tu Trong Award in 2022; Outstanding National Team Leader Teacher (2022, 2023).

Ways to send letters across the waves to soldiers

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