110th Anniversary of General Vo Nguyen Giap's Birth (August 25, 1911 / August 25, 2021): General Vo Nguyen Giap taught me how to be a journalist

He has experienced every position in journalism such as: Editor-in-Chief, editor, reporter, editorial secretary, layout, proofreading, newspaper distribution... Therefore, every time I met the General, I took the opportunity to learn the profession and was taught by him wholeheartedly.

Journalists need to understand the nature of the problem.

In August 1995, I was assigned by the Editorial Board of the People's Army Newspaper to join a working delegation of the Ministry of Irrigation (later the Ministry of Irrigation, together with the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry merged into the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) to conduct field work in Thai Nguyen. The delegation was led by comrade Nguyen Cong Tu, Head of the Emulation and Propaganda Department of the Ministry of Irrigation. The delegation included a number of journalists from the Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television.

The author of the article (far left) took a photo with General Vo Nguyen Giap and his wife and the family of photographer Vu Nang An.

That afternoon, after having lunch at the guest house of the People's Committee of Dinh Hoa district, we were surprised to see General Vo Nguyen Giap and his wife getting out of the car. General Vo Nguyen Giap was 84 years old at that time but still healthy. He smiled brightly and waved to everyone. All of us, without anyone telling us, gathered around the General. The General said: "Today I came here from Tan Trao (Son Duong, Tuyen Quang ) as if I was visiting home. In the past, we used to walk regularly on this route. Now it's so different!"

While waiting for the guest house to prepare dinner, we had the opportunity to chat with the General. After listening to Comrade Nguyen Cong Tu report that the purpose of our trip was to promote the effectiveness of irrigation works, the General said:

- It is true that many hydraulic works are very beneficial, serving irrigation, transportation, power generation... But there are also hydraulic works that become "harmful".

Looking at me, the General asked:

- Do you know any irrigation projects that have caused "water damage"?

Asked unexpectedly, I was confused and didn't know how to answer, then the General continued:

- Irrigation works that are placed in the wrong place, have inappropriate designs, and are constructed with reduced materials will become "water damage" because they affect the environment, destroy forests, and endanger the safety of the works. As journalists, you must understand the nature of the problem, and should not speak one-sidedly or according to reports...

That afternoon, because the road back to Thai Nguyen was cut off by flood, General Vo Nguyen Giap, his wife and our entire working group had to stay in Dinh Hoa. We had another chance to talk with the General.

The General said that exactly 50 years ago (in 1945), receiving the mission assigned by Uncle Ho, he led the main force from Tan Trao to Dinh Hoa district and then advanced to liberate Thai Nguyen town (later Thai Nguyen city). During the years of resistance against French colonialism, he also spent a long time attached to the ATK Dinh Hoa area, so he considered Dinh Hoa as his hometown.

Returning to journalism, the General reminded us to study to understand the issues that the press works mentioned. For example, to promote irrigation, we must understand what irrigation is. If journalists do not understand, then the readers of the newspaper, the audience, and the listeners of the radio will not understand.

Everyone in the delegation wanted to have a few souvenir photos with the General. However, the whole delegation only had my Pentax camera, so I was asked to continuously take photos of the delegation members and the leaders of Dinh Hoa district. When everyone had their photos taken, the General said:

- Only the reporter of the People's Army Newspaper has no photo yet.

Hearing that, Mr. Cong Tu told me to stand next to the General so he could take a picture for me, but unfortunately, at that moment the camera ran out of film and I didn't have any spare rolls of film. So everyone had a picture with General Vo Nguyen Giap and his wife, but I didn't.

General Vo Nguyen Giap patted me on the shoulder and encouraged me: "Our army serves the people!"

Journalism is fascinating because of its interesting details.

On a day before Tet Ky Mao-1999, I and Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Hai Duc (later Colonel), editor of the monthly magazine Su Kien va Nhan Ke (Events and Witnesses) went to work with photographer Vu Nang An at his private home on Hoang Hoa Tham Street (Hanoi) about historical witnesses related to the famous photo "Uncle Ho at the Dong Khe Front in 1950". While we were engrossed in our conversation, the phone rang. After answering the phone, photographer Vu Nang An said to us:

- General Vo Nguyen Giap and his wife are about to arrive.

Hearing that, we asked to stay to meet the legendary General. Photographer Vu Nang An agreed. A moment later, we saw General Vo Nguyen Giap and his wife arrive. Uncle An introduced us to the General. The General shook hands with each of us and said:

- I regularly read the People's Army Newspaper. I welcome the People's Army Newspaper to have an additional publication called SK&NC. Most of the articles in this monthly magazine are lively and have a good educational effect, especially in educating history and patriotism for soldiers and students. Comrades, please try to make it better and more attractive. It should be noted that there are also places, documents, and data that you put in this publication that are not accurate.

Listening to the General, we felt warm inside. Hai Duc boldly said:

- Reporting to the General, we really want to make SK&NC Monthly better and more attractive, but after nearly 5 years, major events and important historical witnesses have all been introduced.

General Vo Nguyen Giap smiled:

- Big events include many small events. Every event, big or small, has witnesses. Each witness can remember the details that make up the event. Newspapers attract readers with interesting details. If you keep exploiting them in this way, you will never run out of details or witnesses for your works. Not to mention new events.

I added:

- Dear General! In reality, when editing articles for SK&NC Monthly, I see that sometimes for the same event, the same battle, one witness says one thing, another witness says another. In that case, how should we handle it?

The general replied:

- Comrade, imagine that in a campaign, the engineer force that opened the road will clearly remember the events that happened when opening the road, the artillery force will clearly remember the time of firing the artillery. If the artilleryman tells the story of the engineer, he must compare it with the engineer's story. If the engineer tells about the artillery, he must also compare it with the artillery's story. The main direction tells the story of the flanking direction, the secondary direction tells about the main direction... then they must also compare... Time makes some people forget the details of each battle, each event, comrades, please remind the witnesses to remember and compare it with the history of each locality and unit. If there is a "difference", it is necessary to discuss it with the witnesses...

After meeting the General, Hai Duc and I reported the content of the General's teachings to Colonel Le Lien, Editor-in-Chief of the SK&NC Monthly Magazine and Colonel Pham Huy Khao, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper (who was assigned by the Party Committee and Editorial Board to be in charge of the SK&NC Monthly Magazine). Right at the Party cell meeting in the early Spring of the Year of the Cat, on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the SK&NC Monthly Magazine, Colonel Le Lien, in his position as Party cell Secretary, officially developed a thematic resolution on the innovation of the SK&NC Monthly Magazine according to the direction of General Vo Nguyen Giap.

Colonel DO PHU THO
Party Secretary, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of People's Army Newspaper

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/ky-niem-110-nam-ngay-sinh-dai-tuong-vo-nguyen-giap-25-8-1911-25-8-2021-dai-tuong-vo-nguyen-giap-day-toi-lam-bao-197252.html