The diligent veteran

In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake 2025, relatives of fallen soldiers came to offer incense at the Martyrs' Cemetery in Tinh Long commune. Everyone felt heartwarming seeing each soldier's grave decorated with pots of marigolds, cockscomb, and asters. The empty land surrounding the cemetery, once overgrown with weeds, has now been transformed into a vibrant vegetable and flower garden.

Mr. Pham Tan Son and his wife plant and care for various types of flowers in the area surrounding the Martyrs' Cemetery in Tinh Long commune ( Quang Ngai City). PHOTO: Y THU

To achieve these changes, veteran Pham Tan Son and his wife, Dang Thi Tham, have been cultivating and caring for flowers since September 2024. For over three months, they have improved nearly 6 acres of hillside land in the Tinh Long Martyrs' Cemetery area, planting various types of plants such as pineapples, mustard flowers, cosmos, and butterfly flowers. Not only has he improved the cemetery's landscape, but Mr. Son has also quietly worked with his comrades to maintain the Tinh Long Martyrs' Cemetery since 2022. Besides meticulously cleaning and offering incense at each grave, Mr. Son has also personally planted hundreds of marigold pots to decorate the resting place of the martyrs during the Lunar New Year. Mr. Son shared that the land around the cemetery is barren and infertile. However, with decades of farming experience, he told his wife that they should try their best to make the martyrs' resting place more presentable and to bring comfort to the relatives of the martyrs visiting their graves.

Having spent three Tet holidays on the Cambodian battlefield, Pham Tan Son, a soldier from the 270th Regiment (Military Region 5), returned to his hometown at the end of 1988 and dedicated himself to farming to make a living. In 2022, Mr. Son was elected Vice Chairman of the Veterans Association of Tinh Long commune. More than a year ago, when his two children had settled down and had stable jobs, Mr. Son and his wife decided to put aside farming at the advice of their children to enjoy their old age. "Mr. Son asked me to join him in planting vegetables and flowers at the cemetery to beautify it. Seeing his dedication, my children and I are very happy and proud. Our children sponsored us nearly 40 million VND to improve the land and plant pineapples and flowers around the cemetery, because my husband and I didn't have that much money," Mrs. Tham said with a smile.

Mr. Pham Tan Son has covered nearly 6 acres of land surrounding the Martyrs' Cemetery in Tinh Long commune with various types of flowers.

Mr. Pham Tan Son has "greened" nearly 6 acres of land surrounding the Martyrs' Cemetery in Tinh Long commune with various types of flowers. Photo: Y Thu

According to Tran Thanh Vong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tinh Long commune, in implementing Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW of the Politburo on continuing to implement Directive No. 05-CT/TW "On promoting the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, and style," since 2022, the Veterans Association of the commune has built and maintained a model of caring for the commune's martyrs' cemetery to demonstrate the principle of "drinking water, remembering the source." As the Vice Chairman of the Veterans Association, Mr. Pham Tan Son has taken charge of caring for the martyrs' graves. Not only does he care for the graves inside the cemetery, but in 2024, Mr. Son voluntarily renovated and improved the space outside the cemetery to create a green, clean, and beautiful landscape. Mr. Son's actions have deeply moved and warmed the hearts of local people and relatives of martyrs who visit the cemetery.

Y THU - HOANG PHUONG

Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/xa-hoi/202501/nguoi-cuu-chien-binh-can-man-e25176b/