April, forever remember Truong Sa!

Working Group No. 13 – “National Unity Train” at the sovereignty landmark of Truong Sa Island. (Photo: Hong Chau)

When I was assigned by the Editorial Board to join a working trip to Truong Sa organized by the Navy Command in coordination with the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (Ministry of Foreign Affairs ), I was both excited and a little anxious. I was excited because it was the first time I set foot on the sacred sea and islands of the Fatherland, but I also couldn't help but wonder if I had enough health to adapt to the "specialty" of harsh sun and wind at the forefront.

Fortunately, the April days were calm and the waves were gentle, although the sun had begun to shine. Our working group No. 13 departed from Da Nang on April 20 on the fishing control ship KN390, beginning the journey to visit, exchange and give gifts to officers, soldiers and people of Truong Sa island district (Khanh Hoa province) and the DK1/8 Que Duong platform on the southern continental shelf of the Fatherland.

This train trip, named “National Great Unity Train”, gathered 160 delegates from many agencies, localities and units. Notably, there was the participation of 17 delegates of the 15th National Assembly, 67 overseas Vietnamese from 26 countries and territories and 4 members of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

After three loud sirens, ship KN390 greeted the mainland, cut through the waves and headed out to sea, beginning a week-long voyage (April 20-26) visiting six islands (Thi Reef, Sinh Ton Reef, Len Dao Reef, Co Lin Reef, Tay A Reef, Truong Sa Reef) and a rig.

Bringing the heart far from home closer to the national roots

For those of us who come from the mainland, the journey to Truong Sa was a sacred and emotional journey. But for overseas Vietnamese who have been away from home for many years, the “National Unity Train” not only brought them to the islands at the forefront of the Fatherland, but also a journey back with all our hearts – back closer to our national roots, to our beloved motherland.

Sharing the same feelings with many children living far away from home, Ms. Hoai Thuong - President of the Vietnamese Community School Cay Tre Osaka, the Vietnamese Association in Kansai (Japan) could not help but be moved and proud when she just set foot in the front line of the Fatherland. "Witnessing with our own eyes the life, work activities, and silent sacrifices of the Navy officers and soldiers who are day and night sticking to the front lines, we understand more deeply the two words Fatherland.

It is not just a place, but it is flesh and blood, responsibility, and unconditional love. For Ms. Hoai Thuong, the trip is also “a journey of emotions, of national solidarity” and she “will bring the image of the resilient Truong Sa, the indomitable DK1 platform and the heroic soldiers to the international community, to the young generation of Vietnamese people growing up in a foreign land”.

Despite her advanced age, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngan (65 years old), a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnamese Women's Association in the Kingdom of Belgium, still volunteered to join this working group because she was afraid "she wouldn't know when she would have another chance to go out with the soldiers".

She said: “Before the trip, many friends were concerned and advised her to consider it carefully because of the remote location, her old age, and her tendency to get seasick. Miraculously, when she set foot on the ship, all her fatigue and anxiety gradually disappeared, replaced by joy and excitement. After this trip, she wanted to send a call to the community of women living in the Kingdom of Belgium in particular and all of Europe in general to come to Truong Sa. Truong Sa is the flesh and blood of Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese will always be an inseparable part of the Vietnamese people.”

After the "fate" of participating in the Homeland Spring program earlier this year, becoming a member of the 13th working group to Truong Sa in the middle of the historic April days when the whole country was looking forward to the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025) was likened by Venerable Thich Phap Quang - Abbot of Truc Lam Zen Monastery Kandy (Sri Lanka) as "fate after fate".

Talking to us, Venerable Thich Phap Quang said: “Before coming here, I had heard many stories about the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos of Vietnam. If India is the spiritual land of Buddhists all over the world, everyone wants to set foot there once, then for me, Truong Sa is the spiritual place of Vietnamese people with hearts always turned towards the Fatherland.”

Green of life

This working trip was also the first time that the Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Nguyen Trung Kien came to Truong Sa. The trip was more meaningful when he and the Committee brought the overseas Vietnamese delegation back to the outpost of the Fatherland in "an atmosphere where the whole country is changing, with a challenging but also promising rise". Many overseas Vietnamese who had the opportunity to return to Truong Sa after many years were truly amazed by the remarkable development of Truong Sa in terms of organization, infrastructure, development of works but especially the green of life.

At Da Tay A Island, the image of green trees appearing in the middle of the ocean moved many people in the group. According to Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, “it is the green of life – the result of the sacrifice of Navy officers and soldiers and the joint efforts of the people of the whole country”.

He affirmed that Truong Sa is not only an outpost to protect the Fatherland, but also a place to live, a place with children's laughter, a place where marine economic services will be developed - the embodiment of the aspiration to reach out to the ocean. "We have more than 300,000 square kilometers of land but own up to three million square kilometers of sea. Today's efforts in Truong Sa will lay the foundation for future generations to reach out, realizing the goal of becoming a maritime power," he emphasized.

Overseas Vietnamese group forms a five-pointed yellow star on the deck of ship KN390. (Photo: Hong Chau)

“This sea is mine, this island is mine”

Music is always an indispensable spiritual food in every business trip from the mainland to a remote island. Amidst the waves and winds of the open sea, music, the melody of songs and voices are the bond that connects people in the rear with soldiers at the front lines of the Fatherland.

Joining the artist group this time is Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Phuong, a music teacher at Phan Sao Nam Secondary School, Hue City. A member of the Vietnam Musicians Association, she expressed her feelings of honor and pride in a song just one night after the ship visited Sinh Ton Island. Together with musician Xuan Minh, the song Truong Sa Mien Nho composed by Ms. Thuy Phuong was mixed, arranged, and filmed on the ship for a music video and performed by her during cultural exchanges with soldiers at the islands of Da Tay A, Co Lin, and Truong Sa.

“The trip was not long, but it was enough to make my heart calm down before so many great and simple things. I cried and was deeply moved when listening to the confidences of young soldiers on remote islands, their homesickness, their homeland, their families”, Ms. Thuy Phuong shared. Those feelings inspired her to write the song Truong Sa Mien Nho and decided to sing it for the soldiers right on the trip. And certainly after this voyage, she will have more songs about Truong Sa and the theme of the sea and islands...

Not only Truong Sa, many songs such as Truong Sa forever in the heart (musician Xuan Minh), Proud of the island soldier (musician Tran Manh Cuong), Truong Sa - Far but near (musician Doan Phuong Hai), Love of the soldier (musician Vo Dinh Nam) were also composed and arranged by musicians and singers on this occasion to bring songs to the soldiers in time. Amidst the sound of the waves and the sea breeze, besides the solemn and silent moments of saluting the flag under the fluttering national flag, the cultural exchanges brought a bustling and joyful atmosphere, helping to strengthen the relationship between the army and the people on the mainland and the islands.

During the seven-day voyage at sea, the song Khuc Quan Ca Truong Sa by musician Doan Bong was often sung by soldiers on Truong Sa island in front of the vast sea and sky, and gradually became a familiar song on the "Great National Unity train". In almost every event, from cultural exchanges with soldiers to meals on the deck, mixed with the sound of the waves, the lyrics and melody of Khuc Quan Ca Truong Sa always resounded enthusiastically: "Day after day, night after night/We stand here to protect our homeland/This sea is ours, this island is ours, Truong Sa/No matter the storm, no matter the hardship...".

The lyrics of the song were passed around and echoed everywhere – from the bedrooms, the hallways to the deck. In the afternoons after a day of “full-out” activities on the island, the six sisters in my room would practice singing together, sharing choruses with great enthusiasm. Sometimes, as soon as we started singing, the next room would join in, the whole ship would be filled with laughter, everyone’s eyes would shine with joy…

The week-long trip ended, but the memories of that special journey remained in everyone’s heart, thereby engraven more deeply the teachings of President Ho Chi Minh: “The plain is our home, and the sea is our door. Can we guard our home without guarding the door? Where will the spies enter first? They enter through the front door. Therefore, we must educate our people to protect the coast.”

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thang-tu-nho-mai-truong-sa-313737.html