The oath of honor resounds.

In the middle of the ocean, the soldiers on the offshore platforms stand solemnly beneath the national flag, reciting the Ten Oaths of Honor. They are ready to sacrifice themselves, determined to uphold the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland.

At the DK1/10 platform on the Ca Mau shoal, Ca Mau province, at 7:00 AM on the first day of the Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit), officers and soldiers held a flag-raising ceremony to mark the beginning of the new year. This is an annual tradition every time Tet (Lunar New Year) arrives. Soldiers in their late teens and early twenties, and officers with the ranks of lieutenant and major, stood solemnly in their uniforms before the national flag.

As the homeland calls my name

After assembling and adjusting his uniform, Major Lam Van Hien, Commander of the DK1/10 platform, looked up at the national flag and loudly proclaimed: "Attention! Salute the flag… salute. National anthem!"

After the stirring national anthem echoed across the vast ocean, Major Hien ordered: "Lieutenant Dang Van Tien, professional soldier, step out of line and take your position to recite the Ten Oaths of Honor." "Understood," Lieutenant Tien replied.

"We, soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army, in the honor of revolutionary soldiers, swear under the glorious flag of the Fatherland: 'One: To sacrifice everything for the Vietnamese Fatherland, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam , striving to build a peaceful, independent, national, democratic, and socialist Vietnam…'" As Lieutenant Dang Van Tien's voice faded, the soldiers shouted in unison: "We swear!"

Deep within the eyes of the soldiers at the DK1/10 offshore platform lies a love for the sea and islands. With a mixture of emotion and pride, Corporal Phan Tuan Anh (DK1/10 platform) shared: "For the first time in my life as a soldier, I stood and saluted the national flag in the middle of the ocean. The feeling was incredibly sacred."

Lieutenant Dang Van Tien, who directly read the 10 oaths of honor at the DK1/10 offshore platform, said emotionally: "The annual flag-raising ceremony before welcoming the new spring at the DK1 offshore platforms is the most sacred flag-raising ceremony to carry out the task of maintaining sovereignty in all situations. When listening to the national anthem or the 10 oaths of honor, everyone feels deeply moved, as if the homeland is calling their name. Flag-raising on the mainland is sacred, but flag-raising at the front lines of the homeland is even more sacred. Every word, every sentence seems to permeate our very being."

National flag-raising ceremony at the DK1 offshore platform. Photo: Tran Anh

Young soldiers hoist the national flag for the first time in the middle of the ocean.

Pride and arrogance

At the same time, at the DK1/15 offshore platform, the New Year's flag-raising ceremony took place solemnly on the platform's rooftop.

Captain Nguyen Van Tuong, a professional soldier in his white uniform, solemnly recited the third oath: "Continuously uphold the spirit of socialist patriotism and proletarian internationalism; cultivate a resolute and persistent fighting spirit; not be arrogant in victory, not be discouraged in defeat; not lose heart even in hardship and suffering; not be disheartened in the face of life and death. Every task will be completed, every difficulty overcome, every enemy defeated. I swear."

In the dawn light of the first day of the new spring, everyone turned their eyes to the red flag with a yellow star. It was a truly beautiful, proud, and honorable image, for they carried on their shoulders an immense mission: to protect the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland.

The DK1/15 platform is one of 15 "steel fortresses" in the current DK1 platform system of the 2nd Naval Region. Before 1998, this area also housed the Phuc Nguyen 2A (DK1/2) platform. This platform was destroyed by Typhoon Fathes in the early morning of December 13, 1998. Three officers and soldiers perished at sea, their bodies still unaccounted for. As is customary for seafarers, every time a ship passes through the Phuc Nguyen area, it stops to offer incense and lay flowers in remembrance of the fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives on the continental shelf of the Fatherland.

Although he has "laid down his arms," ​​the days spent at the DK1 platform will forever remain the most beautiful days of his life as a soldier for Mr. Hoang Van Thuy, former radio operator number 2 of the Phuc Nguyen 2A platform. Mr. Thuy is from Do Luong district, Nghe An province, and currently lives in Ward 8, Vung Tau City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. He confided: "The event of the Phuc Nguyen 2A platform collapsing due to a storm, resulting in the deaths of three of my comrades, was truly heartbreaking. We naval soldiers know what happens when facing strong winds and high waves. Going to the platform is like going into battle. Even without bombs and bullets, the hardships and sacrifices are no different from wartime."

Lieutenant Colonel Nghiem Xuan Thai - Secretary of the Party Committee and Political Commissar of the DK1 Battalion - stated that since the establishment of the Economic, Scientific and Service Cluster (DK1) on the southern continental shelf (July 5, 1989), generations of officers and soldiers of the 2nd Naval Region, specifically the DK1 Battalion - 2nd Naval Region Command, have set aside their personal feelings of youth to be present and perform their duties on the offshore platforms, accepting countless difficulties and hardships. Despite the utmost concern from the Party, the State, the military, the Navy, and the entire nation, in 1990 and 1998, harsh weather conditions and the devastating effects of ocean storms caused the collapse of several offshore platforms. "At the moment between life and death, you clearly demonstrated unwavering courage, boundless loyalty to the Party, the Fatherland, and the people, holding your ground to the very end, accepting sacrifice for the Fatherland as a soldier's oath of honor. Your sacrifice has become a beautiful and shining symbol of the heroic qualities of naval soldiers in the new era," Lieutenant Colonel Thai emphasized.

Where there is hardship and difficulty, there is also the greatest glory and pride. Whether in war or peace, hardship and toil always fall upon the shoulders of the soldier. It is a sacred mission, a solemn oath of honor that must never be broken!

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bien-dao/vang-vong-loi-the-danh-du-20230204200340479.htm