The sea and islands in the hearts of journalists

The more stormy, the more I love the sea and islands…

Talking about the storms at sea, I cannot forget the trip to Con Co Island (Quang Tri Province) and Ly Son Island ( Quang Ngai Province) organized by the Naval Region 3 Command for the working delegation to visit, wish a happy new year, and give gifts to naval officers, soldiers and people on the two islands.

Reporters interviewed naval officers during their visit to wish soldiers and civilians on islands in the Southwest Sea a Happy New Year in 2025.

The 2,000-ton ship departed at 5 p.m. on January 22, 2024, amid the jubilation of nearly 300 delegates, reporters from newspapers and radio stations from provinces and cities, and naval officers and soldiers on board. Colleagues from newspapers and radio stations also enthusiastically discussed how to exploit news and articles. However, after only a few hours at sea, many people began to get seasick. The next morning, when the ship was a few hundred meters from Con Co Island, everyone excitedly prepared to go to the island, but the persistent rain, big waves, and strong winds extinguished all chances of reaching shore. Small canoes were lowered from the ship to carry goods, gifts, and people... all with great difficulty. Even the ropes broke, which was very dangerous. The huge waves crashing against the side of the ship, the waves splashing white foam onto the deck, made it even more impossible to get people from the ship to the canoe or small boat to get to the island.

After more than 2 hours of struggling with the waves and trying everything, the leaders of Naval Region 3 decided that they could not risk everyone's lives, so they only let the skilled sailors transfer the gifts and goods from the KN 390 ship to a canoe, and take them to the fishing boat of Con Co island so that the fishing boat could take them to the island. Everyone else would stay on the ship to wish everyone a Happy New Year online via a video conference. Only by witnessing the small canoe carrying the naval soldiers and goods and gifts swaying on the rough waves, sometimes seemingly swallowed by the waves, could one see how dangerous it was; and how much one loved and respected these men!

The ship continued its journey to Ly Son Island. Out of 7 people in my room, 6 of them were seasick. The navy men from the service team, logistics team, and medical team took turns coming to visit, bringing sweet potatoes, bread, corn, rice balls or porridge, and medicine; encouraging everyone to try to eat so they could take their medicine and have the strength to get to the island. They said that this year the sea was rougher than usual. Rarely had the waves been so big that it was impossible to bring people to shore like that. The waves were so big that when walking on the ship, you had to hold onto the crossbar to walk, otherwise you could fall at any time; when sleeping, you swayed like you were swinging a hammock... Luckily, when we arrived at Ly Son Island, the sea was not as rough as in Con Co, so even though it was drizzling, we were still able to get on a small boat to get to the island. Sitting on a small boat bobbing on the waves, feeling the saltiness of the sea and the rain splashing on our faces was an indescribable and memorable feeling for everyone in the group.

When the journey ended, everyone said goodbye to each other with regret and everyone thought that only by going on this trip could they understand and love more the navy soldiers who spend day and night at sea and on islands to protect the sea and sky of the Fatherland. The articles were therefore more emotional and proud. A year later, when the groups were preparing to go to the islands to celebrate Tet, everyone enthusiastically signed up to participate. The seasickness and fatigue of the past year seemed to disappear, giving way to love for the sea and islands to start a new voyage!

Love for the sea and islands gives wings to works that fly far

On the days before Tet 2025, I boarded the ship to join the working delegation organized by the Naval Region 5 Command, to visit and wish a Happy New Year to officers, soldiers and people on the islands in the Southwest sea. Departing from Phu Quoc port, the delegation visited, wished a Happy New Year and gave gifts to officers, soldiers and people on the islands: Hon Doc, Tho Chu, Hon Khoai, Hon Chuoi and Nam Du.

Ms. Hoang Thi Ngoi (cameraman) and reporters at the charity class on Hon Chuoi Island during the visit and New Year greetings to the soldiers and people on the islands in the Southwest sea on the occasion of Tet 2025

This trip was calm and quiet, only when reaching Hon Khoai Island, the sea was slightly rough; but for those who were going to sea for the first time and on a long trip, this was still a big challenge. Among them was Ms. Hoang Thi Ngoi, reporter of Cao Bang Radio and Television Station (now Cao Bang Newspaper), the only female cameraman of the newspaper and station on this trip. Ms. Ngoi shared: “This is the first time I have participated in a trip to visit and wish the soldiers and people on a remote island a Happy New Year. I have carefully prepared my health, equipment, and machinery to participate in this trip. Although it is difficult, seeing with my own eyes the lives of the people on the island, witnessing the dedication of the armed forces day and night to protect the sea and sky of the Fatherland, I am more determined and motivated to film beautiful and meaningful films. One thing in common when working in my hometown and here is to promote propaganda about border and island sovereignty . Cao Bang province has a border of more than 333km, and the islands here are key in the Southwest sea. All have an important role in protecting territorial sovereignty and territorial waters. Despite the geographical differences, the spirit of protecting the Fatherland of the soldiers everywhere is steadfast, making the people trust and proud.”

The working trip was attended by many brothers and sisters from different types of journalism and everyone had a spirit of solidarity, supporting each other in exploiting topics, sharing information and images to complete the task well. Mr. Tuan Nam, a reporter for the Voice of Vietnam, said: “In addition to information about visiting, wishing a happy new year, and giving gifts to soldiers and civilians, I also took the opportunity to do other topics about health, economics, and education on the islands. Through that, I want to learn more about the lives, thoughts, and feelings of the people and other forces to see the whole picture of life and developments in the Southwest sea and islands. I have been writing about the sea and islands for more than 10 years and have also traveled to the Southwest sea and islands many times, so calculating the time and destination to exploit the topics is much easier than many colleagues in other newspapers and radio stations. I am willing to share information with other colleagues, hoping that the journalistic works will contribute to spreading strongly to help readers and audiences better understand the lives of people on the islands as well as the responsibility of protecting the sea and islands of the island soldiers.”

The memories and stories about journalists’ trips to remote islands are endless. Among them, Truong Sa is always a sacred destination in the hearts of writers. For Ms. Truong Thu Suong, my colleague at Can Tho Newspaper, the voyage to Truong Sa archipelago on the occasion of Tet 2024 is an experience deeply engraved in her mind.

If April is considered the season of the “old lady at sea”, then the days before Tet are the fierce season of the open sea, the most feared are the huge waves that can break small boats in half. Ms. Suong said: “During the 20-day journey to Truong Sa, overcoming seasickness, we reached 7 islands out of 21 islands and 33 military bases of Truong Sa archipelago. In the spring, going to Truong Sa, the sea is often stormy but in return, there is also a lot of joy. We have time to stay on the island for a long time, eating, living, working with the soldiers and the people. The day we left Sinh Ton island, the last island to end the journey back to the mainland, looking at the image of the people and soldiers waving goodbye, I choked up and could not hold back my tears. I know that Truong Sa will always be in my heart!”

Ms. Suong always remembers the memorial ceremony for the heroic martyrs who sacrificed their lives at the Gac Ma incident on March 14, 1988; remembers the stories about the soldiers' determination in guarding the homeland's sea and islands and in planting trees and vegetables in places where fresh water is scarce; remembers the time when they wrapped banh chung, played games, participated in cultural activities or the sacred flag-raising moment at the beginning of the new year... All of those emotions and memories were fully conveyed by Ms. Suong in the 4-part series "Sacred Truong Sa" published in Can Tho Newspaper and that work was honored to win the A prize of the Journalism Award on Party building (Golden Hammer and Sickle Award) of Can Tho City for the 3rd time, 2024. In addition, she also won the C prize of this contest with the photo reportage "Spring in Truong Sa".

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The sea and islands in the hearts of journalists are like a warm blood that nourishes the soul and forges the character of the writer. It is also a sacred memory that makes everyone feel nostalgic and nostalgic whenever it is mentioned. And if we have the opportunity and health, we will continue to board ships to start new voyages…

Article and photos: LE THU

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/bien-dao-trong-trai-tim-nguoi-lam-bao-a187974.html