Coming to Truong Sa - a journey of special emotions

The feeling of setting foot on Truong Sa - the sacred archipelago of the Fatherland for the first time during the recent voyage was both an honor, a pride and a sacredness for me, with many impressions left behind...

“I am listening to the Fatherland calling my name/ With the sound of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa waves hitting the rocks…”. The melodies of the song “The Fatherland calls my name” have always echoed in my head since I knew I would be one of the 120 members of the Hanoi Working Group to visit and encourage the officers, soldiers and people of Truong Sa island district, DK1 Platform, in 2024. The day I received the notice to go on a business trip to Truong Sa, I was filled with excitement, honor and pride. I spent a lot of time reading documents about Truong Sa.

On a historic morning in late April in Khanh Hoa , a Navy vehicle picked us up from the guest house to Cam Ranh International Port to begin a voyage of more than 1,000 nautical miles (nearly 2,000km) to Truong Sa - an inseparable part of Vietnam's territory.

Because this was a long business trip and my first at sea, I had prepared more carefully and thoroughly than on land. The first two nights staying at a guest house on land in Khanh Hoa and even when getting on the car to Cam Ranh International Port, I always turned to my colleague sitting next to me to tell her about my feelings of excitement and anxiety as a way to reassure myself. The anxiety was not because I was afraid of difficulties or hardships, but because I was worried about how to adapt as quickly as possible to life on the ship, so that I could continue working in the coming days in Truong Sa.

When the car arrived at the port, we were getting our luggage to board the ship, a Navy officer announced, "Which room are the delegates staying in? Please notify the soldiers to help move their luggage down." At this time, in front of me were dozens of Navy officers and soldiers who were ready to support the delegation delegates. Going down to the assigned room on the ship, on the bed of each delegation member was a pillow and blanket neatly folded. Besides, there was also a pith helmet and a bag of personal belongings that had been prepared.

The impressions of the thoughtfulness and responsibility of the Navy officers and soldiers made not only me but also the members of the delegation exclaim "excellent" when asked about the logistics work on the ship.

At exactly 9:15 a.m. on April 19, Truong Sa 571 ship sounded three long horns to greet the mainland and brought more than 250 members of Working Group No. 10 to visit the soldiers and people of the islands of Truong Sa archipelago (Truong Sa district, Khanh Hoa province) and DK1/8 Que Duong platform. The ship, 71m long, 13.2m wide and 6m high, like a "giant fish" in the ocean, slowly parted the waves and left Cam Ranh International Port to bring affection from the mainland to Truong Sa.

In the middle of the sunny and windy open sea, we, the mainlanders, who are lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the islands of our Fatherland, all share the same honor, pride, excitement and a bit of excitement when starting our journey to the distant island.

While I was still confused and not yet used to the new space and the feeling of dizziness and swaying of the ship, it was time for lunch. According to the announcement on the ship's radio system, our room went to the dining room on the B floor to have dinner. With limited storage conditions on the ship, the meal still had enough green vegetables, meat, fish... With the habit of liking to learn, so right after the meal, I decided to "visit" the kitchen - where the daily dishes on the ship would be produced.

In the hot and greasy kitchen, I had only stood there for less than a minute and my back was already drenched in sweat, yet the chefs of Truong Sa 571 were still busy preparing daily meals for the entire ship. It seemed simple, but with limited food storage, preparing meals for more than 250 people on board was really hard work for the "cooks".

Since it was the first night and I was still not used to the rocking of the ship, I woke up at 3am and went out to the ship's corridor for a walk. As I passed the 20m2 kitchen, I could still hear the bustling laughter, mixed with the urgency and responsibility of the people we affectionately called "cooks". Each person took on a part of the task to prepare breakfast for the next morning for the crew members on board.

With such a large number of meals, on land it was already difficult and arduous, on the ship with cramped and unstable facilities, the preparation work was even more difficult and arduous. During the 7-day voyage with our group, they were always the first to wake up and the last to go to bed. Feeling that, members of the working groups of the Hanoi City Delegation took turns in the kitchen to help the "cooks" mentally.

According to the soldiers in the Truong Sa 571 ship service team, due to the large amount of food each meal, the cooking team is often divided into shifts to ensure the progress and quality of each meal. Cooking on the ship is much more difficult than cooking on shore, especially when the ship passes through rough seas with big waves, it is very difficult for the chef to maintain balance. In addition, the cooking space is not spacious and comfortable, so the serving officers and soldiers must be flexible, dividing the work appropriately, cooking which dish first, which dish later so that the food does not get cold when brought to the dining table.

Not only the "cooks", the crew's tasks are also extremely difficult, from being on duty, operating the ship to run safely to bringing goods and people to the island points safely. According to the crew, to bring the working group in and out of the islands according to the correct route, ensuring safety is always a task that must be carefully calculated. The terrain of the islands is complicated, except for the large Truong Sa island with a wharf, the Truong Sa 571 ship cannot get close to the remaining islands and must anchor about 1 - 2 nautical miles away. Bringing people and goods to the island is "increased" by motorboats, each trip about 15 people.

I still remember the day the ship arrived at the DK1/8 Que Duong Platform, according to the announcement from the ship commander, with the sea situation that day, our group could go up to the Platform to visit the officers and soldiers. However, to get the members of the working group up, it required a great effort. Docking and anchoring the boat in the middle of the waves so that the members of the group could go up to the Platform was an "art". To get up to the Platform was also a "battle" of coordination between the sailors driving the boat and the soldiers on the Platform because just a small mistake could easily cause injury...

During that voyage, each member of the working group had beautiful feelings and memories about the sea and islands of the Fatherland, Truong Sa, DK1 Platform and always thanked the officers, soldiers and sailors of Truong Sa 571 ship for their utmost efforts to ensure the safety of the working group.

(To be continued…)

15:11 May 30, 2024

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/den-voi-truong-sa-hai-trinh-cua-nhung-cam-xuc-dac-biet.html