It was the summer days of 2015, when I was a lecturer at the Political Officer School, I saw the image of groups of students diligently practicing to prepare for the parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945 / September 2, 2015). Early in the morning, each group of students marched to the training site, walking in the middle of the waking dawn, drawing a beautiful, majestic scene like an army going to battle. In the hot, sultry weather of the peak summer, many creative stories to fight the heat, the love between the army and the people, the camaraderie, the overcoming of difficulties in training were told, making everyone who heard them moved and proud.

The author (second from right) and other writers visited and learned about Sailing Ship 286-Le Quy Don, August 2025. Photo: PHUONG NGUYEN

With emotions surging, I finished the article and sent it to the email of the People's Army Newspaper. When I submitted the article, my initial wish was to share my feelings without thinking about whether the content was suitable for the newspaper or not. However, I still anxiously waited for a response from the editorial office. A day passed, and on the second day, I unexpectedly received a phone call from an editorial staff member of the Newspaper. Over the phone, he gave compliments on the emotions and images I conveyed in the article. However, to be consistent with the topic, genre and content of the newspaper, he sincerely discussed and gave me suggestions on necessary issues for me to edit and complete the article, promptly encouraging the students who were overcoming difficulties day and night to practice the parade mission.

Just a week later, I received a phone call from him congratulating me on the article “Footsteps to a Peaceful Homeland” being published in the People’s Army Newspaper. He encouraged me to continue writing articles for the Newspaper, and at the same time guided me on topics and content that suited my abilities, strengths, and style. Not only that, he also sent me many documents and journalistic works for me to read and reference. I respectfully printed and bound those documents to read carefully, and they are still a useful guide for me to this day.

Now, as an editor of the Literature and Arts Book Editorial Department, the People's Army Publishing House, I am more deeply imbued with the valuable lessons learned when collaborating with the Soldiers' Newspaper. Collaborating with the People's Army Newspaper gives me the opportunity to participate in a military-wide journalism training course and meet many experienced journalists. Through that, I have matured in each article, accumulating a relatively diverse portfolio of works in various content areas. Not only that, I have also been trained in word usage skills, creative writing, carefulness, meticulousness, and accuracy before providing information to readers.

Through the process of collaborating with the People's Army Newspaper, I also learned more communication skills, exchanging with writers, poets, scientists , unit officers... Those exchanges are not only directly related to the content of the manuscript being edited but also the process of orientation, placing articles according to the requirements and publishing tasks in the following years. With new collaborators, even if the manuscript is not really perfect, if there are good ideas, I will discuss further, "sow" confidence, promote efforts so that the author can edit, supplement, and complete. Because at that time, I always remember the friendly exchanges, enthusiastic help when collaborating with the People's Army Newspaper. Those are the things I have learned, summarized and best applied to my current book editing work.

With sincere feelings, I always thank the valuable lessons from collaborating with the People's Army Newspaper that have helped me grow up and continue to affirm the values ​​in the current publishing field.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/truyen-cam-hung-nghe-viet-cho-cong-tac-vien-882642