Private Lo Van Lun - an example of strong will

(Baonghean.vn) - Has dark skin, tall, strong build and speaks Lao more fluently than Kinh.

That was the first impression when we met Private Lo Van Lun, a soldier of the 18th Signal Company, 335th Regiment.iTraining class for candidates to join the Party. Confiding in us, Lun confided: "My hometown is Keo Con village, Keng Du commune (Ky Son), nearly 80 km from the district center but only a few hundred meters from the Vietnam - Laos border."

Through understanding, Lun's family situation was very difficult. When his mother was 7 months old, his father died due to being crushed by a log. Every day, his mother went to the forest to pick bamboo shoots to sell to earn money to raise 3 children. Many days, when his mother came back from work, it rained heavily and she couldn't cross the stream, so the children had to go hungry. During the lean season, it was common for there to be no meals. However, the intelligent and studious nature of the boy Lun was revealed very early. His friends dropped out of school to get married, but Lun was still determined to learn. After graduating, seeing that his mother was in poor health, Lun did not take the university entrance exam but stayed home to help his mother work on the farm. At the end of 2014, Lun "captured" Duong Thi Phuong from the same village to be his wife.

Private Lo Van Lun (front row, right) and his teammates increase production.

When we asked why Lun did not ask to stay at home, he shared: “Performing military service is the responsibility of every citizen. If we only worry about ourselves, who will protect the Fatherland? The army is a good environment for us to study and train so that we can return to build our homeland. Since I returned to work at the unit, I have learned a lot of knowledge about the military, politics, logistics and technology. In every letter, I tell my wife to eat hygienically, not to raise pigs and chickens on the floor but to keep them in cages, to feed them three meals a day so they grow quickly, to plant trees, to plow the soil, fertilize, and choose the right seeds to give high yields. I also propagate to everyone in the village not to listen to bad people who incite illegal border crossings, not to marry people of the same bloodline, to eliminate child marriage, to eliminate superstitious practices…” It is known that after a year of work, Lun has saved up 3.5 million VND in allowance money to send to his wife.

Private Lo Van Lun.

Talking to us, Lieutenant Cao Van Tu - Political Commissar of Company 18 informed: Lun is a soldier with good health, honest and simple character, lives in harmony with everyone, and is not afraid of hardships. When he was assigned to the unit, everyone was worried that Lun could not translate codes or transmit messages, but after a short time, he mastered the equipment, connected to the network skillfully, and translated the M82 code very quickly and accurately.

Not only completing his own tasks well, Lun often helps his teammates. "As an ethnic minority living in a remote area, his family is very poor, his wife and mother are often sick, so the officers and soldiers in the unit often encourage and help Lun to strive to complete all tasks well; recently, the Party Committee and Party cell introduced Lun to attend a training class to join the Party" - Political Commissar Cao Van Tu added.

Private Lo Van Lun, a Khmu ethnic, born in 1996, enlisted in the first batch in 2016. Saying goodbye to Lun and his comrades when the blue smoke of the afternoon was lingering over the Giang Man mountain range, we still remember his words: "I am determined to complete all assigned tasks well. Before leaving the army, I will strive to join the Party and register for reserve officer training to continue my military career in the locality." We wish him to soon realize his dream.

Le Tuong Hieu