A solid foothold in the middle of the ocean

(Baonghean) - In the middle of the vast ocean, Truong Sa soldiers are not only living milestones to build a strong belief in the sovereignty of the sea and islands, but also a solid support for Vietnamese fishermen to confidently stick to the sea and exploit the fishing grounds. And, from the close attachment and companionship with fishermen, Truong Sa island soldiers are given more spiritual strength and will, and are passed on sea experiences from the smallest things to ensure survival, overcome all difficulties and challenges, face and overcome any danger or uncertainty...

On the 9th day of the voyage to Truong Sa, ship HQ 571 took our working group through waves that were sometimes level 8, to go from Phan Vinh island to Toc Tan submerged island. From early morning on January 13, the weather turned cold, white-capped waves appeared with longer and higher wavelengths as announced by a "special bulletin" of the sea. That is, on the morning of January 12, when the ship was anchored at Phan Vinh island, a school of dolphins appeared and circled around our ship for about 10 minutes. As the dolphins rushed to the surface of the sea, the cheers of welcome grew louder and louder, especially from the young soldiers who were on their first mission to Truong Sa.

Major Vu Xuan Thuan, from Thai Thuy (Thai Binh), the chef serving the delegation, with 16 years of experience at sea, showed a slightly pensive expression. Through the experiences learned from fishermen and his extensive experience, Thuan told us that in Truong Sa, dolphins usually only jump around the deck of the ship whenever there is a change in the weather. If the sea is very rough and dolphins jump in groups, the sea will be calm afterwards. If the sea is calm and dolphins jump, then after a while or a day, there will be big waves and strong winds. Therefore, sailors and fishermen in Truong Sa consider dolphins as friends, "messengers" of the sea and also call them "Mr. Fish", never catch or eat dolphins.

Patrolling on Truong Sa Lon Island. Photo: PV

What Mr. Thuan was worried about was also in the calculations of the maritime sailors on the ship. Because the day the sea was rough was also the day the ship arrived at Toc Tan Island, a submerged island located on a coral reef surrounded by coral edges and orphaned rocks, with an extremely large lake in the middle, some places more than 10m deep. Thanks to that, Toc Tan is also an ideal storm shelter for naval ships and fishermen when fishing in Truong Sa. So after the island points in Truong Sa Dong, Da Dong, Phan Vinh, we arrived at Toc Tan Island - where there is a shelter lake, just in time for the sea to "turn over". It turned out that the itinerary of the working group had been programmed in detail, methodically and scientifically under the meticulous synthesis of calculations from many angles, many specialties, including the experiences inherited from the fishing profession that has existed for generations in Truong Sa.

Wall newspaper celebrating the Year of the Goat on Truong Sa Dong island. Photo: NK

Joining the delegation on Toc Tan Island this time was physician Cao Van Tu (born in 1991), living in Hamlet 12, Dien Thinh Commune (Dien Chau), one of those who took on a new assignment in Truong Sa for the first time. Tu just graduated from Military Medical College 2 (Ho Chi Minh City) in June 2014. Tu said that since studying at the school, many young people have cherished the desire to take on challenges in Truong Sa. Currently, not only students from military medical schools want to work in Truong Sa after graduation, but many military doctors and medical staff from civilian hospitals have also volunteered to go to the island. Up to now, all military hospitals have sent doctors, medical staff, and pharmacists to take turns at Truong Sa island locations. It is known that Military Region IV Hospital (located in Vinh City, Nghe An) has been responsible for taking care of soldiers' health on An Bang island for several years. Cao Xuan Tu said that he was very happy that during this trip to the islands, he met 3 colleagues working at Military Region IV Hospital who were assigned to An Bang Island: 1 nursing bachelor, 1 medical doctor, and 1 anesthesiologist.

At the Toc Tan B island hall, during the conversation when receiving new tasks, the young officers and soldiers who came to the island for the first time were very confident when they were surrounded by young but experienced people like Lieutenant Nguyen Van Duong (born in 1980), from Lac Son commune (Do Luong). Nguyen Van Duong joined Toc Tan C in August 2014, but before that he had 4 consecutive years of guard duty at the Tu Chinh and Phuc Tan platforms from 2007 to 2011. When the new soldiers were excited about the feeling of celebrating Tet At Mui away from home, Duong said that he himself had "seniority" in celebrating the traditional Tet at sea and this was the 5th time, but he was not sad but very excited because on the island there were also very special joys to make up for Tet far from home, far from the mainland.

The new soldiers were even more excited to learn that Mr. Duong is the youngest in a family of four siblings all of whom are attached to the navy: The eldest brother is Captain Nguyen Van Hung, currently the captain of the Bien Dong 134 ship (Flotilla 921, Squadron 129); the second sister is Lieutenant Nguyen Thi Binh and her husband both work in the Navy Region 4; the younger sister is Nguyen Thi Phuong, married to Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Van Tu, works in the Navy Region 3. Duong said that in addition to the task of being ready for combat, officers and soldiers on Toc Tan island also have the task of rescuing and helping fishermen exploit seafood when they encounter accidents or difficulties at sea. That is both a task and a joy for officers and soldiers on the island. He has only been in Toc Tan B for less than 5 months but has witnessed many fishermen coming to ask for fresh water, medicine, and even rice. “We know that people only come to us when they are in trouble, so we are always ready to help. There are times when there is not much water left, but when fishermen come to ask for help, the island still shares it so that people can overcome the difficulties,” Nguyen Van Duong confided.

Regarding the matter of helping fishermen at sea, before that, on January 8, when we visited Da Dong A Island, military doctor, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Lam from Nghi My Commune (Nghi Loc) said that because our officers and soldiers practice good health, and are carefully screened before going to the island, there are rarely any significant cases of illness, but mainly examination, treatment and rescue for fishermen. In 2014, Da Dong A Island had 68 fishermen coming to ask for medicine. Mainly medicine for stomach pain, ulcerative colitis, high fever due to flu, pneumonia. The most memorable memory of this doctor was the times he treated some cases of fishermen with food poisoning due to eating toxins in fish and snails. In 2014, doctor Nguyen Van Lam followed a boat out to treat fishermen from a Tien Giang fishing boat fishing in Truong Sa, out of 8 people, 6 were poisoned. Fortunately, after treatment, everyone recovered. Another time, Quang Nam fishermen were poisoned by eating strange snails, more than a dozen people were exhausted, the military doctors arrived at the ship but no one was strong enough to control the ship. Nguyen Van Lam and his teammates treated them while maneuvering to bring the ship to a safe anchorage. That trip, luckily everyone was rescued and brought to shore to recover.

Master, Lieutenant Colonel Pham Quang Trung, Chief of Phan Vinh Island's Infirmary (formerly Deputy Head of the Surgery Department of Military Hospital 7), said that in the past, the island received many patients who used their mouths to suck up gasoline and oil while refueling at sea and choked, which was very dangerous, and suffered from quite severe pneumonia. The military medical staff of the islands agreed to consider this as a content that needs to be propagated so that fishermen can stop using this primitive and toxic manual method. Therefore, in 2014, there were no more cases of fishermen choking on gasoline and oil...

Also in Truong Sa, officers and soldiers were passed on countless experiences and valuable manuals for the seafaring profession by fishermen, and then those who came in passed them on to those who left, and those who came before passed them on to those who came after. Like today, one of the lessons that Cao Xuan Tu had to learn when he went to Toc Tan was that on this island it was "forbidden" to eat grouper and red snapper caught in this area. Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Cao Cuong, Commander of Toc Tan B Island, said that grouper and red snapper are specialties of the sea, a delicious dish to serve guests in Truong Sa, but grouper and red snapper caught in Toc Tan are poisonous because this island has a type of toxic algae, any grouper or red snapper in this area, if caught and eaten by anyone, will be poisoned, paralyzed, have stiff joints, and knees as if someone had broken them down. But right from the first day he arrived at the island, Cao Xuan Tu learned that in Toc Tan there was a species of horned parrotfish, a precious fish, whose meat was considered the best in Truong Sa sea. It was called horned parrotfish because its head had a hard horn layer, this species of fish hit the coral to break it and search for food in it...

Our working route this time mainly passed through submerged islands. In the first 9 days, we passed through 7 submerged islands, and felt warm because it was the end of the 11th lunar month, the last stage of the heavy rain season in Truong Sa, but no island lacked vegetables and food. A notable point is that every island can make tofu and ferment bean sprouts to eat. Military doctor Nguyen Van Tuan, from Kinh Mon district (Hai Duong) was the one who brought the "profession" of making tofu to the brothers on Da Dong C island. Mr. Tuan said that it was a profession he learned while working on Thuyen Chai island. When he was on Thuyen Chai island, he often used the water of sour tamarind leaves as a coagulant. When he arrived at Da Dong C island, he ran out of sour tamarind leaves, and thought that this profession had been "lost", but the fishermen on Ninh Thuan fishing boats "saved" him with a new method of making sour substances from yeast. With the little yeast these fishermen gave him, the next job was just to take the daily cold rice to ferment into yeast. Making tofu from the batch is whiter, more beautiful, more delicious….

Having just gone through a part of the journey drifting on the vast ocean, the small stories that we listened to and picked up, anchored in us extremely profound things about the beauty of the relationship between the army and the people, creating a solid foundation to exploit the potential together, protect the rich and sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland's territorial waters with a firm belief... Saying goodbye to Toc Tan Island, while the sea was still violently rumbling under the hull of the ship, we bravely headed straight with the HQ 571 ship. Ahead, our dear comrades and comrades were waiting...

Ngo Kien(E-mail from Truong Sa)