Father and son are both soldiers in Truong Sa.

(Baonghean) - In the last days of 2011, the Naval Region IV Command conducted a troop replacement. Soldiers from the mainland came to replace officers and soldiers who had completed their terms of service or military service in Truong Sa. The Nam Yet Island pier that day was very crowded and bustling. Greetings and laughter filled the air. Among the group of people from the island waiting at the pier was Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien, Political Commissar of Group I - Nam Yet Island.

Despite everyone's noisy laughter, he quietly followed the direction of the ship anchored nearly half a nautical mile from the island. Every time the boat stopped at the pier to bring people and goods to the island, he became more and more impatient. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien was waiting to welcome his son - soldier, new soldier Nguyen The Bon. What I imagined for that meaningful meeting was that they would rush to hug each other tightly in tears. I was wrong. After pulling his son from the boat onto the pier, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien immediately stood up straight, his eyes solemn and raised his hand to his forehead in a military salute. Responding to this ceremony, decisively, new soldier Nguyen The Bon also stood at attention and repeated the same action that his father had just performed. After that moment, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien came to hug his son tightly in his arms with tears in his eyes.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien and his son Nguyen The Bon

With 27 years of military service, with the Navy, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien has worked for a total of 5 years in the Truong Sa archipelago, including 2 years on duty on Nam Yet island. He and his son Nguyen The Bon did not know that one day they would meet on the same island. But Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien and his son only met and talked for one night. The next day, he returned to the mainland, while Nguyen The Bon stayed on Nam Yet island and began his days of studying and training, right where his father had worked and devoted himself. Before parting, I asked Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Sien about his military salute to his son. He said: "The Fatherland is above all, reporter!"

Article and photos: D.T