"The Torch of Peace in my hand blazes brightly."

(Baonghean) - These are the lyrics from the song "The Homeland Calls My Name" by composer Dinh Trung Can, set to a poem by a Vietnamese person living far from their homeland. A senior journalist and Party member sang it to me over the phone while he was on the first trip to visit and extend New Year greetings to officers and soldiers in Truong Sa during the Year of the Snake (2013). He recounted that every morning, watching the sunrise over the sea, the image of the rising sun like a magnificent torch of peace rising above the countless fierce waves of the ocean. Every morning, seeing the beautiful image of the country at the northernmost point of the country, at that moment, his heart resonated with the powerful refrain "Sacred Homeland/Sacred Homeland"...

Propaganda poster by artist Bui Dai Hao (Hanoi)

One day before the Lunar New Year, I received a call from someone in the far easternmost part of the country, and listened to melodies and lyrics about the homeland written by Vietnamese people living abroad. Then, on my way to work, I strolled through the vibrant streets of Vinh City, ablaze with flowers from hundreds of regions. Besides the familiar blossoms, I noticed the lively presence of new colors: lilies, wild peach blossoms, and orchids from Ky Son, Que Phong, Bolikhamsai, and Hua Phan (Laos); velvet roses, gladioli, and hydrangeas from Da Lat; yellow apricot blossoms from the South; and it wasn't difficult to find fresh tulips from the Netherlands... Suddenly, I thought, there seems to be a convergence and shared feeling not only of sounds and colors on the eve of the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake and the celebration of the 83rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam!

Each new day for our nation begins with the dawn coming from the sea. On February 3, 1930, a spring day, the Communist Party of Vietnam was founded, marking a turning point in the history of the Vietnamese revolution. Since that day, under the leadership of the Party and the great President Ho Chi Minh, our Party has undertaken the historical mission of leading the Vietnamese revolution, always fighting wholeheartedly for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, and for the happiness of the people. For the past 83 years, history has affirmed that the correct leadership of the Party is the decisive factor in all the victories of the Vietnamese revolution. To have the Spring of Peace, Independence, and Freedom today, we have gone through countless bloody battles, facing and defeating numerous enemies. Among them, not a few enemies came from the sea.

Every meal has the salty taste of the sea. The sea is vast yet so close. Upholding the sacred sea and sky of the Fatherland, and preserving a peaceful and stable environment for development, is also about preserving the spring of the nation, preserving the achievements of the revolution that generations of Vietnamese have paid for with their sea and sky, their contributions and sacrifices, ensuring that each new day begins brilliantly and gloriously like a blazing torch of peace at the forefront of the Fatherland. This sacred task is not only the duty of the officers and soldiers guarding the land and sky on the front-line islands, but also the responsibility and duty of every cadre, Party member, and every patriotic Vietnamese citizen. Believe in yourselves, believe in the land and sky, believe in the spring of the Party!

Duc Duong