Journalist in Nghe An met Uncle Ho during 4 working trips

(Baonghean.vn) - Journalist Nguyen The Vien has been through two wars.anti-French and anti-AmericanThe greatest honor of his life was meeting Uncle Ho four times and listening to his advice, which served as preparation for his writing career.

CCB - Journalist Nguyen The Vien was honored to accompany President Ho Chi Minh when he visited Vinh Thanh commune - Yen Thanh on December 10, 1961.

Veteran Nguyen The Vien was born and raised in a Confucian family with a rich revolutionary tradition. In January 1951, when he had just finished the fourth grade of Le Doan Nha Private School, he participated in writing news for the 312th Division's newsletter, the People's Army Newspaper, about battles, highlighting the loyal and brave soldiers, and was praised and encouraged by the newspaper's editorial board. From then on, he had more motivation, enthusiastically picked up the pen and became a reporter for the People's Army Newspaper, then a reporter for the News Agency.

During his 9 years working at the News Agency, Nguyen The Vien met Uncle Ho 4 times, including 3 times following him to report. He recalled that the first time was on June 27, 1961, when Uncle Ho visited Co To Island, nearly 200 km from the coast of Mong Cai.

When he finished writing the article, he gave it to comrade Vu Ky - Uncle Ho's secretary for approval. Veteran Nguyen The Vien recalled: “At exactly 6 o'clock in the morning, I saw Uncle sitting attentively reading the newspaper. Uncle turned to ask: Where are you from? Yes, Uncle, I'm from Nghe An. My hometown is too far away. Uncle glanced and smiled. He looked at me and said: Do you know where this is? Yes, Uncle, it's the Presidential Palace. Uncle stood up and said seriously: You are a journalist, but you come to the Presidential Palace dressed in sloppy clothes, your shirt is not tucked into your pants, and your sandals are not tucked into the back. How can you educate anyone with such behavior? I was flustered and embarrassed. Seeing that, Uncle smiled and said: Sit down, eat some candy and then read the article you just wrote for Uncle and Uncle Ky to listen to.”

And the second time I met Uncle Ho was during a big flood, he received news that a section of the dike in Ninh Giang district had broken, he went to visit and help the people with flood control. While the provincial and district officials were waiting to receive him in the provincial party committee's guest room, he went down to visit the people in the flooded area.

Uncle Ho sat on the water wheel and joined the people in fighting the flood. Veteran Nguyen The Vien recounted: “Hearing that news, the cadres came down by car, all of them dressed very neatly. Uncle Ho pointed to the Provincial Party Secretary and said, are you guys going to fight the flood with the people or watching the performance, why are you dressed so beautifully? The Secretary and some journalists just kept silent...”

On December 10, 1961, Mr. Nguyen The Vien was again able to follow Uncle Ho and the Government delegation to visit Vinh Thanh commune, where there was a fairly good tree planting and irrigation movement in the North. Assigned to stay and write an article about Vinh Thanh after Uncle Ho's visit, he went directly to each production group and team and discovered many more generals on the agricultural production front. Those typical examples were promptly published in Nhan Dan Newspaper and were awarded badges and certificates of merit by Uncle Ho.

CCB - Journalist Nguyen The Vien always follows news and events of Nghe An Newspaper every day.

In early 1965, he was again assigned to serve as a reporter for the Central Highlands battlefield, and from then on he took the pen name Truong Son. The area was large, his team of reporters had only 7 people, and he was assigned to cover major battles. Working under rain of bombs and bullets, many times close to death, Nguyen The Vien and his teammates stuck close to the battlefield to write news to encourage soldiers and people. During this time, he wrote over 1,500 articles of all genres and took over 1,000 photos of historical value.

With the above achievements, he was awarded 6 medals of various types, and received the Second Prize of the Vietnam Journalists Association for writing about the food self-sufficiency movement of Quang Ninh province. Veteran Nguyen The Vien shared: “Always remembering Uncle Ho's teachings, I have learned that I must stick to the bases to train myself, from the styles as Uncle Ho taught, modesty, simplicity. A journalist is like an antenna that must be sensitive to life, then he can write sharply; while writing, he must be very careful, stick to the locality to have new topics to praise new people...”

Mr. Nguyen The Vien takes care of bonsai and enjoys gardening.

In 1986, Nguyen The Vien retired in his hometown, a 2/4 disabled veteran, but he continued to work hard on the front line against poverty and often wrote to reflect the vivid life in local newspapers and radio stations.

Notably, recently, he was awarded the second prize in the Uncle Ho storytelling contest organized by the district, the third prize nationwide for writing about Dien Bien memories; participated in publishing the book "Echoes of Dien Bien"; and is preparing to launch the book "Echoes of the Path Opening Song" written about the memories of former youth volunteers in Yen Thanh district.

Duong Nhung

Yen Thanh Radio and Television Station