A note of peace...

(Baonghean) - “Is there any peace without pain?” – A poet once wrote. That verse haunts me these days when I think about the sacrifice of 10 officers and soldiers of the Air Defense - Air Force.

Colonel Tran Quang Khai died while performing a combat training mission on a SU-30MK2 aircraft on June 14, 2016. Photo: Internet.

They left in the peace of the country, in the sorrow and grief of the people... They flew into another sky. They, the people who met us yesterday. Some wished that after the flight they would repaint the roof of their house, buy a new motorbike, save money to buy their mother a TV... They, before leaving, spent rare moments cutting their son's hair, or during their last vacation, sat all night massaging the feet of their war invalid father who had been bedridden for many years...

Choosing to be a soldier, surely those people accept to take on themselves the hardships and sacrifices, surely they do not dream of wealth and power? Their dreams in life are also simple, like the silence to which they devote themselves. But then, even those simple dreams, the deep sea will one day forever envelop...

The sky is still blue, the clouds are still white, and so many of us are rushing back into the rhythm of everyday life. But there are still fathers and mothers who suffer the pain of “green leaves falling before yellow leaves”, there are still children who only know their father’s face in the newspaper or through portraits, there are still wives who are startled and touch their own shadow in the long night… Not only those who leave and never return, but also those who stay today forever sacrificing their simple happiness.

And that sad silence reminds us not to forget, that silence also connects people with love, sharing, gratitude. We live peaceful days today, tomorrow and the future opens up from those silences...

BNA