For those of us who are visiting Truong Sa for the first time, everything here is very new. From the rows of trees, the wharf, the Vietnamese communal house roofs to meeting and chatting with the special citizens on the island…
Of the 21 islands and island points with 33 military bases in the Truong Sa archipelago, only 3 locations have people living there, which are in the island communes of Song Tu Tay, Sinh Ton and Truong Sa town. They are young families, living and attached to Truong Sa and consider it their second homeland. Although hundreds of nautical miles away from the mainland, it is difficult to receive news from home. However, for the households in Truong Sa, living in the love and care of neighbors, of the military and people on the island has helped them ease their homesickness and focus on working and production, taking care of their children's education.
We set foot on Song Tu Tay Island in the afternoon, at this time many households, upon hearing the news, also went to the pier to welcome the group, helping to unload goods, they just wanted to meet and shake hands with the new people from the mainland. Strangers who had never met before suddenly became strangely familiar. More specially, we also met the children of Nghe An who became daughters-in-law and sons-in-law of Khanh Hoa land and then went to Truong Sa to live as a fate.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, from Hung Trung commune, Hung Nguyen district (Nghe An), is one of the households here. In 2010, after going to Binh Duong to work as a worker, she met Mr. Ngo Thanh Duoc, born and raised in Cam Phu ward, Cam Ranh city (Khanh Hoa). After returning to her husband's hometown for a while, in 2018, she and her husband decided to move to Truong Sa to live and start a business.
On the day of departure, the couple brought along their two young children, the older one just finished kindergarten, the younger one still in kindergarten, and they were in tears. On top of that, due to the rough seas that day, it took them 22 days to get to Song Tu Tay. The parents were able to endure the seasickness, but the little one was very pitiful.
After the initial confusion, with the help of officers, soldiers and neighboring households, they gradually integrated into life on the island. In addition to taking care of his family, Mr. Duoc also joined the militia squad, while Ms. Lan grew vegetables and raised chickens to improve the family's life. Up to now, the two children Ngo Nguyen Thien Long (older brother) and Ngo Nguyen Thien Lan (younger brother) have almost finished primary school.
“Although life on the island is very poor, especially the fresh water, wind power and solar power are sometimes insufficient, thanks to the solidarity and support between the sister units and the surrounding households, it is less difficult. On holidays and Tet, households gather with officers and soldiers to wrap Chung cakes, pick democracy flowers, celebrate New Year's Eve, listen to the President's New Year wishes and go to the pagoda at the beginning of the year. Peaceful life just flows like that” – Ms. Lan opened her heart.
Not only Lan's family, Sam Van Luong's family, whose hometown is Chau Quang commune, Quy Hop district (Nghe An), is also a special citizen of Song Tu Tay. Luong married a woman from Cam Thanh Bac commune, Cam Lam district (Khanh Hoa) in 2006. After a period of living in his wife's hometown, in 2018 his family also moved to Truong Sa. Currently, the eldest child of the family, born in 2008, is being sent to his grandparents to study on the mainland, while the youngest daughter, born in 2013, followed her parents to the island to live and study.
Life for the households on the island communes in Truong Sa passes peacefully. Every day at 5am, when the alarm bell on Song Tu Tay Island rings, it is also the dawn of the island commune's citizens. The children go to school, the sisters and mothers clean the house, increase production, and the brothers - the pillars of the family - put on militia uniforms to patrol and protect the island with the officers and soldiers, and in their free time they go fishing.
Knowing that we came here from Nghe An to work, both Ms. Lan and Mr. Luong also wanted to send their sincere wishes of good health to their families and relatives in their hometown. They believe that their children will be very proud to tell their friends about Truong Sa, about the place where they grew up. As for them, they always want to tell their beautiful memories of Truong Sa to their families and relatives with great pride and honor. How could they not be honored when they have become citizens of the place where the waves and winds blow? That pride was evident in the eyes and smiles of all the citizens on Song Tu Tay island commune and Sinh Ton island commune where we came.
The special thing about the island communes of Song Tu Tay and Sinh Ton is that the houses of the households are built close together, numbered in order. In front of each house gate is a set of stone tables and chairs, inside the yard there are always trellises of green squash and bitter melon, and behind the house there are the sounds of pigs, chickens and ducks crying for food... Not only is there love, care and mutual assistance between households. The households are also recognized and helped by the island's clusters and units. That further enhances the beauty of the military-civilian relationship.
Mr. Doan The Hien and his wife, Ms. Lu Kim Cuc, are one of the households living on Sinh Ton Island. They are from Cam Hai Dong Commune, Cam Lam District (Khanh Hoa). After moving to Sinh Ton Island, they received support from the State to build a solid house. In addition to some basic household items, when they moved to the island, they also bought some convenient items such as a TV and a freezer to store food.
Showing us around the house, Mr. Hien said that when he first came here, he was not used to life and encountered many difficulties, especially in storing fresh water and increasing production. Living on the mainland with grid electricity was familiar, but now coming to the island, using solar power, wind power and sometimes using the army's generator, he was very confused at first. But gradually, with the help of the officers and soldiers on the island, and once he got used to this life, he felt more comfortable and less pressured with the hustle and bustle of life on the mainland.
While chatting, he took the opportunity to fix some light bulbs and switches in the house to connect to the solar panel, Mr. Hien showed off that this solar panel was a gift from previous working groups. Although life on the island is hard, the households on the island, regardless of hometown, always take care of and love each other.
Met Ms. Phan Nguyen Xuan Thuy - household number 2 on Sinh Ton island when Ms. Thuy was cleaning her house. There were also 3 young soldiers from Group 2 who came to help her family, they brought lime to repaint the fence to make it beautiful to welcome Spring. This is the unit that helps Ms. Thuy's family in life. Whenever the family needs something, the brothers in the unit come to help, sometimes by reinstalling solar panels, repairing household items and furniture.
Ms. Thuy shared that the timely help from officers and soldiers of the twinned unit is very practical. It helps the families on the island to ease their homesickness. Whenever the family has an event, they invite the twinned unit to join in the fun, especially on death anniversaries, holidays and Tet. Thanks to that, the solidarity between the army and the people is always promoted and strengthened, everyone loves and is attached to Truong Sa.
Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Cao Toan - Political Commissar of Sinh Ton Island said: Establishing friendship with households and civil units is the general policy of the unit, on the basis of thoroughly grasping the Policies, Resolutions, and instructions of superiors on mass mobilization work. In addition to helping households, the unit also strengthens propaganda and mobilizes people to well implement the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's policies and laws. Implementing the motto "telling people to understand, making people believe", the unit has carried out mass mobilization work well, combined with propaganda about the sea and islands not only for households on the island but also for fishermen when anchoring on the island. Those actions contribute to raising the sense of responsibility of all classes of people, building a solid "people's heart position" on the sea and islands of the homeland.
It can be seen that, with the great attention of the Party, the State, the Ministry of National Defense in policies and regimes, and the enthusiastic help of units where the households are located, the lives of people on island communes and island towns in Truong Sa have been gradually improved. Those feelings have become a strong glue, connecting the military and people on the island.
As Mr. Huynh Duc Phong - a resident and also the Squad Leader of the Militia and Self-Defense Squad on Sinh Ton Island said, "Living, working and studying on the beloved Truong Sa archipelago, amidst the flag-raising ceremonies with the sea breeze in front of the sovereignty marker, and hearing the proud stories about the bravery of the naval soldiers, the indomitable and resilient spirit of our ancestors, is something special for us. It is even more special when we are citizens, living witnesses who are witnessing every day the silent sacrifices of the officers and soldiers for the peace of the sacred land of the Fatherland."
