Thinking of the Homeland from Eye Island

(Baonghean.vn) -Riding the waves to reach Mat Island on the anniversary of the Hung Kings (10/3 lunar calendar), looking at the waves rising and rolling, I remembered the sea of ​​people from all over the world making a respectful pilgrimage to Ngu Linh Mountain - where the Hung Kings are worshiped. The soldiers of Mat Island today are always looking forward, have been doing many good deeds, good things to protect and build the country, repaying the kindness of their ancestors.

For generations, Mat Island and Ngu Island have been like a wall protecting the land of Nghe An from storms and tempests. Like many other mountains, rivers, and shores, these two islands have been associated with the legend of fighting foreign invaders. With Mat Island is the story of "To Nuong tired of waiting for her husband", the legend says that - To Nuong was from An Lac, Son Tay. Her husband was from Ham Hoan (Nghe An), both husband and wife were generals of Hai Ba Trung. When the uprising was suppressed, the couple lost contact with each other. To Nuong sailed to Ham Hoan to find her husband, almost reaching the destination, unfortunately the boat was blown by a storm and drifted to Quynh Nhai Island. At this point, she no longer had the strength and means to go to the mainland, so she had to stay on the island, looking day and night at her husband's hometown. Mat Island got its name from that time and was an important outpost to protect the peace of the mainland....

That was the story of the past and many years later, here, the army and people of Nghe An many times drove out the Chinese invaders, fought and won against the feudalism of the North and the American imperialists.

Eye Island soldiers take care of the Memorial

Coming to Mat Island, looking at the rocks growing and green thanks to human hands, suddenly remember the legend of the nation's birth: A hundred eggs hatch a hundred children, fifty go to the sea, fifty go to the mountains. One follows his mother to the mountains to found a country, become kings and pass them on to the next generation; another goes to the sea to catch dragons and sea monsters, opening a view of the vast ocean to fish, exploit and trade. The descendants of dragons and fairies, the successive generations are always proud, passing down traditions to preserve them. And certainly, the heroic qualities of our ancestors have forged the will, bravery and ardent patriotism of those who guard the sea and sky, every inch of the country's sovereignty today.

Among those who came to Mat Island to participate in the exchange program “Youth with the homeland’s sea and islands”, there were young people who were new members of the Youth Union and veterans who had lived and fought for the survival of the island. They all expressed a will to go out to sea and towards the homeland’s sea and islands. Coming to Mat Island, they learned about the life, training and fighting of the soldiers and listened to Major Dinh Xuan Lam – Battalion Commander of the Island’s Mixed Battalion recall the 50 years of heroic history of the resilient little island. Everyone was filled with pride.

Map of the Motherland in Eye Island

With its heroic tradition, Mat Island has truly been a place of education, arousing the confidence of the younger generation, following in the footsteps of their fathers and brothers to build the island and develop their homeland. Sergeant Le Quang Kien is proud to be continuing that tradition. Kien's grandfather was present in the Vanguard Army Corps in the past, and visited Hung Temple with Uncle Ho and heard him advise, "The Hung Kings had the merit of building the country, we, your descendants, must work together to protect the country." As the person in charge of the island today, Kien himself understands that even more. Kien said: On this occasion of the anniversary of the death of the founder, the island strengthens educational activities to raise awareness of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, the Party's viewpoints and policies, the State's laws, and the military and defense tasks of the armed forces; as well as strictly implementing the combat readiness regime, training and discipline.

On the Eye Island pier looking out to sea, the mainland only sees the curves of the waves and hazy smoke. Mr. Nguyen Van Hua (70 years old, in Vinh Tan ward - Vinh city, fought on the island from 1965 - 1971) read to us the funeral oration for the Hung Kings - our ancestors, written by Professor Vu Khieu in 2000. Mr. Hua heard this oration when he returned to Phu Tho to attend the Ancestor Commemoration Ceremony in 2008. The heroic words of the oration said: "From the height of the foundation / Let's look back at forty centuries / The mountains and clouds are majestic with the father's merit / The rivers and waters are full of the mother's love... Divide the children into two paths / Choose one eldest son to succeed them / The country is one: how can it last forever? / The forest and sea are in two places: Together we build the four directions majestically! / How majestic! Phu Dong destroys the enemy! / How brave! The mountain spirit controls the water! / How beautiful is Chu Dong Tu, whose love is like a bright jade mirror/ How talented is Mai An Tiem, whose labor is like moving mountains and filling seas/ The glory of eighteen dynasties/ A hundred generations of prosperity".

Uncle Hua confided: the blood of our ancestors is flowing in the blood of today's people, so that we will always remember that we are Vietnamese, "red blood, yellow skin", "children of the Dragon, grandchildren of the Fairy"... And veteran Tran Duc Mao, 62 years old, in Hong Son ward - Vinh city, who sacrificed a hand in the battle to protect Mat island in 1972, said: Looking back at the history of the nation's control of nature and resistance against foreign invaders with heroic women and brave men who fought shoulder to shoulder like Ba Trung, Ba Trieu, Phung Hung, Ly Bi, Mai Thuc Loan, Ngo Quyen, Ly Thuong Kiet, Tran Hung Dao, Le Loi, Quang Trung, Ho Chi Minh... will help us have more strength to overcome all difficulties today. The history of our country's development is closely linked to the protection of seas and islands. The sea is rich in shrimp, fish, oil and gas and ice. Our sea is salty with the blood and tears of our ancestors.

Flag-raising ceremony at the beginning of the week on the Island

History is like a continuous flow; Thinking about the homeland, islands, thinking about life today, many young people have realized more clearly their responsibilities. Nguyen Thi Nhung, a student of Nghe An Pedagogical College - a youth union member participating in the exchange "Youth with the homeland's sea and islands" at Mat Island shared her feelings: The Hung King's death anniversary is a journey to find the history of building and defending the country of the nation, with the will and aspiration for independence, freedom, autonomy, self-reliance, demonstrating the truth: "Vietnam is one. The Vietnamese people are one. Rivers can dry up, mountains can wear away, but that truth will never change" as President Ho Chi Minh once advised. And today's journey to Mat Island is towards the future; practically implementing the Vietnam Sea Strategy to 2020 - making our country a strong maritime nation, getting rich from the sea, firmly protecting territorial sovereignty, national sovereignty at sea.

Lieutenant Le Hai Trieu Binh, an officer of Dao Mat, led us to the highest point of the island at 218m. He said: From this high point, we will see very interesting things - looking to the North, we can see the Bach Dang River echoing forever; looking to the South, we can see the sails of warships setting out to defeat the invaders of Champa and Siam; facing the vast sea are the silhouettes of fishermen's boats, standing tall as landmarks on the sea. Looking to the west is Cua Lo beach, with fine sand and clear blue water, in the tourist season, further away is the rice and peanut crop about to be harvested...

Thanh Chung