Proud to be the bridge connecting the Party's will and the people's hearts

(Baonghean) - Having gone through life and death in the fiercest battlefields during the resistance war to save the country, he then went to school and taught at the Logistics Academy. After retiring and returning to his hometown, Colonel Dang Van Danh started a completely new job, which, according to him, he is still very "young"...

Growing up in a country divided by war, generations of us young people had only one burning desire: to put on our backpacks and join the army, to hold guns and go to battle to save the country. That wish came true in 1970, when I was 19 years old. After a period of training at the 22nd Regiment, Military Region IV in Nam Dan, our unit was sent to the Quang Tri front line.

Mr. Dang Van Danh talks with reporters.

At that time, the Quang Tri battlefield was very fierce. The US - puppet regime determined that this battlefield was an important location in the Tri - Thien strategic defense system, so they were determined to defend it. At the end of 1971, the I Tactical Zone Command urgently increased its forces to step up "operations to clear out the Viet Cong" in the assigned area. At the end of 1972, to gain an advantage at the Paris Agreement negotiation table, they frantically attacked the Vietnam People's Army. Although the losses were not small, and many comrades were sacrificed, Uncle Ho's soldiers were not discouraged. Because we realized that no matter how fierce the battle was, no matter how many losses and sacrifices, if we could not hold back the enemy at the Quang Tri battlefield, we would be at a disadvantage at the Paris negotiation table.

After nearly 3 years of fighting in Khe Sanh (Quang Tri), I was transferred to Ta Luong (Thua Thien Hue) - where many fierce battles took place between us and the enemy from February to May 1973, fighting for about 6 months. In 1974, the Central Military Commission identified the Central Highlands as a key area in the strategy to completely liberate the South, I was transferred to the Indochina junction (the location sharing the border of 3 countries Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia) and assigned to the 470th Division of the Forward Command. In March 1974, I was transferred to the 572nd Regiment, a military transport regiment under the General Department of Logistics. The Central Highlands campaign opened in March 1975 and won a resounding victory, the entire Central Highlands was liberated. I continued to fight until the historic Ho Chi Minh campaign won complete victory on April 30, 1975. After the country was liberated, I continued to do international duty in Cambodia for 1 year. Then I was sent to study at the Political Officer School and the University. In 1982, I graduated and taught Literature, History and Educational Psychology at the Logistics Academy until my retirement in 2011.

After retiring, I was entrusted with the job of reporting to the Nghi Hoa Commune Party Committee. But along with that came worries. Because I thought, with this job, I was not afraid of the heart, enthusiasm or skills in expressing and conveying information so that listeners could easily accept it. But what worried me was that I had not received any training in this "profession", now that I was old, would I be quick enough to grasp the Party and State's guidelines, policies and guidelines? Thinking so, right from the moment I took the job, I determined that I had to make an effort to not let down the trust of the cadres, party members and leaders of the Commune Party Committee.

Gradually, I feel that this job brings a lot of joy, urging me to approach many sources of information to filter and convey. For me, the job of a reporter, in addition to regularly going to the district for training once a month, training in the province for a few days a year, or from documents sent down from above, the most important thing for a reporter is to read a lot. Every day I spend 4 hours reading information from official websites to know the current news in the country and in the province. In addition, I also update information from newspapers provided such as Nhan Dan, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, Nghe An... and read books. With this job, the more knowledge I equip myself with, the more confident I am when performing my duties.

I still remember, when China illegally placed the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig deep into Vietnam's continental shelf, seriously violating Vietnam's sovereignty and jurisdiction and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in May 2014, many cadres, party members and the masses came to me for advice. If I had not researched, processed and synthesized information through books and newspapers, how could I have propagated and guided public opinion?

To have an interesting and useful talk, usually after fully understanding the content in the district and province, I spend weeks reading newspapers, reading books, researching the content online and coming up with appropriate communication methods. For each topic, there must be a different way of posing the problem, but it is often related to the reality of the country, the district, and the commune. Because if we only speak in general terms, focusing on theory and theory, it will be difficult to convey to the audience because currently, what party members and the masses are most concerned about is the economic situation, national defense and security, the issue of building new rural areas... Those issues must have specific evidence and proof.

Although the four years working as a grassroots reporter are short, they have brought me a lot of experience. The job helps me grasp the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and laws. The joy is multiplied when many people trust me and come to talk and find information. In the current information explosion, how to make people listen selectively and not be distracted by information requires reporters to be people who clearly understand the nature of the problem; master the information to guide public opinion. To do so, we must constantly cultivate, learn and update our knowledge. Although it is hard, I am "in love" with this job, so I am very happy to be the one who brings the Party's ideas to the people and the people's hearts to the Party."

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