The unforgettable childhood of CASA pilot Nguyen Van Thai

(Baonghean.vn) - These days, brothers, relatives, and loved ones of Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thai (born 1982) - a member of the CASA 212 flight crew who went missing on June 16 in Hamlet 4, Quynh Giang Commune (Quynh Luu) are waiting every minute, every hour for news of him from the authorities.

Visiting the home of Nguyen Van Thai’s brothers during this time, we felt the gloomy atmosphere, the anxiety and worry clearly present on the faces of his relatives. Groups of people came to visit, encourage and share with the family.

Many relatives, neighbors and authorities of Quynh Giang commune gathered at the house of Nguyen Van Dien, brother of Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thai, to encourage and share with the family.

Thai is the fourth child in a family of 5 siblings (3 boys, 2 girls). All 3 of Thai's siblings are coast guard officers and he is the only one pursuing a career in flying. His father was a war invalid but passed away due to a serious illness. His mother is now an exemplary former youth volunteer.

Born and raised in a farming family, the family's circumstances were difficult and poor, but his parents worked hard and saved to raise their children. Early understanding the hardships and toil of parents for their children, after school hours, he took advantage of his time to diligently go to the fields to take care of the rice fields, corn fields, and then cut grass to feed the buffaloes and cows. Not only that, every day he and his siblings also caught crabs and snails to earn extra money to help his parents.

Relatives review the moments of Mr. Thai kept in photos.

Despite all the hardships and suffering, his academic performance always achieved high results. Feeling sorry for his parents who worked hard all day to earn money to pay for the tuition of 5 siblings, he volunteered to join the army to reduce the burden on his parents. He was sent to the Navy Region 3 for training. Thanks to his moral qualities, ability, and diligence in training, the unit created conditions for him to go to school and then he was transferred to do information duties at the Hai Phong Coast Guard.

Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thai (far left) in the military environment.

In a pilot selection at this unit, he surpassed dozens of soldiers to become an air reconnaissance officer of Brigade 918. After being selected, he continued to be sent by the unit to receive 2 months of training on operations and how to handle situations on CASA aircraft in Sweden.

During his years as a pilot, he and his wife rented a room in Hanoi for work convenience. Later, his family was given the opportunity to rent a cheap public house in the Coast Guard General Department apartment building. His small family life was always filled with laughter with two lovely children, the older one was 4 years old, the second one was less than 2 years old. His mother also went to Hanoi to look after the children so that he and his wife could work with peace of mind.

The title of advanced soldier has been kept by his family since 2005 until now.

However, during the flight to find his teammates who had crashed at sea, he and 8 teammates went missing. Up to now, 9 days have passed since the CASA plane crashed into the sea, and news about him is very rare. Now, when there is no hope for her husband's survival, the young wife is struggling with heart-wrenching pain when thinking about her young children in the next period without the figure of their father by their side. And the old mother cried her eyes out for her children.

Arriving at his hometown on a sunny afternoon, we saw that the love of the village and neighborhood here was even more abundant when everyone was interested in the news about him. Everyone was sorry for his fate, a good son, filial to his parents, polite to his elders, and yielding to his juniors.

The house where Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thai stays every time he returns to his hometown.

Mr. Cao Van Luan, Hamlet 4, Quynh Giang said: “When he was still at home, Thai was a gentle boy, very sociable, always helping people, very well-liked by his neighbors. That's why everyone loved him. Now that Thai's survival rate is no longer there, neighbors like us are very sad, sometimes thinking about him makes us tear up.”

“Immediately after receiving information that one of the 9 people on the crashed CASA plane, pilot Nguyen Van Thai, was from Quynh Giang, the local Party Committee, government and organizations formed a delegation to encourage and share with the family. In the past few days until now, we have regularly taken turns going to Mr. Thai's family to help the family grasp information from the authorities' telegrams,” said Ms. Chu Thi Ngoc - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Giang commune.

As for Mr. Thai's brothers and sisters, the unit has also created conditions for them to take leave to go to Hanoi to wait for news of their younger brother and encourage Thai's mother, wife and children./.

Red Face

(Quynh Luu Radio)