Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Viet Tuong, a naval soldier stationed on Da Lon A Island, in Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago, recalled that six years ago he listened to a children’s song by musician Quynh Hop telling the story of a child receiving a lantern as gifts from their father.
At that time, Tuong, who has spent 13 years working in Truong Sa Archipelago, was the father of two sons. His four-year-old elder son had met him twice, while the youngest one, almost a year old, had never met him. The song’s lyrics motivated Tuong to make a lantern and send it to his sons on the mainland.
Tuong’s idea received great enthusiastic response and support from his comrades. They joined hands in making the lantern, from creating a bamboo frame and cutting paper to gluing and painting.
It is estimated that Tuong’s lantern travelled a journey of nearly 4,000km, from sending the materials for the making process from Khanh Hoa to the island, to the transport of the completed product from Da Lon A Island to Vung Tau, then Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and finally his hometown in Hai Phong to reach his children.
Do Thi Thom, Tuong’s wife, recalled that it was their most memorial Mid-Autumn Festival and said she and her family will never forget it. Khoi Nguyen, the elder son of Tuong, busted with joy when he discovered a national flag and models of a tank and a Kilo submarine inside the lantern gifted by his father.
Nguyen Viet Tuong’s story inspired engineer Tran Vu Thanh, Chairman of the ‘Youth for national sea and island club’ to call on students, teachers, and parents write greetings and paste on thousands of star-shaped lanterns as gifts for children of naval officers and soldiers every Mid-Autumn Festival.
Thanh said that the programme aims to share love and joy with the children of soldiers, particularly naval soldiers, who don’t have their dads accompany them on Mid-Autumn festival.
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Ninh Binh police force making Mid-Autumn Festival toys as gifts for children of naval soldiers. |
This year, the programme raised more than 3,000 star-shaped lanterns as well as paper masks for children of naval soldiers as donations by people from different social backgrounds across the country.
The paper masks were made by police working in fire prevention and fighting and rescue. Captain Dang Duc Anh, Deputy Secretary of the provincial police force’s youth union, said that Ninh Binh’s young police want to share a helping hand to bring a warm and happy Mid-Autumn Festival to the children of naval soldiers.
Participating in the programme is also a meaningful way for the young police to nurture their love and pride for the Fatherland, he asserted.
Colonel Phan Ngoc Quang, Political Commissar of Brigade 685 of Naval Region 4, said the programme has been highly appreciated by the naval soldiers. Many of them have sent thank-you messages and letters for the special gifts that the whole society has sent to their children.
This year’s programme was held at the High Command of the Naval Region 5 in Phu Quoc Island District, Kien Giang Province, with various activities including performances, children's games, and the presentation of school supplies and scholarships as well as nearly 2,000 gifts to the children of naval officers and soldiers.
