Hanoi (VNA)🐽 – During a trip to the islands and Marine Platform DK1, working mission No. 21 brought many practical gifts worth over 3 billion VND (nearly 118,000 USD) from the homeland to soldiers and residents in Truong Sa.

The mission comprised more than 270 delegates from the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Yen Bai and Tay Ninh provinces, a number of central agencies, writers and artists, and the mass media. They participated in a trip from May 18-24 to visit the island district of Truong Sa of the south-central province of Khanh Hoa and marine platform DK1 on the southern continental shelf of Vietnam. The mission, led by Colonel Ngo Van Thanh, Political Commissar of the Technical Department of the Navy, stopped at Len Dao, Sinh Ton Dong, An Bang, Da Tay C, Da Dong B and Truong Sa islands, and the DK1 platform. Before leaving the port for the journey, the mission offered incense at the Numberless Ships Monument in memory of fallen naval soldiers who laid down their lives to open the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea. During the mission visit, local military units reported to the delegates the performance of sea and island sovereignty protection duty and the living conditions of residents. Captain Thang Huy Nam, who is also political commissar of DK1 platform, reported that his unit had fulfilled the tasks assigned by Battalion DK1 in 2023. The unit’s performance was outstanding in maintaining combat readiness and mobile combat training. The platform has also become a reliable source of support for fishermen working offshore, supplying 15,000 litres of water, hundreds of kilogrammes of rice and other essential goods for fishermen who ran out of supplies when fishing near the platform.

Receiving gifts from the homeland, Captain Nam said the soldiers on the platform feel that the distance between the platform and the homeland has never before been so close. “The sentiment and gifts from the mainland provide great encouragement and spiritual support for us to continue fulfil any assigned duty. The soldiers on our marine platform are highly resolved to safeguard the sacred continental shelf and be ready to respond timely to any situation within our authority,” he said. Hoang Quoc Long, Director of the Youth Affairs Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs and deputy head of the working mission, said the gifts that the mission brought for the islands and the DK1 platform included specialties of many localities, TV sets, computers, refrigerators, rechargeable fans, and karaoke systems, besides essential supplies. “Those are practical items that are useful for naval officers and soldiers in their daily life on the islands and marine platforms,” he said.

Among the gifts presented by the working mission, the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises contributed gifts valued at nearly 2 billion VND and Tay Ninh province sent presents worth 500 million VND and donated 500 million VND to the Greening Truong Sa Fund.

Ha Ngoc Son, General Director of TV.PHARM, said his company has implemented a programme on providing medicines for soldiers in Truong Sa for five years. This year, it also joined the initiative of Greening Truong Sa through financing the cultivation of vegetable gardens on islands and marine platforms.

Nguyen Thanh Tien, deputy head of the commission for internal and political affairs of Tay Ninh, said at all the places that the mission visited, young soldiers demonstrated high resolve and youth enthusiasm, leading in every activity. In particular, singers and dancers of the Military Music and Dance Theatre performed for the soldiers, tightening the bonds between the mainland and soldiers and residents in the remote islands./.