Thanh Nien's Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Quang Thong (L) hands over gifts to the relative of a martyr who died on the Truong Sa Archipelago in 1988

The families of nine soldiers from Thai Binh Province were the last batch to receive gifts from the newspaper in it’s “Grateful to Gac Ma Martyrs” program that covered the families of 64 Vietnamese martyrs who died in the battle.

The newspaper had raised donations with contributions from the Vietnam Rubber Group, Bank For Investment and Development of Vietnam, Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Young Doctors’ Association.

“The gratitude and care we show for the martyrs’ families aims to inculcate patriotism among the youth and raise their sense of responsibility towards the martyrs as well as the soldiers who are protecting Vietnam’s sovereignty at sea,” said the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Quang Thong.

“We have been deeply moved while visiting the native land of the nine martyrs in Thai Binh to thank them and share with their families our feelings about their brave and proud sacrifice.”

Among the nine martyrs was Lieutenant Colonel Tran Duc Thong of the Navy Zone 4’s Brigade 146, the highest officer at the battlefield to protect the Gac Ma Island in 1988.

In 1988, the Navy’s Brigade 125 mobilized two ships, HQ-604 and HQ-505 to carry nearly 100 officers and soldiers assigned to the Gac Ma, Co Lin and Len Dao islands in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago.

On March 14, 1988, the soldiers were transporting construction materials to the Gac Ma Island from the ship HQ-406 when four Chinese ships arrived.

Thong ordered second-lieutenant Tran Van Phuong and two soldiers, Nguyen Van Tu and Nguyen Van Lanh, to use a small boat to rush to the island and protect the national flag.

The Chinese soldiers opened fire, killing Phuong on the spot.

HQ-604 Captain Vu Phi Tru ordered the soldiers to counterattack, but the ship was damaged and sank in the ocean. A total of 64 Vietnamese soldiers were killed in the battle.

Source: thanhniennews.com