Da Lon Island, part of the Truong Sa archipelago. (Photo: nhandan.vn)
Da Lon Island, where waves stretch to the horizon, is a wide coral platform, some 32 nautical miles southwest of Nam Yet Island.
Amid crashing waves, the three guard points of A, B, and C stand like beacons securing the sea. These outposts, built firmly on coral foundations and several nautical miles apart, form a tripod.
The climate on Da Lon is typical of Truong Sa: from February to May, the air is dry and harsh, the sun is scorching, like pouring fire on the roof of the post, on the shoulders of the soldiers, on each rice ration. That is when the sea is calm, convenient for ships to travel.
Due to the harsh, salty waves and winds, the old pontoon that once drove itself onto the shallows now lies rusted and still. Few would expect that within it, new life has quietly taken root: the nesting ground of seagulls.
In the vast and arduous open sea, a pair of seagulls found a peaceful place to guard their sky-blue eggs - a colour of clarity, freedom and hope. When the sea roared, the storm raged, the rhythm of life in the small nest still moved silently. The eggshell cracked on a day of rough seas, and from then on, the baby bird's eyes blinked open to the world.
The female seagull patiently incubated each egg while the male seagull swam in the ocean, bringing each small fish back to the nest. The baby birds sang their first song in the warmth of their mother seagull and the hardships of their father seagull.
On that rusty iron foundation, they grew up with all the simplest but greatest things: Life, love and the indomitable spirit like the marine soldiers.
In reality, that small roof has never been a completely peaceful place. There are still fierce birds lurking, encroaching and attacking day and night. From the first pair of birds, a whole flock of seagulls returned. Da Lon Island suddenly became bustling with the sound of flapping wings, the desperate calls to each other in the blue sky and deep sea.
Pontoon anchored on the shallows of Da Lon Island.
The island soldiers considered the seagulls as close friends. Sometimes, the young soldiers also played around, curiously watched and admired the eggs, only to be "chased away" by the whole flock of seagulls. Everyone understood that seagulls’ love and life are sacred, but close to their breath.
Sometimes, in the bright sunlight, the waves sing in harmony, and the seagulls also "quarrel" with each other. However, as soon as a strange bird invades their territory, the whole flock immediately gathers and fights together without retreating.
Where the sea and sky merge into one vast strip, the seagulls spread their wings like soft strokes on a blue background. Their bodies are graceful, their wide white wings spread out like a crescent moon, gliding in the space leisurely, openly, and proudly.
The sea breeze blows through each layer of feathers, and the birds still calmly balance in the sky, as free as the ocean itself that nurtures them. Sometimes, the seagulls swoop close to the water's surface, their wings almost touching the waves, the sunlight reflecting on their backs like gold. Sometimes, the seagulls soar high, raising their heads to face the headwind, their eyes sharp but calm, ready to overcome any storm.
The seagull’s beauty lies in its strong but graceful shape as well as in the beauty of a bird that has spent its entire life attached to the sea, living with storms. In the flight path of the seagull, there seems to be an echo of freedom, a breath of wind and waves, and a quiet pride in choosing the sea as its home.
On the outpost islands, where all around are crashing waves, howling winds, the vast sky and water, the friendship between humans and nature becomes even more special. Seagulls become close, intimate and loyal friends of the marine soldiers.
The seagulls seem to have been there for a long time, so when young soldiers set foot on the island with backpacks heavy with love for the Fatherland, the seagulls naturally gather and huddle together, then stay, linger around, and make friends with the island soldiers through each windy season.
Some young soldiers who wake up early in the morning hold some dry food in their hands, and a moment later, they see the seagulls circling, calling to each other, wanting to share. In their free time, the soldiers relax by watching the seagulls, calling out each familiar name. Seagulls are not afraid of people; they land on the roof, railing, and sometimes even enter the island's kitchen. The soldiers have never chased them away, for them, seagulls are friends, a part of life on a remote island full of hardships, but also romances.
The old pontoon becomes a place for the seagulls to nest.
Seagulls are also like talented "weather forecasters". Looking at the birds flying high or low, how they glide, flap their wings, and their calls at different levels, the soldiers know that the sea is about to be rough, a storm is approaching. At times like that, the whole island responds urgently, while the seagulls quietly accompany the people.
On calm days, seagulls soar high, drawing beautiful, dreamy flight paths in the deep blue sky, bringing a sign of peace.
Every morning, immersed in the dawn, every afternoon with the endless wind, the soldiers let their souls follow the distant birds. In the eyes of the soldiers guarding the sea and sky, in the seagulls’ free-spirited flight, there seems to be a common point: the love of the sea, the perseverance and determination to the end.
At the edge of the waves and wind, there always resound the chirping calls and bright smiles of the brave soldiers following the seagulls’ soaring rhythm. During our business trips to the Navy units, we were quite surprised to discover that there were soldiers named Seagulls.
The more we go, the more we meet, the more we understand that the name is not simply a random choice but contains parents’ love, pride, and aspirations entrusted to their children with an unceasing longing for the Fatherland.
Seagulls are birds of freedom, belonging to the ocean and the sky, never fearing like the calm and steadfast soldiers clinging to the sea. Many people know seagulls through their flights between the sea and sky, through their free appearance, but rarely see their home with their own eyes.
The small, precarious shelters on the edge of the waves in old, rusty, barren but miraculous pontoons. Life sprouts, love is nurtured, and the instinct of being a father and a mother appears touchingly through the story of the bird.
The shape and story of that shelter soothe hearts that yearn for home, becoming a symbol of beauty hidden deep in hardship in a quiet, enduring way.
We still remember the story of teacher Do Thi Thom’s shelter in Chuong My District, Hanoi City. In 2018, her husband, Lieutenant Nguyen Viet Tuong, was on duty on Da Lon Island. Being a wife for seven years, she gave birth both times when her husband was not by her side. They first met when their eldest child was eight months old. The younger one was already fifteen months when he first held his child.
When returning to the mainland, Tuong, like many other marine soldiers, will always tell his parents, wife and children about the seagull nests that warm the hearts of the island soldiers.
Da Lon is one of the submerged islands that still faces many hardships. Life must be carefully nurtured through every drop of water and seedling, but love and hope have continued to flourish, echoing to the mainland.
Mai Lu - Tran Thanh - Translated by NDO