DK1 rig stands tall on the sea. Photo: Tran Tuan

On July 5, 1989, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (now the Prime Minister) issued a directive on the construction of an "Economic - Scientific - Service Cluster" on the southern continental shelf of Vung Tau - Con Dao special zone (abbreviated as DK1).

With the order "at any cost, we must protect the sacred continental shelf of the Fatherland", the naval soldiers of Brigade 171 urgently boarded ships and set sail to guard the country's sovereign waters.

According to documents from the Naval Region 2 Command, over the 35 years since the construction of the DK1 platforms, four storm seasons have passed in 1990, 1996, 1998 and 2000, causing many DK1 soldiers to die. Many of them died without wives or lovers, with friendship letters still at the bottom of their backpacks.

Memories of the returnee

In early July, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Battalion DK1 (under Brigade 171, Command of Naval Region 2), sitting in a small room in Tan Binh District (HCMC), Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Ton kept looking up at the photo of the DK1 platform in the middle of the vast waves.

Lieutenant Colonel Ton was one of six survivors who returned when the Phuc Nguyen 2A platform was destroyed by a storm in December 1998. His three teammates remained forever in the middle of the ocean.

26 years have passed, but the memories have never faded in the minds of marines…

On December 12, 1998, Typhoon Faith swept through the DK1 sea area. All the ships had taken shelter from the storm, leaving only lonely platforms at sea.

The book “Tradition of Phuc Nguyen Platform (1990 – 2007)” published by the People’s Army Publishing House in 2007, describes the moment of the platform during the storm that year as follows:

“For a long time, continuously struggling to cope with the storms; big waves, 15-16m high, hitting the base, covering the entire working floor of the Platform, along with strong winds causing the Platform to vibrate violently and tilt and shake violently.”

26 years have passed but the memories have never faded in the mind of marine soldier Nguyen Huu Ton. Photo: Anh Tu

At around 11pm, a huge wave hit the rig, causing it to tilt to one side. The wooden floorboards were blown off, the food cabinet collapsed, and many items such as tables, chairs, cabinets, televisions, etc. were thrown around.

After ordering the signalman Hoang Xuan Thuy to report the situation to the mainland, the commander of the platform, Captain Vu Quang Chuong, 30 years old, from Thai Binh, gathered his comrades and resolutely said: "We will hold the station until the end. In case of emergency, we can only leave our position with my order."

In the middle of the night, the power source of the communication device to the Command Center was broken. Hoang Van Thuy tried to reconnect it to inform the Command Center on the mainland, reporting that the platform could not last through the night. From the Command Center, Ms. Van - the person on duty for information continuously encouraged: "If the worst case scenario is that the house collapses, our ship is ready to rescue it, comrades, rest assured."

The waves were getting bigger and bigger, all nine brothers on the rig had put on life jackets, tied ropes to each other's hands so that if the house fell into the sea, they could still find each other.

“At that time, everyone understood that they might have to make sacrifices, but they were very calm, sometimes even smiling optimistically and teasing each other about this and that,” Major Nguyen Huu Ton recalled.

At about 3:50 a.m. on December 13, 1998, a terrifying wave, as steep as a cliff, crashed into the platform, covering their heads. The platform could no longer hold.

Captain Chuong ordered the first group to hold onto the life buoy and jump into the sea first, including: Lieutenant Nguyen Van Hoan, medical officer Nguyen Huu Ton, and secret agent Ha Cong Dung...

As for Chuong, before leaving the platform, he carefully closed all the doors, because if the platform collapsed, the soldiers would not be sucked into the whirlpool, then solemnly hugged the red flag with yellow star to his chest, folded it, and carried it with him. When the platform collapsed, he and the soldier reporting the incident, Hoang Xuan Thuy, were the last two to jump into the sea.

9 soldiers of the rig struggled with the fierce waves. 30 minutes later, Ton, Hoan, Thuy, Thuat, Dung and Tho managed to cling to the life raft. They leaned on each other amid the cold, overwhelming waves. But no one knew where Chuong, An and Hong were…

Lao Dong reporters in the working group visited DK1 platforms in early 2024. Photo: Tran Tuan

The rescue team did their best and by the night of December 13, they had saved six soldiers. Three people heroically sacrificed themselves, including: Captain, Station Chief Vu Quang Chuong, professional warrant officer, radar officer Le Duc Hong and professional warrant officer, electromechanical officer Nguyen Van An.

At the time of his death, Captain Chuong was just 30 years old, still owing his parents the promise of getting married and having children. Radar soldier Nguyen Van An had the sadness of not having met his newborn son, not having had time to name him. As for electromechanical soldier Le Duc Hong, a 21-year-old boy, he did not know what love was.

Coral branch on the martyrs altar

Also in July, at a small house in Tri Chi Nam village, commune   Thuy Truong, Thai Thuy district (Thai Binh province), the altar of martyr Vu Quang Chuong - the commander of the oil rig who died in the storm in 1998, is filled with incense smoke.

What is special is that on that altar there is a branch of coral.

When we arrived, the martyr's younger brother, Mr. Vu Quang Chuyen (born in 1974), was quietly carrying a coral branch down to clean it.

Coral branch on the altar of martyr Vu Quang Chuong. Photo: Tran Tuan

“The State and the Army have organized many searches, but the vast ocean has not been able to find his body.

After that, my father asked the unit to help him get a coral branch from the collapsed platform area to put on the altar, considering it as Mr. Chuong's ashes," said Mr. Vu Quang Chuyen.

Martyr Vu Quang Chuong was the eldest of four children. His father, Vu Quang Duong, is nearly 80 years old and was formerly a special forces soldier of Brigade 429 (Special Forces Command), who fought in the southern battlefield.

Mr. Vu Quang Chuyen is the third younger brother of martyr Chuong, affected by Agent Orange. The martyr's two younger sisters, Phuong and Hong, also often fall ill.

Martyr Vu Quang Chuong in his younger brother's memory was that every time he came home on leave in a hurry, sometimes he had not even been home for a day before having to leave for his unit.

Mr. Vu Quang Chuyen - younger brother of martyr Vu Quang Chuong in the house built partly with support from the Navy and Brigade 171. Photo: Tran Tuan

“The last time he came back, he said next year he would build a house for his parents, take care of his siblings and get married.

When he passed away, it was more than a month later that the family heard the news. My mother and I could not bear the shock and had to be hospitalized. A few years later, my mother passed away. My father's health also declined a lot. Now he lives in Dak Lak with his youngest sister's family," Mr. Chuyen said, his eyes filled with tears.

Mr. Chuyen said that the comforting thing for the family is that they always receive both spiritual and material encouragement from the Navy Region 2 Command, Brigade 171 and Battalion DK1, and comrades of martyr Vu Quang Chuong.

On the evening of July 26, we contacted Mr. Chuyen and learned that Mr. Vu Quang Duong had just returned to Thai Binh from Dak Lak a few days ago. The whole family was preparing a meal to worship the martyrs on July 27.

Laodong.vn

Source: https://laodong.vn/ban-doc/liet-si-dk1-thanh-xuan-o-lai-trung-khoi-1355540.ldo