Sharing with Nhan Dan Newspaper reporter, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thang Anh said: 2 days after the earthquake disaster in Myanmar, he received orders to leave for international duty.

Because of the short time to prepare, before leaving, he only had time to tell Minh, his little son who was sick at home: "Minh, be good at home. Daddy will be gone for a few days and then come back to you." The 4-year-old boy did not understand what was going on, he just insisted on hugging his leg and crying.

Participating in a rescue operation abroad for the first time, the Deputy Head of the Translation Department, Department of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of National Defense was tasked with conducting field reconnaissance before deploying forces. Therefore, he was the first to reach the areas severely affected by the earthquake. Therefore, he also directly witnessed many losses and sorrows in the neighboring country.

On the evening of April 1st, after a hard day’s work, having a quick meal with his teammates, Lieutenant Colonel Thang Anh hurriedly returned to his small room and dialed his family. Today was Lieutenant Colonel Thang Anh’s birthday. Therefore, he especially wanted to talk to his family, to his eldest daughter Lan Chi and “private” Nguyen Anh Minh, as he often called his youngest son.

- Did you see your dad on TV today, Minh? - he asked.

- Yes, dad! - Minh replied.

- So today is dad's birthday, what song will Minh sing for dad?

From the other end, the 4-year-old “private” sang a birthday song in a foreign language to his father thousands of kilometers away. The song was occasionally interrupted by the unstable signal from the epicenter.

After telling Minh to take medicine to recover from his illness and promising to return safely soon, the father affectionately greeted his family and sat there for a while. He said: “Today, I visited a total of 5 locations, including one that left me speechless. Under the ruined house, there were 5 children under 10 years old and a woman still buried. Outside, the grieving mothers and fathers were still standing and sitting, looking inside. At that time, I thought, the fact that I could still come home tonight and call and talk to my children on their birthday was an extremely lucky and happy thing.”

Birthdays in foreign lands do not have candles, flowers, cakes or too many wishes. There is only a phone call across the border with an unstable signal. But, for Lieutenant Colonel Thang Anh, this is the most meaningful birthday in more than 20 years of military service…

The innocent wishes from Vietnam gave him more strength and determination to complete his mission, not to back down during the days of rescue and relief work in Myanmar.