A relative of mine who lives abroad brought his wife and children back to Vietnam to visit his family on the occasion of April 30 this year. His 4-year-old daughter, nicknamed Lucky, does not speak Vietnamese fluently and knows almost nothing about her homeland, which she has just visited for the first time. When she saw her cousin coming back from a walk in the city, Lucky pointed at the boy and exclaimed: “ That is Vietnam!” and then turned to his parents, put his hand on his chest and smiled, " Lucky is Vietnamese."

The whole family was stunned for a second, then understood immediately when they saw the red flag with a yellow star on the T-shirt the boy was wearing. The name Vietnam and the image of the national flag were among the first things Lucky was taught by his parents when he was learning to speak.

The baby’s great-grandfather, a veteran wounded in 1972, hugged his little great-grandchild with tears in his eyes. Their lives were separated by three generations and half a world, even by language, but they easily shared a sense of origin and country through the sacred symbol of the flag: Vietnam, the Vietnamese people.

Perhaps, awareness of the Fatherland where one belongs is the first brick that creates the foundation of patriotism, something that every Vietnamese person feels most clearly during the days of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification, something that brings all people of the Dragon and Fairy lineage closer together.

It can be said that patriotism and national pride are the strongest bonds connecting Vietnamese people of all generations, regions, and professions in this historic April, permeating every aspect of life.

On the surface, this is reflected in the glorious red flag with yellow star on the streets, in residential areas, offices, on social networks and countless consumer products; patriotic songs become the most searched, viewed and listened to repertoire, and are used as background music for dances that have become youth trends; and when the call to join hands to clean the streets becomes more effective because it is associated with the slogan "loving the environment is loving the country"...

On a deeper level, we see that patriotism creates great empathy in the whole society, expressed in very simple things. Among the countless people and vehicles along the highway, local people recognize their compatriots who are traveling thousands of kilometers to Ho Chi Minh City to attend the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification as a pilgrimage. They follow these trips on social networks, recognize each other through the national flag symbol and wholeheartedly help each other on the journey.

There are many pilgrims like that whose destination is the parade in Ho Chi Minh City. The 24-year-old Dao Quang Ha from Thai Binh province cycled from Hanoi with the national flag on his bike basket. The 76-year-old veteran Tran Van Thanh traveled 1,300km from Nghe An on an old motorbike. Nguyen Viet Quan, a young man with cerebral palsy, also spent a month on the journey from Nghe An on a three-wheeled vehicle, going when he was strong, resting when he was tired...

Many of them were delighted to recognize each other when they met by chance at their destination, Ho Chi Minh City, and exchanged warm hugs. After all, it was a meeting of patriotism and national pride.

The strong connection and spread of patriotism motivates young people of Gen Z and Gen Alpha to learn about history, about the life of fighting, working and loving of their grandparents' generation. Many young people always live in comfort, they feel the enthusiasm boiling and clearly feel the sacredness of the red flag when they understand why their ancestors could leave their warm home, work hard for decades, sacrifice blood and bones to gain independence, freedom and unity.

Surely, when hearing about the dedication of our ancestors, many young people asked themselves: What should our patriotic generation do? This self-questioning has helped the Vietnamese Fatherland survive and develop over the past thousands of years. Patriotism is like volcanic lava, depending on historical circumstances, sometimes erupting violently, sometimes simmering quietly underground, but always fierce and everlasting.

“Patriotism is not a trend/Patriotism is in our genes” , I would like to conclude this article with a quote that many young netizens are sharing.