Source: People's Liberation Army Daily Client·China Military Bugle
Author: Li Hengchang
On the afternoon of January 26, 2022, Ms. Ye Qinghua, who is far away in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, sent me a WeChat voice: "We organized a 'portrait of the martyrs, In the "Send the Martyrs Home" activity, there are 18 martyrs in Qihe County. Due to the epidemic, we cannot go there. Could you please help us send the portraits of these martyrs to their relatives' homes before the Spring Festival? ? We have two volunteers who live in the local area to assist you. "
Portraits the martyrs and sends them "home". This is obviously a very meaningful activity, and I agreed without thinking about it. Later, Ms. Ye Qinghua sent the names, addresses and contact information of the 18 martyrs and their relatives. At the same time, she transferred 2,000 yuan to me and asked me to buy some gifts for the martyrs' families. If it was not enough, let her know. Soon, she created a contact group and roped in me and two volunteers. At that time, I learned that one of the two volunteers was Wang Jianjian, who lived in Decheng District, Texas, and was a student at Zhejiang Normal University; the other was Fu Xinfei, a graduate student and counselor at Anhui Normal University. They have traveled more than 1,000 kilometers by high-speed rail and brought the portraits of the martyrs back to their homes.
I know that Ye Qinghua is the widow of martyr Meng Xiangbin, and martyr Meng Xiangbin was a native of Qihe County, Shandong Province. During his lifetime, he was a deputy company staff officer of a certain Rocket Army unit. On November 30, 2007, when he accompanied his wife Ye Qinghua, who was visiting relatives in the army, and his 3-year-old daughter to go shopping in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, he jumped from the Wujiang 10-meter-high bridge and successfully rescued a person who committed suicide by jumping into the river. Due to exhaustion of physical strength, he unfortunately sank into the river and died heroically. He was only 28 years old. He was named "Moving China Person of the Year in 2007" and the second national "Moral Model". He was posthumously awarded the "Model of Self-Sacrifice to Save Others" by the Central Military Commission. Officer" honorary title.
After the martyrdom of Meng Xiangbin, his wife Ye Qinghua was specially recruited into the army with the approval of his superiors. Ye Qinghua, who became a soldier, continued the great love of martyr Meng Xiangbin with his good deeds. For 15 years, she has been doing one thing - launching the "Let the Martyrs Go Home" voluntary action to find relatives of the martyrs who died in the Anti-Japanese War , the Liberation War and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and search for information about the martyrs through various methods. , to search for the families and remains of the martyrs. During the search, she learned that many martyrs did not leave even a single photo before they died, which became an eternal regret in the hearts of the children of the martyrs. In March 2021, she found the Tongxinqiao column of the "Qianjiang Evening News" and hoped that "the martyrs' dream will be fulfilled and the martyrs will be sent 'home'". Then, under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, the Qianjiang Evening News and Zhejiang Media College launched a large-scale public welfare activity "Welcoming the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party and portraits of one hundred martyrs". Art students from many universities across the country and art associations from various places Actively participated in public welfare activities for portraits of more than 100 martyrs. Among these martyrs are 18 martyrs from Qihe County, Shandong Province, the hometown of martyr Meng Xiangbin, who died during the Revolutionary War and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Ye Qinghua contacted college students from Zhejiang University of Communication, Central Academy of Fine Arts, , Zhejiang Normal University, Anhui Normal University and other institutions, as well as painters from the Qihe County Artists Association. Through all possible efforts to collect information about the martyrs and descriptions of the martyrs' relatives, and with reference to the information of the martyrs' children, Ye Qinghua After more than half a year of repeated polishing of the photo, the appearance of the martyrs was finally restored with a brush. She originally planned to personally deliver the portraits of 18 Qihe martyrs to their children's homes before the Spring Festival in the Year of the Tiger. However, due to the epidemic, the plan could not be carried out, so she entrusted me to do it on her behalf. In fact, this also reflects her trust in me and our unit, because our unit's railway combat readiness pontoon bridge is itself a unit with a "military flavor", and its predecessor was the independent pontoon bridge regiment of the Railway Corps.
I realized that sending portraits to the families of the martyrs this time was not only a meaningful action to realize the dreams of the children of the martyrs, but also a good opportunity for the young volunteers in our unit to receive red patriotism education. Thinking of this, I decided to arrange young volunteers from the unit to complete this glorious task.Immediately, I pulled Wang Xinxin, Secretary of the Youth League Committee of the unit, Xia Chunhua, the trade union instructor, and others into the group, and informed them that we would meet at 8 a.m. the next day to discuss a plan of action. Because Wang Xinxin arranged to visit the old leaders before the festival the next morning, I transferred the money transferred by Ms. Ye Qinghua to Xia Chunhua that morning and asked her to be responsible for buying a box of peanut oil and a bag of flour for each martyr's family. Prepare 18 sets of Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters written by employees as gifts to the relatives of the martyrs.
html On the afternoon of November 27, I convened relevant personnel from the party committee work department, office, labor union, youth league committee and other departments of the unit to make arrangements for the division of labor for the activities. Everyone felt that this activity was very meaningful and expressed that they would complete this task with high quality. According to the division of labor, everyone immediately started preparation work. The Party Committee Work Department formulated the activity plan; the office mobilized a minivan as a means of transportation for the event; Wang Xinxin, Secretary of the Youth League Committee, selected two strong young employees, Shen Jingpeng and Tian Bo, from the volunteers who actively signed up. On the morning of the 28th, volunteers Wang Jianjian and Fu Xinfei, who participated in the whole process of serving the martyrs' portraits, also came to the unit early to report. Qu Tianyu, a son of an employee of our unit and a sophomore at Jinan University Town Experimental High School, heard the news from his father and took the initiative to apply to participate in this volunteer activity. Wang Xinxin and five volunteer service members, wearing blue vests, set out to send the martyrs "home" with reverence for the martyrs. The temperature at that time was minus 6 degrees Celsius. Although it was cold, the volunteers seemed to have a fire burning in their hearts. They wished they could spread their wings and deliver the portraits of the martyrs to their children as soon as possible.
html Of the 118 family members of the martyrs, except for three who live in the county, the other 15 are distributed in many towns and villages in Qihe County. The farthest one can be reached by car in more than two hours. The volunteers drew up a route map, Wang Xinxin was responsible for making phone calls, and Shen Jingpeng was responsible for asking questions along the way. However, as the New Year is approaching and many villages are having markets, they have to make detours again and again, trying every means to get to the martyrs' homes as quickly as possible. There are often problems with telephone contact. Since most of the contact numbers are the children of martyrs, some of these elderly people in their 70s and 80s do not answer the phone because they think it is an unfamiliar number. Some of them do not have their mobile phones nearby, so the calls are always unanswered. Wang Xinxin has been persevering in contacting them all the way. Because the rural areas are scattered, sometimes when the car arrives in the village, it is necessary to find out the specific location of the homes of the martyrs' families. Even for Shen Jingpeng, a native of the country, asking for directions is not so smooth.
At 9 a.m., volunteers came to the first stop for sending martyrs "home" - Huaxin Jiayuan Community, Yancheng Street, located in the northeast of the county, and found the elderly Zhao Meiying who lived here. Her father, Zhao Yuquan, was born in June 1924 in Zhao Village, Jihua Village, Renli, Qihe County. He joined the People's Liberation Army in March 1947 and was a soldier of the 3rd Battalion and 8th Company of the 157th Regiment of the 2nd Field Army. He once participated in the Jinan Campaign. , the Battle of Dongming and many other battles, he was very brave when fighting. In the Battle of Huaihai in November 1948, he participated in the battle to block the Kuomintang army. Although the enemy was strong and we were weak, he was surrounded by the enemy, but he still fought tenaciously until he died heroically. When Wang Xinxin handed the portrait of martyr Zhao Yuquan to Zhao Meiying, the old man's eye circles immediately turned red and he kept saying, "I've been waiting for my father's portrait!" Zhao Meiying told the volunteers that she is 74 years old this year. , she was not yet born when her father Zhao Yuquan died. She had an older brother, and it was her mother who went through all kinds of hardships to pull them up. Zhao Meiying lacked the protection of her father since she was a child and had a strong nature. When she worked at the Qihe County Machinery Factory, she was an electric welder. In her job, she was no worse than her male colleagues. Zhao Meiying's brother passed away due to illness more than 20 years ago. She has been supporting her mother, who died more than two months ago at the age of 97. Zhao Meiying said: "My mother's biggest regret during her lifetime was that she did not see the photos of my father during his lifetime..." After hearing this, the young volunteers present were all moved and sent portraits of the martyrs to their families. Hurry up. , hurry up, and we can never let such regrets appear again.
In Houzhen Village, Yancheng Street, located on the west side of Daqing River Park, volunteers found Ma Fengying, the daughter of martyr Ma Chenglong. Ma Chenglong was born in 1925. He participated in the revolution in 1945 and went south to participate in the Liberation War in 1948. He died in the battle to liberate Guiyang in November 1949 and was approved as a revolutionary martyr by the people's government. The gray-haired old man Ma Fengying stared at the portrait of his heroic father and said: "I am 78 years old this year. I was only 4 years old when my father died. I have heard from my family since I was a child that my father died for the revolution, but he did not leave a single photo during his lifetime. For many years "In the past, I could only rely on vague memories to miss my father. Now, I finally see my father's portrait, and my long-cherished wish has finally come true." Listening to the old man's story, the volunteers present were very happy.
When the volunteers arrived at Dayang Village, Yancheng Street, Wu Xiaoquan, the 74-year-old son of martyr Wu Fengnen, was already waiting at the entrance of the alley. Next to the door of his house, the most eye-catching thing is the house number " glorious home " hanging on the wall. Wang Xinxin respectfully handed the portrait of the martyr to Wu Xiaoquan. The old man held the portrait of his father and looked at it carefully, with tears in his eyes. He said with trembling corners of his mouth: "The greatest honor in my life is that my father is a man who sacrificed his life for the country." A revolutionary martyr, but unfortunately, I never knew what his father looked like. Today, I finally made up for this regret, and my father finally came home..." Talking about his father, Wu Xiaoquan's face showed a sense of pride: "My father Wu Fengnen. Born in 1925, he participated in the revolution in January 1949. He served as a soldier in the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 89th Division of the 30th Army of the 3rd Field Army. He died in the battle to liberate Shanghai in May 1949 and was buried in the Chuansha Martyrs Cemetery in Shanghai. His father died. At that time, I was only 1 year old..." When the volunteer asked if there were other things about the martyrs kept at home, Wu Xiaoquan's wife took out an iron box from the closet and opened it, except for a piece of paper issued by Ministry of Civil Affairs. In addition to the "Martyr Certificate" issued by , there is also a cloth bag wrapped in layers of yellow cloth. The old man slowly opened the cloth bag, and it turned out to be a letter that had been yellowed and chipped. Although the letter paper was yellowed and weathered, the handwriting on it was still legible. This is a letter written by his company to the parents of martyr Wu Fengnen after his death. Looking at this letter that has gone through many vicissitudes of time, it seems that the volunteers' thoughts are brought to that glorious period more than 70 years ago.
Volunteers found the relatives of martyrs Dong Chuanxian, Li Zhigang, Yang Junrong and Lu Hongen. After delivering the portraits, the sky had darkened. Since there were no martyrs nearby who needed to be found, the day's operation was temporarily over. On the way back in the car, recalling the family members of the seven martyrs he had met in one day, volunteer Tian Bo said with emotion: "It's so touching. These martyrs sacrificed their lives for the revolution at such a young age, and some of them died before we were there." They sacrificed their lives for the country to have the happy life we have today. We cannot forget them. We personally send the portraits of our deceased relatives to the children of the martyrs to fulfill their longing for them. In this way The activity is so meaningful.” Tian Bo’s words resonated with the volunteers.
html On November 29, volunteers continued to deliver portraits to the families of 11 martyrs, including Liu Xingsan and Hao Jingao. At the home of the martyr Kong Fanmao, his son Kong Xiang bent over and took his father's portrait from the volunteers, placed the portrait upright on the table in the middle of the hall, and then knelt down with his son and grandson. , knelt down and worshiped. The old man knelt down and said with tears in his eyes: "I have lived for 83 years and finally saw the face of my father who I have longed for day and night. Dad, thank you to the kindhearted people for sending you home. Our family is reunited. You see, your precious The grandsons have all gotten married, and the whole family is living a good life now. From now on, our family will no longer be separated!"
When we came out of the homes of the relatives of martyrs Wang Chengzhang and Zhang Mingtang, everyone counted that there were already 8 martyrs in the morning. The family sent portraits of martyrs. In the afternoon, the volunteers had to go to Zhaoguan Town, which is the farthest from the county among the 18 martyr families. It took two hours of driving by car to find the home of martyr Wang Junsheng. After delivering the portraits, the volunteers returned to the county to look for the home of martyr Han Cungui.Qiao Yinglian, the daughter of martyr Han Cungui, is 75 years old this year. When her father died in the Battle of Jinan in 1948, she was less than 3 months old. After her mother remarried, she was taken in and raised by her aunt, and her surname was changed to that of her uncle's family. She burst into tears when she saw her father's portrait. The afterglow of the setting sun shines on Qiao Yinglian through the window. She stares at her father's portrait for a long time with such concentration.
It took a lot of trouble to find the home of martyr Liu Yuting. According to the information provided by Ms. Ye Qinghua, Liu Guiying, the daughter of martyr Liu Yuting, lives in Xuanzhangtun Town, . When volunteers called Liu Guiying’s phone number, no one answered. It turned out that the elderly woman accidentally set the ringtone of her mobile phone to silent mode. Looking at the portrait of his father, Liu Guiying said: "Today, when I saw the portrait of my father in military uniform that you sent me, I felt like I was reunited with my father. I didn't expect that the wish that had not been realized in my life would actually come true when I was almost 80 years old. Realized. "
The revolutionary martyrs "had great ambitions to sacrifice themselves", and the volunteers "continue to comfort the heroic souls". In just two days, six young volunteers traveled 360 kilometers to 18 rural communities, sending portraits of relatives and heart-warming Spring Festival condolences to 18 martyrs' families, fulfilling their long-lasting longing for relatives. Dream.
Ms. Ye Qinghua, who is far away in Jinhua , has been following this operation and keeping in touch with Wang Xinxin and others. When she learned that the volunteers successfully completed this special task, she was very pleased and expressed her gratitude repeatedly. In fact, as the initiator of the action of painting portraits of the martyrs and sending them "home", and as a family member of the martyrs, she is willing to be the "lantern bearer" for the martyrs to find their relatives. She is the person who should be thanked the most. In the process of passing and handing over the portraits again and again, the volunteers witnessed scenes of encounters across time and space, and witnessed the most sincere joys and sorrows in the world. They listened to the heroic deeds of the martyrs time and time again, and their hearts were deeply shocked again and again. They strengthened their red belief in being grateful to the martyrs and contributing to society. They will also drive more volunteers to join this meaningful action. Let more martyrs "go home" and reunite with their families as soon as possible.
(Produced by PLA Daily client·China Bugle)
