Source: PLA News
Original title: Be careful to pursue the distance, worry about the aftermath of the heroes
March 29, when the remains of the fifth batch of volunteer soldiers in South Korea were grandly placed in the Martyrs Cemetery of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, our eyes were soaked in tears, and our memories were once again awakened by history.
"The major affairs of the country are in sacrifice and military affairs." On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of the "Regulations on Commendation of Martyrs", the country welcomed revolutionary martyrs home with solemn ceremony, which was full of the people's courtesy and respect for heroes.
According to incomplete statistics, since the revolutionary war years, about 20 million martyrs have sacrificed their precious lives for China's revolution and construction, and most of them have not left their names.
Now, the battlefield of the past has become a fertile land and smooth rivers, and the years have passed since then, but the motherland has never forgotten the countless loyal children who sacrificed their lives to the national crisis and were ready to die.
In recent years, the national policies and regulations on supporting the military preferential treatment and resettlement have been continuously improved. The "Regulations on Military Pension and Preferential Treatment", "Regulations on Commendation of Martyrs", "Measures on Protection and Management of Martyrs Memorial Facilities" have been successively issued; this year's National Two Sessions, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs officially appeared on the stage of history, providing us with stronger and stronger organizational support and mechanism guarantees for respecting martyrs and caring for martyrs.
We look forward to every Chinese heart that will remember the place where loyal bones are buried in the barren mountains, and every Chinese will care about the past and aftermath of the revolutionary martyrs, let history always remember the names of martyrs, and let the martyrs be respected by society forever.
We firmly believe that with the affection and high expectations of leaders and common expectations of military and local governments, "making soldiers a profession respected by the whole society" will surely become the awareness of action of all levels and departments, and inspire the tremendous power to strengthen the country and the military.
Flowers are laid in front of the tomb of the martyrs. Photo by Zhang Guowei
A brigade of the 75th Group Army devoted himself to protecting the 26 unknown martyrs who moved into the martyrs' cemetery in the camp -
carefully worshiped and illuminated the "way home" of the heroes martyrs in early spring. In Yunnan, dry and strong winds, the leaves were blown down all over the ground.
In the early morning, it was light and Song Haibo, the administrator and corporal of the Martyrs' Cemetery of a brigade of the 75th Army, got up early and carried a broom to the Martyrs' Cemetery in the back mountain of the camp to clean the leaves.
An hour later, Song Haibo put down his broom, took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, took out two of them skillfully and lit them in his mouth, then gently pulled out one, leaned over and placed it in front of the tombstone of the No. 49 unknown martyr nearest, and whispered: "Senior, you're smoking!"
"The martyrs' cemetery in our camp used to be dedicated to burying the martyrs of this army, but later moved 26 unknown martyrs and 76 named martyrs. They moved to our martyrs' cemetery in 2013. The tomb of the unknown martyrs has only a number, from No. 45 to No. 70." Song Haibo introduced, "The tombs of these 26 unknown martyrs were scattered outside before, but now they have returned to their 'mother's home'. We are their 'relatives', and we must take good care of them!" As he said, Song Haibo's thoughts returned to 5 years ago.
That day, the troops organized field training and passed a tomb on the marching road. The officers and soldiers walked closer and saw that it was the tomb of the martyr Wuming. Due to neglect of care, weeds are already growing around the tomb. "I felt like something was snatching my heart." Song Haibo, who was still a recruit at the time, recalled.
After that, the brigade found relevant local departments and learned that there were 102 scattered martyrs' tombs at the garrison, 26 of which were unknown martyrs. Many of them were seriously injured who were sent back during the border self-defense counterattack. After their deaths, they were scattered and buried in various garrisons. Although the local government has thought of many solutions, due to the long time, it has been unable to verify the information of unknown martyrs. There is no special martyrs cemetery in the local area, so it is difficult to move the scattered martyrs tombs together to manage them in a centralized manner. Everyone felt very sad when they watched the tomb of the nameless martyr scattered outside, without relatives or reasons.
"It's better to move the tomb of the unknown martyrs to the army and let them go back to their 'mother's home'!" In 2013, the military and local governments discussed and decided to move all the local scattered martyrs to the army martyrs' cemetery with funds from the local government.
However, the "way to go home" of the unknown martyr is not smooth.Since then, every Qingming Festival, a large number of local personnel have visited the martyrs' cemetery of the army to sweep the tombs. The brigade and local governments always serve the martyrs who come to sweep the tombs, help find the martyrs' tombs, prepare flower baskets, and contact food and accommodation. Seeing the tombs of named martyrs coming to worship every year, but few people were interested in the tombs of unknown martyrs. Song Haibo and his comrades felt very uncomfortable.
"Only with relatives accompanying you can return home. The unknown martyr returns to the army's 'mother's home' and still has relatives!" Afterwards, Song Haibo and his comrades launched an "recognizing relatives" activity with the unknown martyr on the Internet of Tourism Political Work. The first person to respond to the "recognition of relatives" with the nameless martyr was Zhu Yunhai, the former minister of the brigade's security department and now transferred to the local area. The person he recognized relatives was the nameless martyr No. 45.
During the interview, he happened to meet Zhu Yunhai on a business trip and passed by the brigade camp and came to pay homage to the unknown martyrs. "Four generations of my family are soldiers, and my grandfather died in the Huaihai Battle." Zhu Yunhai said emotionally, "Now, I have another relative of a martyr. If I don't come to pay tribute every year, I always feel empty in my heart."
Ran Jinglu, deputy director of the Equipment Maintenance Department of the Army Support Department of the Group, recognized his relatives as the nameless martyr No. 58. When he was the battalion commander of the brigade, he would visit the nameless martyrs to visit the tombs, smoke and toast, and talk to the martyrs during the Qingming Festival, the Army Day and the Spring Festival. On Qingming Festival, Ran Jinglu learned that the nameless martyr No. 58 might have come from Guizhou, so he went to the kitchen to cook a portion of Guizhou spicy chicken and used it to worship the martyrs.
As the administrator of the Martyrs' Cemetery, Song Haibo has also seen local personnel come to the army martyrs' Cemetery to look for unknown martyrs. After inquiring from many sources, an old lady learned that her son was buried in the local area after his death and was later moved to the Martyrs Cemetery of the Army. Looking at the tombs of the 26th tombs of the unknown martyrs, the old lady didn't know which tomb her son was sleeping in, so she had to lie on a tombstone of the unknown martyrs, crying heartbrokenly, and kept calling: "Son, where are you?" The old man called out and hit the tombstone with his head. No matter how Song Haibo was comforting him, it would be useless.
The old man's heart was broken, and Song Haibo was also very heartbroken. He silently pressed his hands against the martyr's tombstone, letting the old man's head hit his hands. Even if it could only relieve the pain of the old man's impact, Song Haibo felt a little better. He comforted the old lady softly: "Old man, don't worry, every martyr here is our relatives. We will definitely take good care of your son carefully. He has gone home after lying here!"
Now, although the officers and soldiers of the brigade have changed one after another, every unknown martyr always has "family" to take care of. Every tomb of the unknown martyr has been cleaned up, and there are sacrifices in front of the tomb. After being transferred to the brigade, Private Yuan Rongao also became an administrator of the Martyrs' Cemetery. The day after reporting, he ran to the Martyrs Cemetery to "recognize relatives" with the unknown martyrs: "This is not only the 'home' of the unknown martyrs, but also the pure land of our hearts. Taking good care of every martyr is to protect the home in our hearts." (Ma Fei, Yin Hongze, Luo Yufei)
A new platform for the Army of the Eastern Theater Command innovated and expanded the new platform for preferential treatment -
preferential assistance, "paired and recognized relatives" "Soothing the martyrs'
This is a special "red heritage" handover ceremony - On March 29, Zhang Jian, instructor of the radar reconnaissance company of a brigade of the Eastern Theater Command Army, was transferred to leave office, and brought the new instructor Zhang Lingchang to the tombstone of the martyr Shen Guoliang, and gave him a handful of soil brought back from the battlefield and was soaked in the blood of the martyrs. He also sincerely reminded him to inherit and carry forward the good tradition of "pairing and recognizing relatives" with the martyrs and take good care of the martyrs.
"Preferential treatment and assistance to martyrs is the common responsibility of the whole society, and the army should be at the forefront!" The company officers and soldiers started to "pair and recognize relatives" with the parents of martyrs Shen Guoliang in 2011. After the "Regulations on Commendation of Martyrs" and other laws and regulations on supporting the military and preferential treatment work were promulgated and issued, the brigade actively inherited the red gene and innovated and expanded a new platform for preferential treatment work.The Party Committee of the Brigade took the initiative to find the local civil affairs department to understand the family status of the martyrs at the resident, and organized officers and soldiers to go to the martyrs' families to "pair and recognize relatives": every time the recruits entered the camp, Qingming Festival, and the anniversary of the sacrifice of martyrs, they went to the martyrs' homes to wipe the portraits of the martyrs and help the martyrs' parents to organize housework; when the martyrs encounter difficulties in life, they came to the door to provide help in time, fulfilled their filial piety to the martyrs' parents, and were the "soldier son" of the martyrs' parents. At the same time, the brigade also provided tens of thousands of yuan of special funds to comfort the martyrs every year.
Not long ago, the mother of martyr Shen Guoliang was hospitalized with pancreatitis. Corporal Yin Liyang, who was on vacation, found out that the place where the martyr's mother was hospitalized was not far from his home, so he took the initiative to take care of him every day.
Since the launch of this activity, the officers and soldiers of this brigade have "paired and recognized relatives" with 13 martyrs' families in the garrison, and many officers and soldiers have become "new members" of the martyrs' families.
In 1984, martyr Li Hongping died bravely in a battle. His old father, with gray hair, has been living alone for many years. In order to give Li Dad a happy old age, the officers and soldiers of the transportation company who "paired and recognized relatives" set a rule: every time they take a break or go out, they should take some time to accompany the elderly, bring fresh meat and vegetables, and cook delicious home-cooked dishes to have a reunion dinner with the elderly.
Whenever I see the group of "soldier sons" who are busy in front of me, there is always a warm current in my heart. I will praise these affectionate and righteous soldiers when I meet everyone: "Although my own son died on the battlefield, there are more than 30 more 'soldier sons' now!"
In recent years, when the martyrs are in trouble, they will always see the busy figures of their soldiers. At the end of last year, a heavy snow overwhelmed a tree in front of the house of the martyr Lu Ronghua's parents, affecting the travel of the elderly. After the officers and soldiers who "paired and recognized relatives" with his family went out to perform the snow-purge mission, they took the detour to help clean up the snow and broken branches. A month ago, the martyr Dai Zhenping's home was demolished. Considering that his parents were old, the officers and soldiers took the initiative to help move on holidays... For many years, the officers and soldiers have worked hard to help the martyrs' families solve the problem, winning unanimous praise from the martyrs' families and villagers.
"The 'Pairing and Recognizing Families' activity not only warmed the hearts of the savages, but also allowed every officer and soldier to undergo spiritual baptism!" During the activity, the officers and soldiers of the brigade not only "go out", but also "invite in". They actively used the camp propaganda window to display the blood letters of heroes and martyrs' request for battle, fighting diaries and photos, and opened a "Martyrs Memorial Hall" online on the travel and political worker, and organized officers and soldiers to discuss and communicate online; whenever officers and soldiers carry out the "pairing and recognizing relatives" activity to return to the camp, they also organized officers and soldiers to talk about their experiences and feelings through the "soldier lecture hall" and "theoretical team"; invited martyrs' families to serve as "ideological counselors", so that more officers and soldiers can get closer to their relatives and listen to hero stories, so that the spark of heroic spirit can be deeply embedded in the hearts of officers and soldiers, and constantly draw spiritual strength and nutrients from the heroic deeds of martyrs, so as to drive more people to inherit the heroic spirit and strengthen their mission and responsibilities.
"My son Sun Jiarong transported 27 wounded people before his death, and finally fell on the way to rescue his comrades. He gave his hope of life to his comrades and left the danger of death to himself. I am proud of him..." In front of the portrait of the martyr Sun Jiarong, when Sun, who was already 83 years old, told his son's battle deeds affectionately, although his eyes were wet, his tone was firm and powerful. Platoon leader Ge Liang was deeply moved by the dedication of the martyrs and bowed deeply to the martyrs three times. At that moment, he understood the profound meaning of the word "comrade-in-arms": "Comrade-in-arms transcend life and death, and is the most cherished and precious friendship of the military camp family!"
learns the deeds of martyrs and inspires enthusiasm for fighting. At the home of martyr Li Hongping, corporal He Kuanbing stopped in front of a bloody letter of "attacking like a sharp knife and defending like a mountain of Tai". It was the "authorized letter" written by the martyr bit his finger before the war."Soldiers must be bloody and realize their value in life on the hot training ground and future battlefield!" The handwriting on the blood book inspired He Kuanbing's bloody passion. He said emotionally: "If I really go to the battlefield, I must be a hero!" (Zhu Da, Zeng Tao, Tong Zujing)
Officers and soldiers of an armored regiment of the Xinjiang Military Region traveled thousands of miles to verify their identities for unknown martyrs-
Classing a monument and keeping a record, and your name will always be engraved
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
On the eve of Qingming Festival, officers and soldiers of an armored regiment of the Xinjiang Military Region, leaders of relevant departments of Shawan County, people of all ethnic groups in the resident area, and representatives of veterans went to the nearby Beiyang Mountain to worship the six martyrs who were sleeping here forever.
A careful person will find that this is a brand new tombstone.
"Qin Darui, Hu Xianzhen, Niu Shujun, Su Xinxi, you four are famous tombs today, which are inseparable from the efforts of your comrades back then and the efforts of the officers and soldiers of the troops..." Zhang Qiuliang, a veteran next to him, said. In 1977, Zhang Qiuliang joined the army from his hometown Shanyang County, Shaanxi Province to serve in the 54th Regiment of the 13th Artillery Division. After retiring from the army in 1982, he lived in Shawan County, the military base. In recent years, when he had time, he went to the place where the troops buried their dead comrades in the army to see if the cemetery was damaged. The "comrades-in-arms in the past" he mentioned refer to hundreds of officers and soldiers represented by Hu Jianliang, the last commander of the 54th Regiment.
In 2016, when a regiment of the Xinjiang Military Region formed a "targeted poverty alleviation" pair with Zhang Qiuliang, he accidentally learned that the comrades who died in Zhang Qiuliang's old army and the officers and soldiers of the former 54th Regiment were buried on Beiyang Mountain, but four of them had no names, no surnames, and no monuments.
What are the names of these 4 people? The regiment leaders immediately arranged for people to communicate in detail with Hu Jianliang and proposed the idea of erecting monuments for these four soldiers. However, the company at that time had been transferred several times in the past 30 years, and no one of the company's officers and soldiers was in the regiment, and many people had no news. How to verify the identity of the martyr?
"I will do my best to help you find the specific situation of these 4 sacrificed soldiers!" Hu Jianliang quickly formed a WeChat group called "I have me in the 54th Artillery Regiment", and on the same day he brought in more than 40 people. What made him regret was that no one knew the situation of the sacrifice of his comrades.
"If we can't find out their names, we will be sorry for their contributions to the army." In order to erect monuments for the four martyrs as soon as possible, 67-year-old Hu Jianliang resolutely decided to give up planning a two-year trip to Tibet, and with 80,000 yuan of selling his car at home, he went to the recruitment site of the army that year to look for clues.
Seeing the old leader's actions, the others were very moved and joined in the action of contacting their comrades back then. Through telephone, online messages, etc., the number of people in the WeChat group has gradually increased from more than 40 to nearly 500.
"We can fill in the information of our comrades in our unit into a spreadsheet and put it in the WeChat group to arouse memories of others." veteran Ma Guoqiang suggested.
With the joint efforts of hundreds of retired comrades-in-arms, everyone finally found the heads of various units and locked in more than 10 comrades-in-arms who died in the line of duty at that time. In order to verify the information, Hu Jianliang led four comrades to Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other places, and went to the local civil affairs and public security departments to inquire one by one according to the clues provided by the veterans.
For a period of time, everyone searched online and offline. Talking about the search for the martyrs, Hu Jianliang was passionate: "Although we have been away from the army for many years and have nowhere to be reimbursed for transportation expenses, we are willing to do so because they are all our beloved comrades."
When he took people to visit the village where Su Xinxi, a martyr from Shanyang, Shaanxi, was located, the people unanimously said that Su Xinxi joined the army in 1973 and was eager to give supplies to the troops on the mountain that year. Unfortunately, due to heavy snow and slippery roads, he died on the spot.
In December 2016, Hu Jianliang visited Shandong, Xinjiang and other places one by one, verifying the identities of the martyrs one by one, and collecting information about their families.
When Hu Jianliang and his group came to their comrade Qin Darui's hometown in Jianyang , Qin's father and mother had already become gray-haired. When an old man over 80 years old heard them mention his son, he was immersed in the pain of losing his beloved son and his unrelieved longing.Over the years, Qin's father and mother worked hard, and the old walls were lonely and smoked, which seemed to be the parents' long-lasting call to their son.
After Hu Jianliang learned and verified Qin Darui's information, he comforted them softly and said, "No matter how the times change, your son's contribution to military construction will never fade. If you have difficulties in life, you can tell me at any time, or to the military and the resident civil affairs department."
Hu Jianliang and others will ask about the family situation and physical condition of the martyrs whenever they go to a family home of a martyrs, chat with them, and tell them to take care of their health. At the same time, they will consult with the local government and the armed forces department to let them care more about their martyrs and help them solve their actual difficulties.
After several months of hard work, they finally determined that the owners of the four unknown martyrs' tombs were: Qin Darui, Hu Xianzhen, Niu Shujun, and Su Xinxi.
On March 24, 2017, Shawan County and the regiment decided to jointly erect monuments for the two known martyrs and the four martyrs. From then on, the six names on the martyrs' tombstone were forever engraved in the hearts of the martyrs' comrades and soldiers of the army. (Lu Ning, Han Qiang, Guo Fengkuan)
