A commoner after a hundred
battles-Chronicle of Sun Jingkun, a veteran of the Korean War to Resist US Aid Korea
Recent photos of Sun Jingkun.
Photo by our reporter Sun Yang
The winds and rains wash away the old river, the broken bridge looks south and recalls the smoke.
Huang Chen covered his homeland, and Lengyue lonely hung up in the night.
Pain only teaches my heart, and glory is not announced to outsiders.
Every sima leather wrapped in the battlefield, Qingshi Danshu Weiguo chapter.
In autumn, it is slightly cool after the rain.
96-year-old Sun Jingkun was lying in a clean and tidy room in the Guangrongyuan in Dandong City, Liaoning Province, covered with a thin quilt, and bright sunlight shone on his thin face through the window in front of the bed.
Years and diseases eroded his body, and he could barely hear what we were talking to.
He could give answers almost without thinking about the inquiries raised by the war sixty or seventy years ago, even though they were only scattered phrases.
Inadvertently, Sun Jingkun would turn his head and take a look at the old volunteer army uniform hung on the inner wall of the bed, which is covered with various medals.
In the meantime, there are 1 first class medal, 2 second class medals and 2 third class medals.
That was the highlight moment in Sun Jingkun's life, but he was buried deep in his memory for a long time.
Taking off this military uniform with a medal on his chest, Sun Jingkun is seen by people as a production captain who cares about the collective, a farmer who works hard in the countryside, and a selfless veteran.
These identities seem to have nothing to do with the word hero.
These identities are the background color of a hero.
team leader
Like many Chinese soldiers in the 1950s, Sun Jingkun's life was divided into the upper and lower halves by the torrent of the times-in the first half, he fought on the battlefield to defend his country and returned to his hometown to participate in construction in the second half.
After the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Sun Jingkun, who had fought in the Southern and Northern Wars, was demobilized and returned to his hometown. He returned to his hometown of Shancheng Village, Tomatang Town, Andong City, Liaoning Province (now Shancheng Village, Jinshan Town, Yuanbao District, Dandong City) to become a demobilized soldier.
After eight years in the army, Sun Jingkun went from a peasant to a soldier, and from a soldier to a peasant.
Sun Jingkun felt that his health was not good and he had been recovering from his injuries after returning from North Korea.
Moreover, he is not well-educated and cannot recognize a few words. He still returns to his hometown to continue to be a farmer, and he can take care of his elderly parents while building the countryside.
"I'm a party member, I can do whatever the party calls it, and I joined a cooperative in the countryside."
There were 12 people from the same village who joined the army with Sun Jingkun, and only 3 came back alive, and the other two were disabled.
It was a blessing to return home safely. Sun Jingkun handed over the relationship between the party organization to the village party branch, and the demobilization procedures to the local civil affairs department. He said nothing about his own merits.
From the day he returned to Shancheng Village, a battle hero "disappeared".
On the third day of returning to the village, Sun Jingkun picked up farm tools and went to the production team to work.
The people in the village only know that he was the vice chairman of the peasant association before joining the army, fought in the army and joined the party.
Sun Jingkun soon became the captain of the production team in the village. When farming is busy, he promotes farming and strives for more food; when farming is slack, he grabs income and invigorates the collective economy.
Back then, there was a small river next to the village, which often caused floods and flooded the crops.
Sun Jingkun took the lead in picking up soil with a basket and carrying stones on his shoulders. He led the villagers to build a simple dam to protect the farmland. He spent a few years planting 130,000 pine and chestnut trees on the Guntu Ridge in his hometown.
In the memory of Sun Jingkun’s eldest daughter, Sun Meili, after his father became the production team leader, he was too busy every day. After eating, he took a hoe or shovel and went out, wherever he went and where he went, he devoted himself to the collective business. on.
In order to let the villagers get rid of poverty as soon as possible, Sun Jingkun organized the villagers to set up a common wealth group and a poverty alleviation group in 1984.
What Sun Jingkun is concerned about is the life of the villagers in difficulties.
Uncle Cui, a five-guarantee householder in his 80s, is suffering from illness and spends his twilight years under the care and care of Sun Jingkun...
Go to the battlefield to defend your home and country, and go home to relieve people's concerns.
Sun Jingkun, a veteran and party member, is respected by the villagers, and the production team leader has worked for more than 20 years.
Farmer
The villagers of Shancheng Village only learned many years later that the production team leader they respect is not an ordinary veteran.
Sun Jingkun's "uncommon" was discovered by accident.
In the late 1960s, in order to generate income for the village collective, some young people in Shancheng Village went to a paper mill in Dandong City to help transport old books to make pulp. Some old books with better quality were brought back to the village to look through.
At the time, a teenager Zhang Desheng was interested in military affairs and found a collection of stories about the battle to resist U.S. aggression and aggression, called "Fighting in North Korea."
Flipping through, Zhang Desheng saw an article entitled "Deputy Platoon Commander Sun Jingkun Fighting in Critical Conditions". It was about Sun Jingkun's heroic killing of the enemy on the battlefield to resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. The accompanying photos of the characters looked familiar.
"Sun Jingkun? Isn't this the second uncle?" Sun Jingkun, who ranked second in the family, was honored as the "second uncle" by the younger generation in the village.
Zhang Desheng hurried to Sun Jingkun's house with the book in his arms, wanting to ask some questions.
It was noon, and Sun Jingkun had just finished lunch and sat on the edge of the kang.
Zhang Desheng pointed to the photo and asked him, "Second Uncle, is this you?" Sun Jingkun neither admitted nor denied.
He didn't know much, he told Zhang Desheng, "Read it to me."
Zhang Desheng read word by word, and Sun Jingkun listened calmly.
When he heard the name of the deputy company commander Zhi Quansheng, Sun Jingkun's expression moved: "It's me."
Zhang Desheng immediately looked up from the book.
In front of him, the farmer who he couldn't be more familiar with, the second uncle he was very close to, suddenly became strange and tall.
Zhang Desheng preached to the villagers as if he had discovered a treasure: "The second uncle is great, and he is a hero on the Korean battlefield."
The villagers came to Sun Jingkun in a swarm to inquire about his story on the Korean battlefield.
But Sun Jingkun never said much, that the old book that recorded his battle deeds was also kept at home by him.
In those years, joining the army and fighting was nothing new.
Over time, these battle stories of Sun Jingkun were gradually forgotten by the villagers.
In the eyes of the villagers, Sun Jingkun is still "Captain Sun".
In 1990, a Dandong TV station reporter went to Shancheng Village to cover news about growing vegetables in the greenhouse.
During the interview, a village cadre told reporters that "our village still has a fighting hero."
Under the reporter's "soft and hard bubble", the 66-year-old Sun Jingkun turned out a tightly wrapped cloth bag, took out medals, and narrated the battle stories from many years ago.
Soon, Sun Jingkun's heroic deeds spread in Dandong City.
People who went to the old hero's home to visit and sympathize were endless, and various honors and commendations were also coming.
Sun Jingkun was distressed by it and "complained" to the reporter who interviewed him: "You are causing me trouble! There are always people in my family, and I don't have time to go to work."
Everyone regards Sun Jingkun as a hero, but what Sun Jingkun cares most is his duty as a farmer.
veteran
After learning about Sun Jingkun’s “uncommon”, the questions that people around him had never understood but thought, seemed to have the answer——
Sun Jingkun's eldest daughter, Sun Meili, suffers from polio and has inconvenient legs and feet.
At school age, the family can’t even pay the 4 yuan tuition fee. After only half a year of school, she dropped out and went home to work as a farmer. “My dad is a production team leader. As long as you write a letter of introduction, the tuition will be waived, but he just didn’t. Open it."
Shancheng Village is located in the suburbs of Dandong City. In those years, units often recruited workers. Sun Jingkun did not hesitate to give up the opportunity to others.
One year, the local telecommunications bureau recruited a group of operators, and chose Sun Meili, who was hand-worked. "My dad took it down as soon as I saw that I was on the list, but I didn't catch it."
Sun Jingkun has 7 children, 5 of whom are farmers.
Seeing that the road to recruiting workers was not working, the eldest son Sun Fugui signed up to join the army. This time, Sun Jingkun did not stop him. He even gave his son a rare gift with the words "Motherland People's Consolation Corps" and "Resist US Aid Korea, Defend the Country" Towels with the words etc.
Zhang Desheng, who was the same age as Sun Fugui, wanted to be a soldier, but failed.
"My father worked in the county food bureau at the time. Although I lived in the village, my household registration did not comply with the rural recruitment policy. My family and the second uncle’s house were very close. I thought he could relax, but he didn’t agree. ."
Zhang Desheng and his family couldn't blame Sun Jingkun for their wish to join the army.
During the three-year period of natural disasters, the production team had to go to the canteen to eat, and all the land reserved by the farmers was returned to the production team.
Sun Jingkun, the director of the ancient city operation area of the Hongqi Commune at the time, considered that some elderly, children, and disabled persons might not be able to eat as a result, and insisted on putting forward different opinions. As a result, he was removed from his post and was rehabilitated after three years.
The villagers see Sun Jingkun's personality in their eyes and respect in their hearts.
This "person" is dignified and upright.
This "heart" is truly and sincere, and is bound by the people.
When faced with difficulties in life and unfairness in work, Sun Jingkun did not show his military merits to the organization or made any requests.
Others were puzzled, and Sun Jingkun didn't argue.
He has someone he wants to talk to.
Dandong is a city of heroes. There are many cemeteries for the martyrs of the Anti-US Aid Korea. There are many comrades in arms who have fought bloody battles with Sun Jingkun in a foreign country.
Squatting in front of the tomb of the martyrs, Sun Jingkun carefully wiped the tombstone.
"You have taken your life for the country. Compared with you, I am living very well now. What can't be done..."
Sun Jingkun likes to wear military uniform when he stepped off the battlefield.
Not long ago, in order to better take care of him, the Dandong Veterans Affairs Bureau arranged for him to live in the City Glory Institute.
Sun Jingkun's only request was to hang the old uniform of the volunteer army in front of the bed.
In this life, Sun Jingkun will always be a soldier!
(This series of newsletters assisted in the interview: Bao Mingjian, our special correspondent, and Zheng Ze, correspondent)
Bao Mingjian