Seventy-two years, the character of the soldiers has never changed (commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteers’ going abroad to fight against the US and aid Korea)
Model Sun Jingkun
Photo by Liu Haidong
Dandong, Liaoning, under the Phoenix Mountain.
Sun Jingkun, a veteran, sat in a room in the special protection area of the Dandong Glory Academy, dressed in uniform.
The sun shines through the window on the 8 military medals on Sun Jingkun's chest, shining brightly.
Seventy-two years ago, Sun Jingkun enlisted in the army and gave the first sacred military salute in his life.
In the Liaoshen Campaign, he was awarded the third-class merit; in the Pingjin Campaign, he was awarded the second-class merit; in the Battle of Liberation of Hainan Island, he was awarded the second-class merit; in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he was awarded the first-class merit once and the third-class merit once.
Hidden fame and returned home to farm
In 1948, 24-year-old Sun Jingkun bid farewell to his newlyweds, joined the army resolutely, and joined the Communist Party of China a year later.
In 1950, he crossed the Yalu River with his troops and went to the Korean battlefield. During the battle, he suffered more than 20 scars.
Sun Jingkun chose to hide his fame and return to his hometown to work in agriculture.
Liu Zhenfa, an 86-year-old veteran party member who used to work with Sun Jingkun, said: “I only know that Captain Sun has served as a soldier, has been to North Korea, and led the No. 1 production team in Shancheng Village to live a good life. Wait for work and be a great hero."
"Only when I can't sleep, my father occasionally talks to me about the history of resisting U.S. Aid Korea." said the eldest daughter Sun Meili.
One night, Sun Jingkun told Sun Meili: In late autumn and early winter, Sun Jingkun’s platoon entered a sorghum field. Bullets and shells hit like wind and rain. All soldiers in a platoon died except Sun Jingkun.
"Whenever I talk about this, my father always has tears in his eyes."
Although he is 96 years old, the old man still clearly remembers that he has won a total of 8 military medals.
The Dandong Memorial Hall to Resist U.S. Aid and Aid Korea collected materials for the translational reconstruction, and Sun Jingkun silently donated the certificate of meritorious service, good news of meritorious service and some precious old photos.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Shangganling, the relevant department invited him to Beijing to participate in activities. He needed to wear a military uniform to take pictures. He found the medal of merit from under the box and hung it on his chest.
Endure hardship first, don't ask for enjoyment
In 1955, Sun Jingkun was demobilized.
Dandong City arranged for him to be the workshop director of the factory, but he applied to return to his hometown of Shancheng Village and became the captain of the first production team.
Shancheng Village is located at the turn of the Dasha River, a tributary of the Yalu River, and is the place with the weakest flood control capacity. The embankment and dam construction are imminent.
At that time, there were no mechanized equipment, and wheelbarrows were rare. Sun Jingkun took the lead in transporting soil and rocks with baskets and shoulders.
After several years of hard work, the dam was built higher and thicker, the land on both sides of the strait was protected, and the lives and property of the villagers were guaranteed.
Since the 1980s, the Dasha River dam has been continuously improved. The original mud dam was replaced by a rock dam, but the foundation of the dam was still laid by a team of members led by Sun Jingkun.
Nowadays, the two banks of the Dashahe dam have become places of leisure and entertainment for people.
"He deeply loves every inch of land in his hometown, and there was no unbearable suffering at that time!" Liu Zhenfa was once the leader of the second production team. It’s a catty, and 8 kilometers of winding mountain dirt road, Sun Jingkun takes the lead every day."
After returning home to farm for decades, Sun Jingkun had to endure hardships and did not seek enjoyment.
"Lie down and enjoy, are you worthy of sacrificed comrades?"
Simple and pure, giving back to the society
"I thought my father had never thought for me before, but his sentence'I'm sorry you' two years ago let me know that he has always loved me." Sun Meili held back tears and said, "Going to school at 8 years old, My classmates bullied me because I couldn't pay the tuition fees and my legs were disabled. It is said that my dad is the production team leader. As long as he writes a letter of introduction, the tuition fee can be waived, but he firmly refuses to open it."
Having been the captain of the production team for more than 20 years, Sun Jingkun did not hesitate to give up the opportunity to others whenever a unit recruited.
There are 7 children in the family. Except for their two sons, the rest are farmers.
When Sun Meili was 16 years old, the telephone bureau chose a telephone operator, but when she signed up, her father took it down and gave it to someone else.
"Father said, your education is low, don't delay things."
When she was young, Sun Meili had some complaints about her father, and she didn't understand why her father was so "harsh".
But as the years grew older, Sun Meili gradually understood that her father always wanted to give back to the society more.
"The old man never made any request to the organization. The simple and pure sparkle on him is touching!" said Qiu Dapeng, secretary of the Shancheng Village Party Branch.
In recent years, the main source of livelihood for the elderly has depended on the subsistence allowances. With the increase in disability payments and other benefits from the higher-level departments, the lives of the elderly have improved.
Some caring people offered to help him many times, but they were all rejected by the elderly: "It's not what I deserve, and I must not take it."
Only knowing how to endure hardship but not enjoyment, Sun Jingkun's family lived in poverty in Shancheng Village.
Just like the deep Tibetan military exploits in the war years, Sun Jingkun never took out a large pile of various awards.
Our reporter Wang Jinhai Xinyang