Chen Qiang: New soldiers "do not retreat" and veterans "do not owe debts"
2024-08-08
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On July 29, in Beijing, the National Veterans Affairs Conference commended 80 national exemplary individuals in veterans affairs.
Chen Qiang, deputy director of the Veterans Affairs Bureau of Nayong County, Guizhou Province, who was awarded, said in an interview with CCTV reporters that in his work with veterans, he "fully implemented national policies and did not owe policy debts; made friends with veterans and did not owe friendship debts; tried his best to solve the difficulties of veterans and did not owe emotional debts" - in the army, he saved people in danger and the new recruits did not retreat; in the local area, he helped people in difficult situations and the veterans did not owe debts. Many of Chen Qiang's stories are still unforgettable, as if they were just yesterday.
Rescue photos in the museum
One day in September 1995, when the new recruit Chen Qiang was escorting his Jiangxi comrade Xie Jingping from Fangchenggang to the 303 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army for hospitalization, he accidentally walked into the Guangxi Museum at No. 34 Minzu Avenue, Nanning City.
In a corner of the museum, Chen Qiang, who was unprepared, saw a close-up photo of himself rescuing an injured girl at a house collapse site more than a year ago due to an accidental glance back. The moment when he handed the girl to his comrade with both hands in the narrow gap between the cement slabs was first captured by the camera and then collected by the museum.
In Chen Qiang's opinion, it is more meaningful for a museum to collect a photo of an accident rescue than to be awarded a prize for meritorious service.
The photos brought Chen Qiang’s memories back to more than a year ago, back to the ruins.
On August 30, 1994, Fangchenggang City in Guangxi suffered heavy rainfall. The Fangcheng River rose and the surging waves destroyed a house on the river bank. The owner and his family of eight were caught off guard and buried under the rubble.
The reconnaissance unit where Chen Qiang was located received a rescue order, and as a new recruit who "did not retreat", he and his comrades rushed to the scene as soon as possible.
After searching out the seven victims who had no vital signs, Chen Qiang, with his ear close to the ruins, keenly heard a faint sound coming out intermittently from the cracks in the concrete slabs, like the bubbles that a drowning person spits out from the bottom of the water, weak and breathless.
There were no life detectors or search and rescue dogs at that time. If Chen Qiang had not listened close to the ruins, a surviving life might have been overlooked.
Chen Qiang immediately asked his comrades to use a jack to open a gap in the cement slab, and he himself crawled into the narrow gap to search for survivors in the dark.
The one moaning was a 5-year-old girl whose foot had been crushed by the concrete slab, with the skin just missing. Chen Qiang asked his comrades to use a jack to prop up the concrete slab, pull out the girl's crushed foot, and then hold the girl with both hands and crawl out.
Arriving at the cave entrance, Chen Qiang handed the girl to his comrade who was waiting outside. At this moment, Chen Qiang's face, the little girl's injuries, and his comrade's arm were all captured by the camera recording the scene.
For this rescue, Chen Qiang was awarded the third-class individual merit.
Thirty years later: "Wait for me"
The heavy rain ended and Fangchengjiang River returned to its former docile state. Chen Qiang and his comrade Xie Jingping and others returned to their daily lives in the army, but the family that died in the accident will never be able to go back to their previous days.
In the days after the rescue, Chen Qiang could still smell the blood at the bend of his hand, but what he thought about more was the fate of the girl.
The little girl's lower limbs could not be saved, and more importantly, she was the only one left in the family of eight. She was undoubtedly an isolated island in the world. Chen Qiang also believed that the state's assistance could alleviate some of the little girl's psychological trauma in terms of material means.
In 1992, Chen Qiang had been admitted to a normal school, but he gave up schooling due to his family's financial constraints and joined the army. Therefore, Chen Qiang's sympathy for the injured girl was beyond his ability and he was unable to help.
Ever since he saw the photo of himself saving someone in the museum, an idea sprouted in Chen Qiang's mind: I am still a new soldier and not financially independent. After I retire and become financially independent, I must find this little girl I rescued and give her some material help to the best of my ability.
It was not until three years ago, when Chen Qiang was no longer troubled by financial problems, that he began to inquire about the injured girl from the Fangchenggang Disabled Persons' Federation. But without key information, his inquiry was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Where can I find the injured girl in such a huge crowd? "I want to look for her through CCTV's 'Wait for Me' column, maybe I can find her."
"If the little girl is not dead, she should be 35 or 36 years old. As long as we grasp the following factors, '35 or 36 years old, 1994 flood, house collapse accident, female, lower limb injury, Fangchenggang', I believe we can find her." On August 1, Chen Qiang, who returned to Nayong from Beijing after receiving the "National Model Individual for Veterans' Work", told reporters that his desire to find the injured girl is now stronger. "If we can find her, even if I can't help much, I can donate a month's salary to help her live as well as possible despite her disability."
At present, Chen Qiang has designed various search paths. If he cannot find it in a small range, he will expand the range. As for whether he can find it or not, it will be left to fate.
Reunion after 51 years
One day two years ago, a strange phone call came to Chen Qiang's mobile phone. The caller was Yang Zhongyin, a native of Weixin, Nayong.
Yang Zhongyin said on the phone that after his uncle Yang Guoyi, who was a soldier, died of illness outside the province, he had lost contact with his aunt Chen Baolian for 50 years.
When Yang Zhongyin heard that Chen Qiang was a cadre serving retired soldiers, he begged Chen Qiang to help find out the whereabouts of his aunt so that the Yang family would know where the other branch of their bloodline that had been stranded in a foreign land was now rooted.
The information Chen Qiang learned from Yang Zhongyin's call was very limited. There was only Chen Baolian's name and a very general address associated with Chen Baolian - Songming, Yunnan. Everything else was vague.
Chen Qiang's principle is to "solve the difficulties of retired soldiers without owing emotional debts." He immediately sent a letter to Kunming for inquiry, but to no avail. He then called to inquire, but to no avail.
In March 2023, when Chen Qiang was escorting Nayong veterans to Yunnan to pay homage to martyrs in the border areas, he passed through Songming and specifically asked the street cadres if there was a person named Chen Baolian, but still to no avail. The next day before leaving Songming, just when Chen Qiang had almost given up the search, he met a local who was having breakfast in a breakfast shop and asked again with the idea of giving it a try.
As luck would have it, the man eating breakfast said that his primary school teacher was named Chen Baolian, and he could lead the way to find her.
Chen Qiang thought, I finally found out that there is a person named Chen Baolian in Songming, I must confirm in person whether this is the aunt Yang Zhongyin is looking for.
After several twists and turns, Chen Qiang found Chen Baolian.
When asked the whole story, Chen Baolian said that her husband was the deceased veteran Yang Guoyi. She knew that Yang Guoyi's hometown was in Weixin, Nayong. She had also gone to Weixin alone to look for her relatives, but did not find them.
"I found your aunt." Chen Qiang immediately telegraphed this important information to Yang Zhongyin.
In May of that year, with the help of Chen Qiang, Chen Baolian came to Weixin with her children and bags of gifts to reunite with her husband's nephew Yang Zhongyin. Chen Baolian and her family, the survivors of Yang Guoyi who had been separated for 51 years, finally found their roots.
Chen Baolian returned to Nayong County and gave the banner she had made in Songming to Chen Qiang.
Over the years, when military families could not find the martyrs' cemeteries, Chen Qiang either made phone calls, sent letters, or searched on site. In total, he found relatives for 17 heroes and martyrs who were buried in other places, and found martyrs' cemeteries for military families.
Giving an umbrella after the rain is boring
Because his family was financially constrained, Chen Qiang hid his admission letter to a normal school at the age of 17 and joined the army. He did not want other poor mountain children like him to have to make the same choice.
After retiring from the army and returning home, Chen Qiang started working and his family's financial situation began to improve significantly.
But the good days did not last for many years, as the mother became paralyzed, and the girl’s wish to find the ruins and be reborn was cut short.
Later, the appearance of two orphans, Chen Jin and Zhou Libo (pseudonyms), in his hometown made Chen Qiang's heart tremble again.
Zhou Libo's father is severely disabled and his mother has been away from home without any news, so Chen Qiang took Zhou Libo with him to raise him and helped Chen Jin from time to time. Now, Zhou Libo is in junior high school and Chen Jin has joined the army, but Chen Qiang still has the responsibility, "You have to send an umbrella in the rain, it's meaningless to send an umbrella after the rain."
In addition, Chen Qiang also sponsored six college students (four of them, including Xu Jin, have already started working, and two, including Long Hai, have served as village party branch secretaries and village committee directors).
"Dedicate loyalty to the motherland, love to the society, filial piety to the family, sincerity to others, and confidence to yourself." Chen Qiang said that he has fulfilled these words and is still practicing them.
Correspondent Zhou Chunrong
Editor Zhou Enyu
The second trial of Xie Chaozheng
The third trial of Li Wenyong
