recipient of the national medal and national honorary title丨huang zongde: fighting bravely and dedicating his life to the country
2024-09-16
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xinhua news agency, tianjin, september 16 title: huang zongde: fighting bravely and dedicating his life to the country
li bingxuan, li minggang, zhou wenjian
“with high spirits and vigor, we cross the yalu river…” huang zongde, who joined the army at the age of 17 and devoted himself to the revolution, is now 93 years old and still has tears in his eyes whenever he hears this familiar melody.
huang zongde talks about his combat experience during an interview (photo taken on september 10, 2024). xinhua news agency (photo by jin xianbin)
the medals on his chest silently tell the story of the old hero's immortal achievements: he was awarded the "second class combat hero" and the victory medal of honor, was awarded the first class merit and the second class merit once each, and was awarded the "first class national flag medal" by north korea.
huang zongde often recites the names of his comrades who died in the war. he said: "i am a survivor, and they are heroes!"
smart and brave: broke through 5 fire points in a row and captured 22 enemies alone
74 years ago, when the invaders imposed war on the newborn republic, hundreds of millions of chinese people issued a cry of justice: resist the us and aid korea, defend the country!
in august 1952, 21-year-old huang zongde was ordered to go to the battlefield to resist u.s. aggression and aid korea.
in july 1953, the chinese people's volunteer army launched the jincheng counterattack. huang zongde's volunteer army 24th army 74th division 220th regiment 2nd battalion 5th company was ordered to attack shangjiujing west mountain. they faced a defense line constructed by the south korean military minefields, barbed wire and firing points, which was clamored by the enemy as a "model position."
on the night of the 13th, the general offensive began. the company commander asked huang zongde, who was suffering from dysentery and had a high fever, to guard the rear. but he said, "even if i die, i will die on the battlefield!" braving the enemy's dense rain of bullets, huang zongde was the first to jump out of the position, led the whole class to break through 7 barbed wire fences, and captured the enemy's outpost position.
after completing the assigned tasks, he led the spearhead squad to actively coordinate with the brother units on both wings to break through the enemy's defense lines, successively destroyed five enemy firepower points, repelled the counterattack of an enemy squad, and captured the main peak.
the battle lasted all night and was so brutal that only 13 people were left in the company after the battle.
the next day, huang zongde encountered the remaining enemies hiding in the tunnel alone. with his submachine gun broken and his right chest wounded, he did not retreat. instead, he was determined to die and used his only grenades and explosive packs to blow up the tunnel. the enemies surrendered one after another.
"my gun had stopped firing a long time ago. to stabilize the enemy, i shouted, 'squad 5, squad 6, come here quickly,'" huang zongde said. "in fact, there was only me. how could there be a squad 5 or 6?"
in this battle, huang zongde destroyed three enemy bunkers, killed seven enemies, captured 22 enemies alone, and seized 12 carbines, eight rifles, four submachine guns, and two walkie-talkies.
because of his heroic performance, huang zongde was awarded the honorary title of "second-class combat hero" by the volunteer army headquarters and was awarded first-class merit.
more than 70 years have passed. recalling his comrades who sacrificed their lives, huang zongde still burst into tears. "they are the heroes. i accepted the honor on their behalf."
always grateful to the party: "it was the party that trained me from a poor boy to a revolutionary fighter"
in august 1931, huang zongde was born into a poor peasant family in rongcheng, shandong.
huang zongde's brother-in-law and sister were both underground party members. under their influence, huang zongde joined the youth anti-japanese vanguard, delivering messages for the organization and standing guard.
in december 1948, 17-year-old huang zongde joined the army and became a soldier of the rongcheng county coastal defense battalion in shandong province.
in april 1949, the people's liberation army launched the battle of crossing the yangtze river. huang zongde was assigned to the 221st regiment of the 74th division of the 25th army of the people's liberation army and participated in the battle for the first time. huang zongde recalled: "i can't swim, but i have a belief that i must not die here. we must liberate all of china."
after crossing the yangtze river, huang zongde and his comrades scattered to the homes of fellow villagers to take shelter from the rain. "a few kuomintang stragglers also knocked on the door. i captured three enemies and won the third-class merit," huang zongde said.
recalling his revolutionary journey, huang zongde is most proud of the fact that his political life is as old as the republic. 75 years have passed, and the old man still remembers the details of his joining the party: "in june 1949, in a dilapidated temple in zhenjiang, jiangsu, i swore to join the communist party of china."
huang zongde (first from right) took a group photo with his comrades in north korea (photo taken on february 15, 1954). xinhua news agency
after that, huang zongde fought with the army all the way and made many contributions. on october 1, 1949, the people's republic of china was founded. huang zongde recalled that he was at the front line in fujian at the time. when the news came, he and his comrades cheered and hugged, "i can't tell how happy i was!"
"it was the party that trained me from a poor boy into a revolutionary fighter," said huang zongde.
don’t forget your original intention: “communist party members have no special rights”
wang jinhua, 88, and huang zongde have been together for 67 years. in her eyes, her husband is just an ordinary soldier. "he rarely tells me and my children about his past combat experiences," wang jinhua said.
huang zongde and his wife wang jinhua take a walk in the retirement home (photo taken on july 20, 2024). xinhua news agency (photo by wang zhongwang)
after returning from the korean battlefield, huang zongde successively served as director of the regiment political department, deputy political commissar of the regiment, regiment political commissar, and deputy political commissar of the division.
"when my three children were born, he was in the army and not with me." wang jinhua remembers that her husband devoted himself to work and rarely took care of the family. "but i don't blame him. he is a soldier, he belongs to the army and the country."
under the influence of huang zongde, his three children all joined the army.
huang zongde tells young soldiers about the battle story (photo taken on july 27, 2019). xinhua news agency (photo taken by wang zhongwang)
when huang yi, the second son, was discharged from the army, he asked his father for help. huang zongde told him that communist party members do not have special rights and that you should do whatever you want. huang yi said, "i used to blame my father, but now i am more grateful to him."
in 1986, huang zongde retired from his post as a deputy divisional consultant. although he left his job, he still cared about national affairs, watching the "news network" and reading "reference news" every day. li xuewu, a staff member of a retirement home in tianjin garrison, said that every time huang studied a document, he would point with his finger and read it word by word.
after retirement, huang zongde devoted a lot of energy to the work of patriotic education. meng wei, the political commissar of the retirement home, said that huang was an off-campus counselor for many primary and secondary schools and had given dozens of reports in government agencies, enterprises and communities.
huang zongde, who is now over 90 years old, is still very concerned about national defense and military construction. "a strong army is the guarantee of national peace. comrades in the army should be loyal to the party and the people, improve their skills, and make greater contributions to defending the country and world peace," huang zongde said.
