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on october 1, 91-year-old retired veteran fang dahai and his family raised the national flag and played the national anthem in their courtyard to celebrate the national day in quzhou, zhejiang province. every year on important festivals such as army day, national day, and spring festival, he would raise the national flag in front of his home. this habit has been maintained for 38 years. on october 3, a reporter from the beijing youth daily learned that fang dahai joined the army in 1956 and retired in 1960. military life made him love the motherland even more, and he even wrote "love the motherland" on the lintel of his house. under his influence, a total of five people in his family joined the army. he often said to his family, "a country has a family, and the flag will not fall if the people fall."

at about 7 a.m. on october 1, the passionate melody of the national anthem rang out in a courtyard of a village in qujiang district, quzhou city, zhejiang province. fang dahai, a 91-year-old retired veteran, walked to the flagpole in the middle of the courtyard with the support of his family. , pulling the rope slowly but firmly, his family solemnly sang the national anthem along with the music, and a brand-new national flag rose steadily into the sky. for the past 38 years, such a bright red color has always floated high in fang dahai's courtyard.

in 1956, 23-year-old fang dahai joined the army and traveled from zhejiang to the northwest to start his military career. fang yueping, fang dahai’s eldest son, said, “when i was young, my father often told me about his time as a soldier in lanzhou and tibet.” at that time, fang dahai was a railway soldier, and he had to shoulder the burden with his comrades. the conditions for building railways were difficult, but he never felt tired. due to the tense international political situation at that time, he and his comrades were ready to rush to the battlefield at any time to defend their homeland and country. fang dahai trains hard and hone his combat skills. he can still hit the target when shooting from 500 meters away. his teammates call him a "sharp shooter".

in 1960, fang dahai retired and returned to his hometown to work in farming. although he has never been directly on the battlefield, the education and experience given to him by military life have made his love for the motherland everlasting. "the conditions at home were not good at that time, and the environment was not good either." fang yueping said that his father's wish to hang a five-star red flag at the door of his home was not realized. in 1966, when fang dahai's family built a new house, he asked the masons to write the four characters "love the motherland" above the lintel. 58 years later, these words are still clear.

fang yueping said, "inspired by my father, many people in my family chose to join the military, and i was the first." in november 1986, fang yueping entered the nanjing special forces. he was 23 years old at the time, the same age as his father when he enlisted. at that time, conditions in all aspects improved, and his son joined the army as he wished. fang dahai excitedly bought a national flag, erected a bamboo pole in the courtyard, and completed the first flag-raising ceremony with his family.

since then, fang dahai will raise the national flag at home regardless of rain or shine on various important festivals such as army day, national day, and spring festival. fang dahai's family's bond with their military status is getting deeper and deeper. his wife, ms. jiang, said proudly, "in addition to my wife and my eldest son, my grandson, son-in-law, and grandson-in-law are also soldiers. in total, there are five soldiers in our family." now, under the words "love the motherland", the lintel there is also a "honorable home" sign awarded by the veterans affairs administration.

when asked why he raised the national flag at home, fang dahai said, "i like to see the national flag flying. the national flag represents the country. only when there is a country, there is a family." ms. jiang said with a smile that her husband always teaches lessons to the family. "when you go to the battlefield, you must protect the national flag, the party flag, and the military flag."

nowadays, fang dahai's children have already started their own families. under the guidance of their father, they have also flown the national flag in their homes. fang yueping lives relatively close to his father. "when he wants to raise the flag, we all know without his notice. i will try my best to go there." on october 1 this year, fang yueping also took his two young granddaughters to attend his father's ceremony. flag raising ceremony. "the eldest granddaughter has just entered kindergarten and already knows what the five-star red flag is. they are very happy to see their great-grandfather hoisting the flag."

fang yueping said that before, his father had always used an eight- to nine-meter-high bamboo pole to raise the flag. it would fall easily when it was windy or rainy, and it would be very difficult to lift it up again. in 2020, he and his brothers and sisters replaced their father with a brand new standard stainless steel flagpole, which is strong and straight. fang yueping said that he could see the national flag flying on the village road. people in the village praised his father's physical strength and were moved by his passionate patriotism.

every national day is the time when fang dahai changes the national flag to a new one. before the national day this year, fang dahai's eldest daughter sent a new flag. in the early morning of the national day, fang dahai first lowered the old flag and then raised the new flag. returning to the house, he carefully folded the old flags into neat "tofu cubes" and put them in the cabinet. ms. jiang said, "the flags that were damaged by wind and rain before were well preserved like this. there are already dozens of them."

now, fang dahai, who is already in his early years, still likes to watch military channels and war movies, such as "shangganling", "great shanghai" and "southern and northern wars". "he (fang dahai) often tells us that the national flag is very important in his heart, and he hopes to protect the national flag and the motherland." ms. jiang said. the newly replaced national flag will continue to fly in the yard for a long time.

intern liu xiaonuo

text/beijing youth daily reporter dai youqing