Xinhua News Agency, Shenyang, April 4th. Title: The Phalanx of Youth – A Survey of the Cemetery of the Martyrs in Shenyang to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea
Xinhua News Agency reporters Niu Jiwei, Sun Renbin, Yu Yetong
The gentle breeze brings warmth, thousands of miles of spring light, and it is Qingming time again.
In the cemetery of the Martyrs for Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea in Shenyang, pines and cypresses are green and birds are chirping. In the cemetery, 123 tombstones of fighting heroes stand silently; in the underground palace, the remains of 825 volunteer martyrs are buried forever; on the Wall of Fame, the names of more than 190,000 martyrs do not move like a mountain.
Huang Jiguang, Yang Gensi, Qiu Shaoyun…the names are familiar; 21 years old, 28 years old, 26 years old…the youthful lives of each one are full of emotion.
On October 25, 2021, representatives of the families of the Volunteer Army martyrs came to Shenyang Martyrs Cemetery to pay tribute to the martyrs.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Qing
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Shenyang Martyrs Cemetery to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea issued an announcement on April 2 that the cemetery will be temporarily closed for Qingming Festival this year, and will be replaced by sacrifices and online sacrifices. Before the outbreak of the current round of the epidemic, we searched and felt the moments of people paying tribute to heroes in various forms in the spring.
More than 70 years ago, gunpowder and war fixed the hero in the age of youth;
After more than 70 years, flowers and respect, let us remember this youthful square!
Tribute to the phalanx of youth
“Third Dad, I came to see you…” Not long ago, Huang Yongjun, the nephew of the martyr Huang Jiguang, traveled from Zhongjiang, Sichuan to Shenyang to visit the Cemetery of the Martyrs to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea to sweep his grave.
In front of the 23.5-meter-high Volunteer Army Martyrs Monument, Huang Yongjun bowed three times. On the gray-white stele, the characters “The Heroic Spirit of the Martyrs to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea will be immortal” inscribed by Dong Biwu glowed in the sun. On the top of the monument, under the flags of China and North Korea cast in bronze, a soldier of the Chinese People’s Volunteers stood proudly with a steel gun in his hand.
There are 123 fighting heroes in the phalanx of youth. “Third Dad, you have sacrificed for 70 years, but we have always missed you.” Huang Yongjun held the liquor from his hometown and presented it to the tombstone of Martyr Huang Jiguang. Wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times.
After getting up, he carefully wiped the tombstone, like stroking the faces of his relatives. “The third father was only 21 years old when he died, and he hasn’t married yet…”
On September 28, 2020, the burial ceremony for the remains of the seventh batch of Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea was held at the Shenyang Anti-US and Aid Korea Martyrs Cemetery (drone photo).Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Qing
“Most of the 123 fighting heroes buried in the cemetery are young people in their twenties and thirties.” Xiao Shufen, director of the Shenyang Anti-US and Aid Korea Martyrs Cemetery, said that the cemetery was built in April 1951, and most of the remains of the martyrs were from May 1951 to 1955. Shipped from the Korean battlefield to Shenyang at the end of the year.
Under each tombstone, there is a hero’s story buried.
There are 825 “late returners” in the phalanx of youth. Before the Qingming Festival, Wu Yucheng, a 47-year-old Fujianese, placed a packet of green olives from his hometown on the offering table at the Cemetery Memorial Square. “Uncle, Dad is too old and can’t walk. I’ll see you for him. This is the green olive from my hometown. You can taste it…”
Wu Yucheng’s uncle Wu Xiongkui was only 19 years old when he died in the Korean War. In 2020, his remains were brought back from South Korea. After a DNA information comparison organized by the relevant departments, in 2021, he and his younger brother Wu Kuiwa and his nephew Wu Yucheng were successfully recognized as relatives. In the only 2-inch black and white photo of Wu Xiongkui before his death, Wu Xiongkui’s thin body is wearing a large military uniform, and his face is immature.
On September 3, 2021, soldiers of honor escorted the coffins of the remains of the Volunteer Army martyrs into the burial underground palace of the Martyrs Cemetery in Shenyang to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Qing
From 2014 to 2021, China and South Korea have successfully handed over the remains of 825 Volunteer Army martyrs in South Korea for eight consecutive years. Every handover, the country holds a grand ceremony to welcome the return of the young soldiers.
The children who came home late finally came home.
On October 25, 2021, Li Man, the younger sister of Martyr Li Zhengming, misses his brother in front of the Martyrs’ Famous Wall at the Martyrs Cemetery in Shenyang to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Qing
The square of youth is a famous wall engraved with the names of more than 190,000 martyrs. “Brother, when are you coming back, my sister misses you…” Li Man, an eighty-year-old old man, burst into tears as he staggered past the Martyrs’ Famous Wall made of black marble 3 meters high and about 200 meters long, stroking his fingers. Every “Li” martyr’s name, carefully looking for his brother.
Li Zhengming went abroad to fight in 1952 and died in June 1953. He was only 23 years old, and is still sleeping in a foreign country. Not long ago, Li Man with white hair traveled thousands of miles from his hometown in Anhui to “visit” his brother in the cemetery. The old man cried while reading and writing a letter to his brother: “You said you wanted to send me to a girls’ high school, and you said that you would wear a military medal. When I came back to see Chairman Mao, I said to honor my parents, why didn’t one of your promises be fulfilled…” The letter from home, unable to arrive; Missing, always there.
The phalanx of youth never fades; they are forever young.
Remember, the power of youth
This is a portrait of some volunteer martyrs buried in the Shenyang Anti-US and Aid Korea Martyrs Cemetery (imposed photo). Xinhua
A group of young volunteer soldiers sounded the marching horn, held the military flag high, held steel guns, and rushed forward recklessly… On the west side of the cemetery, the war scene reproduced by the volunteer army sculptures is thought-provoking: what power inspires such a huge Young people cross the Yalu River without hesitation? What is the strength that supports them to sacrifice their lives to win a great victory when the strength of the enemy and ourselves is so disparate?
The power of youth comes from the sense of mission to protect the family and the country.
Portrait of Wang Fenghe, a volunteer veteran who participated in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (photo taken on September 17, 2020).Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Qing
Not long ago, Wang Fenghe, a 97-year-old volunteer soldier, came to the cemetery with the help of his family to sweep the tomb of Ma Shuntian, political commissar of the 359th Regiment of the 120th Division of the 40th Army, who died in North Korea. After presenting a bunch of flowers and chatting with the old political commissar for a long time, the veteran stood at attention and paid a standard military salute to the tombstone.
“At that time, when we went abroad to fight, everyone had an idea: New China has just been established, whoever dares to bully us must not agree!” Wang Fenghe said.
The power of youth comes from the sense of responsibility of national dignity. Li Weibo, a 90-year-old volunteer army veteran, has been a volunteer docent in the cemetery for ten years. This year’s Qingming Festival, there are no tourists in the cemetery, so he sweeps the graves of his comrades alone and talks to them.
In October 1950, 18-year-old Li Weibo graduated early from Northeast Military and Political University and became an anti-aircraft artilleryman in the Chinese People’s Volunteers. During more than two years of battle, he always stuck to his gun position. “Behind me is the motherland. If we take a step back, the enemy will go further. To defend our position is to defend the dignity and hope of the Chinese nation!” Li Weibo said.
The power of youth comes from the sense of justice that defends peace. “There is an epidemic this year. We can’t go to Shenyang to visit our father. The family has contacted the cemetery. We ask the staff to offer flowers and sacrifices to our father on our behalf to express our thoughts.” Wang Yuanchao, the adopted son of the volunteer martyr Wang Bo, said.
In the Cemetery Martyrs Memorial Hall, there is a notebook left by Martyr Wang Bo during his lifetime, which states his original intention of going abroad to fight: nothing else, to devote all my energy, even my life, to the liberation of all mankind and a permanent happy life. human beings, in order to achieve great ideals.
The power of youth, surging and stirring, heroic and heroic.
Forge ahead, a youthful China
In the quiet cemetery, the staff carefully wiped the tombstones of the martyrs and presented flowers to the heroes. For more than 70 years, these heroic spirits who have guarded the peace of the country have also been guarded by future generations for a long time. Before the Tomb-sweeping Day, the cemetery launched the “Endeavor Online Sacrifice to Heroes” activity on the Internet, which received enthusiastic responses from many young people. People offered flowers and incense for the martyrs, expressing their condolences: “The mountains and rivers are all right, please rest in peace for the martyrs”, “Remember the deeds of the martyrs, and forge ahead on the great journey”…
The golden horse and the iron horse are gone, but the original aspiration has not changed. Young people in the new era, holding the baton of building a great modern socialist country, are running hard on the new journey of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
In the isolation ward of the First People’s Hospital of Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, Wang Yuyan communicated with a suspected patient of new coronary pneumonia who could not hear clearly (photo taken on March 8, 2020).Xinhua News Agency
Youthful China needs young people to love the great motherland. Wang Yuyan, a “post-95” surgical nurse at Shengjing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University, has participated in the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic many times. She participated in the activity of presenting flowers to the volunteer martyrs through her mobile phone.
“Many of the Volunteer Army martyrs are young people with blood. During the war, they were willing to give everything for the motherland and the people. This kind of family and country sentiment tells us that young people have a responsibility to stand up and contribute in times of national crisis.” Wang Yuyan said.
Youthful China requires young people to take on the important responsibilities of the times. Liu Zhonglei, a young cadre in Zhangwu County, Liaoning Province, who is temporarily serving in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, also expressed his respect for the martyrs on the Internet: “You have created a peaceful development environment for us. country and make new contributions to society.”
During his grass-roots work, Liu Zhonglei helped the local provincial poverty-stricken village Beidianzi Village get rid of poverty and become rich by driving villagers to develop online e-commerce. “Every generation has a mission for a generation. I am currently working on a temporary job in Jiangsu to better learn advanced experience and better devote myself to rural revitalization in the future.”
Wang Shangdian works in the metalworking workshop of the Machinery Factory of China National Petroleum Corporation Jinxi Petrochemical Branch (photo taken on February 22, 2017).Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Qing
Youthful China requires young people to have the courage to work hard. Wang Shangdian, winner of the National May 1st Labor Medal and a lathe worker of PetroChina Jinxi Petrochemical Branch, has a deep understanding of the fighting spirit left by the heroes. As a skilled worker, Wang Shangdian lost his right thumb accidentally. In order to continue his technological innovation, he transplanted a toe of his left foot into his hand. With hard training, he returned to the lathe. Today, through hard work, he has won more than 30 honors above the provincial and ministerial level.
“Compared to the martyrs, what’s the point of suffering for me! Young people just have to work hard. In times of peace, when there are such good conditions to realize the value of life, they should work harder, strengthen innovation, and protect the ancestors with their lives. The motherland will be built stronger!” Wang Shangdian said. (Participating reporters: Hong Kerun, Huang Zechen, Li Yujia)
[Editor in charge: Xu Dan]