Unforgettable Memories —— Words written before Memories of Fire

Mengshan is towering, witnessing a heavy history; Yishui is surging, recording the eventful years. In the war years filled with smoke, countless Yimeng sons and daughters rushed to join the army and went to the battlefield to kill the enemy. For the independence of the country and the dignity of the nation, they shed their blood and wrote heroic hymns.

Today, the mountains and rivers are safe and the heroes are alive. At present, frames of photos of Yimeng veterans are displayed in front of us. Deep ravines carved their cheeks, and their eyebrows must have been dyed white by snowflakes. Through the muddy eyes of veterans who are over 80 years old, we can still see the bonfire in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the smoke of the Liberation War and the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Their eyes are still so sharp and firm.

Liu was my old classmate when I was learning a foreign language. After retirement, under the leadership of photographers, Liu Hehe formed a team to undertake social responsibilities. After hardships, I traveled all over Yimeng for more than a year and recorded and photographed nearly 600 photos of veterans who are still alive. Some of them have experienced veterans in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and some have participated in the War of Liberation and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Chen Zuozhong, a veteran of Lanling County who experienced the whole process from War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, is 104 years old this year. The old man is in good health. Speaking of the fight against the Japanese devils in those days, the old man straightened his back, clenched his fist, and his eyes flashed with anger, as if he had returned to the battlefield of killing the enemy in those years. Yu, a 94-year-old veteran of yinan county, is one of the few surviving female soldiers. /kloc-enlisted in 0/943 and joined the party in the same year. As a field nurse in the 10th Corps of East China Sanye, she was accidentally injured by a suture needle while saving the wounded on the battlefield. After the infection, she had six operations on her arm, which was covered with scars and still could not hurt the fire line. She was called "the most beautiful battlefield nightingale" by San Ye, then political commissar of East China. Almost all the veterans were silent when asked about their achievements. They recalled countless comrades who died in the war and were glad to be alive today. After leaving the army, veterans living in rural areas, especially in mountainous areas, all returned to their hometowns. They quietly put away their fame, resisted hoes, and lived an ordinary life of ordinary people. Even in the most difficult time, he didn't lend a helping hand to the country.

Now, Yimeng veterans are really old, and the youngest veteran in the interview is nearly ninety years old. Retired veterans with jobs will be placed in a comfortable and comfortable old age. The treatment of veterans returning to farming is low (although it has improved over the years). Many people are in trouble because of old age, infirmity and injury, and they are in urgent need of help from the government and all walks of life.

A stirring poem in the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's Chivalry: "Kill one person in ten steps and leave a thousand miles behind. It's all over, I'm hiding in the name. " It is a true portrayal of Yimeng veterans.

Yimeng veterans who have gone through the war are heroes of the Republic and deserve to enjoy a happy life and get spiritual comfort.

This is a group of awe-inspiring Yimeng veterans, covered in knife wounds and bullet marks.

This is a group of Yimeng veterans who love and feel distressed, and they are not famous in the predicament.

Sun Tzu said, "Soldiers, the important events of the country, the place of life and death, and the way of survival must be observed." The red old Yimeng area has a glorious revolutionary tradition. During the war years, parents sent their children and wives sent them to Langlang. Countless Yimeng children took up swords and guns to defend their country and went to the battlefield to kill the enemy. It is the greatest honor for soldiers to wear armor and join the battlefield. Yimeng people are proud of soldiers.

If we say that the 800-mile Yimeng Mountain is a hotbed of veterans; Then, Yimeng veterans are the cornerstone of the Republic.

? Liu and his team, racing against time, recorded and photographed the deeds and photos of the extremely precious Yimeng veterans, leaving a bunch of splendid torches for the Yimeng people, illuminating the road of inheriting the red gene and carrying forward the people's love for the party, the army and the courage to contribute.

? Veterans are the wealth of our country. Let us remember these veterans and pray for their health and longevity.

? Ma Shaohua

October 19th, 2020