On April 27, 2016, a young woman in her twenties boarded a train to Liaoning with a child who had just turned one year old.
"Baby, it won't be long before you see your dad." The woman's voice is very gentle.
A middle-aged woman sat in the seat next door, she was a little bored, so she took the initiative to chat with the young woman.
"Big sister, what does your husband do?"
"My husband is a soldier, and we haven't seen him for a long time, so this time we just happened to have time, so let's go see him."
After the woman said this, she stopped speaking, but took out a photo from her arms.
This photo is of a family of three, showing a man in a military uniform and a young child in her arms.
The woman looked at the picture and smiled very sweetly, because she felt that she would soon be able to see her husband.
What she didn't know, however, was that her husband had died forever at noon today.
I had a dream of flying and was successfully admitted to aviation school
On August 21, 1986, a boy named Zhang Chao was born into a rural family in Yueyang City, Hunan Province.
Zhang Chao's mother is a housewife who handles all the affairs of the family and takes care of the elderly and children in the family.
Zhang Chao's father was originally a worker in the county rubber factory, and after being laid off, he did some odd jobs in the county town.
The family's life is relatively poor, but it is very warm and happy.
Zhang Chao's grades have always been very good, from elementary school to high school has always been among the best.
His parents saw that their children's grades were so good, and they hoped that he would be admitted to a good university and find a stable and easy job after graduation.
When Zhang Chao was studying in the middle school of Yueyang No. 7 Middle School, he once read a book introducing pilots in the library.
The pilot in the book soars freely in the blue sky and fights in the long sky, which makes Zhang Chao very envious.
From that time on, Zhang Chao decided that he must become a pilot when he grows up.
In order to realize this dream, he not only learns cultural knowledge well, but also uses his spare time to strengthen physical exercise.
In January 2004, 18-year-old Zhang Chao told his parents and teachers what he thought.
At that time, the mainland's aviation industry was still developing, and piloting was a very dangerous profession, so they all came to persuade him to abandon this idea.
But Zhang Chao was very insistent, "Flying is my dream, I am not afraid of suffering, nor am I afraid of difficulties, I must do this." ”
Looking at such an assertive child, Zhang Chao's parents sighed and agreed to the child's decision.
After that, Zhang Chao participated in the army recruitment with a group of students with the same dream.
Zhang Chao has a large physique and usually pays attention to exercise, so he finally passed the selection layer by layer and became a flight cadet.
There are only 5 students in Yueyang City who have passed the flight test, and Zhang Chao is one of them, and the only one in Yueyang Seven.
In September 2004, Zhang Chao was admitted to the Changchun Air Force Aviation University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
At the moment of getting the admission letter, Zhang Chao was very happy and determined to realize his dream.
While his family was happy for him, they couldn't help but worry about his safety.
Before leaving, his mother hugged Zhang Chao and wept silently, and her heart was very unwilling, "The plane flies so high, and if there is an accident, it will be life-threatening, so what should we do?" ”
Zhang Chao knew his mother's worries, and he repeatedly assured his parents that he would act cautiously and would often call them to report that he was safe.
After that, Zhang Chao carried his luggage and took a train to Changchun alone to study flight professionally.
Mr. Zhang's school is the only school in China that specializes in training pilots, and the school gives students a 110 yuan stipend every month.
After Zhang Chao got the first month's allowance, he did not spend it indiscriminately, but carefully sealed it with a letter and sent it to his parents who were far away in Yueyang's hometown.
Along with this allowance, there were also photos of Chao wearing military uniforms.
The allowance and this photo were well preserved by Zhang Chao's parents, who would take it out and look at it whenever they thought about their son.
He gave up the opportunity to stay in the school and made many achievements in the army
Zhang Chao has a talent in flying that is difficult for ordinary people to match, and he is also very hardworking, so he has always maintained a leading position in the school.
In 2008, Zhang Chao was recommended as a pilot in a training base for the Naval Aviation Corps because of his excellent grades in school.
While training in the training base, he constantly improved his flight level during the practice.
A year later, Zhang Chao ended his mission at the training base and returned to school again.
Zhang Chao is one of the outstanding graduates personally evaluated by the principal, and his grades are enough to stay in the school to teach.
Zhang Chao's teacher talked to him many times, hoping that the teenager could stay in the school, but Zhang Chao declined these invitations.
He wanted to go to the front line, to realize his value in battle, so he took the initiative to submit an application to a unit of the Naval Aviation Corps.
When the leader of the unit asked Zhang Chao why he gave up his comfortable life and took the initiative to come here, Zhang Chao replied without hesitation: "This is Wang Wei's troops, and I came for him." ”
Wang Wei was an excellent pilot and a martyr at the same time.
In April 2001, the United States sent a reconnaissance plane to China's airspace to investigate the situation, but was discovered by Wang Wei, who was cruising.
He flew a fighter jet in a fierce battle with american planes in the air and eventually died in a crash.
After the news of Wang Wei's heroic deeds spread, Zhang Chao regarded Wang Wei as his idol and was inspired to learn from him.
In March 2011, Zhang Chao was piloting a plane patrolling the airspace of the South China Sea when he accidentally bumped into a foreign reconnaissance plane.
This foreign reconnaissance plane was very arrogant, ignoring Zhang Chao's warnings and still hovering over China's territory.
Zhang Chao followed behind the plane and wanted to drive it out, but the plane kept slowing down and wanted to force Zhang Chao to retreat.
The size of this aircraft is relatively large, with an innate low-speed advantage, and the aircraft piloted by Zhang Chao is small and not suitable for low-speed flight.
At this critical moment, Zhang Chao disregarded his own safety, always maintained the same speed as the reconnaissance plane, and forced it out of China's airspace step by step.
In this silent contest, Zhang Chao successfully defended the territory of the mainland with his extraordinary courage and superb flying skills.
At the end of March 2013, Zhang Chao's flying group sent a group of pilots to the Paracel Islands for a mission.
After Zhang Chao learned of this, he took the initiative to ask for help and came to the Paracel Islands, where the climate is unpredictable.
Not only is the climate here harsh, but the situation is also relatively turbulent, and Zhang Chao will encounter reconnaissance planes from foreign troops almost every time he patrols the air.
Zhang Chao piloted the plane, competing with them again and again in the high air, firmly guarding the motherland.
The plane crashed, and it was too late to say goodbye to his wife and children
On March 14, 2015, Zhang Chao left the unit where he had been in the army for six years and became a carrier-based fighter pilot.
Zhang Chao was selected by the special case of the unit, and other pilot comrades began to conduct shipboard flight training as early as 2013.
In order to keep up with the training progress as soon as possible, Zhang Chao trained desperately day and night.
In the past, he still had more than ten days a year to go home to visit his wife and children, but now he had a hard time squeezing out time.
Zhang Chao's wife is named Zhang Ya, who is also from Yueyang City.
While in college, the two met by accident at the train station and soon became boyfriend and girlfriend.
Later, Zhang Chao became a pilot and Zhang Ya became a flight attendant, both of whom were engaged in flight-related occupations.
The relationship between the two is very good, although they always get together less and leave more, but they have always thought about each other.
Later, Zhang Ya's whole body was red and swollen, and she was misdiagnosed by the doctor as lupus erythematosus, and she was afraid that her life was in danger, so she cried to break up with Zhang Chao.
After Zhang Chao heard about his girlfriend's illness, he immediately took a leave of absence and rushed back to Yueyang and took all his savings out to treat her.
Fortunately, this is just a false alarm, Zhang Ya is only temporarily immune to decline, but this matter has made the feelings of the two people deeper.
On March 7, 2011, Zhang Chao finally ended his current flight mission and rushed home on leave.
The next day, he and Zhang Ya held a wedding ceremony in Yueyang's hometown and officially became a family.
After the two got married, the time spent together did not increase, Zhang Chao hurried back to the army the day after marriage, and Zhang Ya continued to work as a flight attendant.
Later, in order to catch up with her husband's footsteps, Zhang Ya specially recruited into the army to work.
However, the two do not work together, and they can only meet once in ten days and a half.
They were married for four years, but they were together for no more than a year.
On April 27, 2016, Zhang Ya boarded a train to Liaoning and wanted to visit her husband's unit.
She held her one-year-old daughter and watched expectantly as the train pulled away from the station, unaware that her husband had had an accident that day.
At noon that day, Zhang Chao piloted the carrier-based aircraft to train as usual, and when Zhang Chao and other pilots landed, an accident occurred.
Zhang Chao's plane suddenly had a faulty control system, and the plane could not change direction and rushed forward.
In order not to destroy other equipment on the aircraft carrier, Zhang Chao flew off the ground with the plane.
After that, the tower commander let Zhang Chao parachute to escape, but Zhang Chao pushed the pole to the end in order not to let the plane be completely damaged.
This action made Zhang Chao miss the best escape time.
When he jumped down, he was already close to the ground, and the parachute could not be opened at all, and Zhang fell heavily to the ground.
Although he was rushed to the hospital, he was too badly injured to be rescued and died forever.
At that time, he was not yet thirty years old, his wife was on a train to reunite with him, and his daughter was still learning to speak.
Although he was posthumously awarded many honorary titles such as "People's Hero" and "Pioneer of a Strong Army Pursuing Dreams and Heavens", there was no way to save the hero's life.
The state cares, and the daughter grows up happily
On January 25, 2022, Zhang Chao's wife Zhang Ya and daughter Zhang Han brought flowers to the Zhang Chao Martyrs Memorial Park in Yueyang City to pay tribute to him.
The memorial was completed on March 26, 2021, and people from all walks of life came to participate in the inauguration ceremony.
After Zhang Chao's death, Zhang Ya stepped out of the shadows accompanied by his daughter and continued to work in the army.
"Although I can't be a pilot, I want to inherit his career in my own way."
"I will replace him and continue to defend the motherland with my own strength, so that our country will not be invaded by anyone."
7-year-old Zhang Han stood in front of his father's statue, tears flowing constantly, although she had no impression of his father, but she often held his photo and whispered to him.
The toys that Zhang Chao bought for her before, she carefully preserved them, and sometimes when she thought of her father, she would take them out to see.
After the first grade of primary school, Zhang Han learned a lot of Chinese characters and often wrote letters to his father.
Zhang Han placed three letters written by his own hand in the statue's hand, hoping that his father in heaven would feel her love.
Because Zhang Ya stayed in the army all year round, her daughter Zhang Han was basically raised by her grandparents.
Zhang Han is now in the first grade of Dongfanghong Primary School in Yueyang City, and he got the first place in the school in the final exam.
She is the child of a martyr, and in many ways she is given preferential treatment, and many people come to visit her every year on her birthday.
At a young age, she perfectly inherited the advantages of her parents, and from an early age, she grew up to be cute and cute, and her personality was also very cheerful and very popular with people.
Although he didn't spend much time with his mother, Zhang Han had a very close relationship with his mother and would call her almost every day.
She is very sensible, often concerned about her mother's body, and asked her mother not to be too tired.
When she was at home, she had always been the treasure of her grandparents, often making the two old people laugh.
Accompanied by their granddaughters, the two old men finally walked out of the pain of losing their children and regained their strength.
Although Zhang Han is not very old, he has already learned to cook soup and rice.
"Grandma is not in good health and often coughs, so I wash the dates, silver ear fungus, and pears and cook soup for Grandma."
"My grandparents wouldn't let me move the knife, so the pears were cut by my grandfather, and I just put things in and adjusted the heat."
During the winter vacation, Zhang Han did not play around like other children, but made a winter vacation plan for himself.
Every morning, she goes to dance schools not far from home to learn to dance, one of her favorite hobbies.
After lunch, she would watch TV with her grandparents, tell them stories, and amuse them.
In the afternoon, Zhang Han would also go to calligraphy class, and then come back to write the winter vacation homework assigned by the teacher.
In the evening, Zhang Han went out for a walk with his grandparents and exercised.
She is very self-disciplined and all plans are carefully completed on time.
If something happens temporarily that day, she will make them up the next day.
Zhang has a habit of keeping a diary, recording things every night before going to bed, and now she has written an entire diary.
I hope Zhang Han can grow up healthy and happy.
-Ends-
Text | Don't mistake the little stars