On April 17, 2024, Liao Hongyuan, a comrade-in-arms of the former 5853 unit student of the 12th company and 6th class, came back from abroad to visit relatives and friends, and met with his company's comrades-in-arms in Xi'an.
The years are like a river, flowing slowly. We stand on the shore of time, holding this old wine in our hands, and the wine reflects the wind and rain and memories of fifty years. This is not just a glass of wine, but also a witness to history, an unforgettable memory of our youth.
Fifty-three years ago, we participated in the construction of the Xiangyu Railway, and this is a group photo of the comrades-in-arms of the 12th Company of the former 5853 unit students at the company's station.
In March 1971, we went to Ankang, southern Shaanxi to participate in the construction of the Xiangyu Railway. We belong to the 12th Company of the 5853 Cadet Company of the PLA Unit (also known as the 12th Company of the Cadets), and I am in the sixth class, with 14 people in the class.
The photo was taken in August 1971 at the Han River where the 12th Company of Unit 5853 was stationed. Group photo of all the comrades-in-arms of the 2nd platoon and 6th squad.
After entering the tunnel construction for a period of time, the company was adjusted, and Liao Hongyuan was transferred to our 6th class. In those days of getting along day and night, we shuttled between the tent and the construction site every day, we loaded and unloaded cement, sand and gravel, rushed to transport wood, and in the tunnel construction, we picked up the gravel and loaded the bucket truck, pushed the bucket truck out of the slag, and worked together to sweat.
In 1972, the comrades-in-arms of the 2nd platoon and the 6th squad took a group photo
Front row, from left: Wei Xiaoping, Kang Jianjian, Liao Hongyuan, Liu Hongjun, Liu Guangqiang.
Back row, from left: Lu Jiamin, Gong Guisong, Chen Ligong, Wang Zhijie, Guo Jinhu, Zhang Jian.
At that time, we built the exit section of Shimiaogou Tunnel No. 2 and Shimiaogou Tunnel No. 3. Under the leadership of the railway soldiers, after more than two years of arduous and bloody battles, our company finally completed the tunnel construction task at the cost of sacrificing one person, leaving the field due to injury and illness in the middle of the process, and injuring four disabled people.
This is the No. 3 tunnel of Shimiaogou that we participated in the construction.
In July 73, he quit the field and assigned work, and Liao Hongyuan was assigned to the Metallurgical Machinery Factory as a mechanical and electrical maintenance worker. He cherishes this job very much, earnestly studies and delves into technology, strives for excellence, and becomes the technical backbone of the enterprise.
At the beginning of 1973, Liao Hongyuan took a photo at the construction site of the Xiangyu Railway.
At the end of the eighties, in the tide of reform and opening up, Hongyuan went to work abroad, with hard-working, perseverance and excellent electrical maintenance technology, he established a foothold in the local area, and settled abroad with his family, the hardships of which are unknown.
Reunion after decades of separation
In the years after retirement, the comrades-in-arms of Class 6 of that year often gathered. Liao Hongyuan, who has settled in Australia, is also very eager to meet everyone. When we participated in the 50th anniversary of the construction of the Xiangyu Railway, due to the epidemic and other reasons, he could not embark on the journey back to China.
Let's take a picture
Time flies, time flies. This year, we are all in the middle of the old age. At this special moment, Liao Hongyuan finally returned to China with his wife and reunited with his relatives and comrades-in-arms. At that moment, the comrades-in-arms were extremely excited, as if they had returned to that enthusiastic youth.
More than 50 years ago, we slept in a tent with beds next to each other.
The years are ruthless, and now we have entered the ranks of the elderly, after the vicissitudes of life, there is no young ignorance, no more youthful vigor, how many things in the world have been read, and the rights and wrongs are understood.
When we meet again
The past is like smoke and the wind, and birth, old age, sickness and death are natural laws. Life is a natural process, born naturally, old naturally, and dead naturally.
Let the comrades-in-arms living abroad feel the food culture of Xi'an again, and the sense of ritual is very important.
Today, we can still get together, it is fate, it is happiness. Let us pour this glass of wine for the lost time, for those former comrades-in-arms, for those years spent together, and taste the deep friendship and emotion together. May the friendship of the comrades-in-arms last for a long time, and I wish the comrades-in-arms a happy life in their old age!
I pour a glass of wine for the years
Photographic memories, spanning more than 50 years of comparison between past and present photos.
Liao Hongyuan
ZHANG Jian
Wang Yingping
Zhong Victory
Liu Zhongzhi
Zhang Liangcai
Wang Jinyi
Gong Qinghe
Zhu Lianming
Wei Xiaoping
Hsu Shangwu
Wang Changrong
Gong Guisong
Liu Hongjun
Yang Ruixiang
Let us remember this moment of gathering
Thanks to Xu Shangwu, Wei Xiaoping, and Wang Yingping for the photos
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