Shi Jinhua, the old man of the channel, has volunteered to guard the martyrs' cemetery for more than 40 years, and has been listed in the "China Good People List" in the first quarter of 2024——
Wolong Mountain guards the bones of loyalty
On the side of Wolong Mountain, the loyal bones are protected, and the canal is murmuring and crying heroes.
The Martyrs Cemetery of Dong Autonomous County is located on the side of Wolong Mountain on the side of Qingyun Road in the south of Shuangjiang Town. It is covered by pines and cypresses all year round, and the souls of 77 martyrs who shed their blood for national defense construction rest here.
On April 25, Shi Jinhua, a villager from Qiaotou Village, Shuangjiang Town, came here as usual to clean the park, wipe the tombstones, and clean up the weeds......
General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that a promising nation cannot be without heroes, and a promising country cannot be without pioneers.
Volunteer to guard the martyrs' cemetery for more than 40 years, Shi Jinhua has never stopped, no regrets.
In 2023, Shi Jinhua will be successively rated as "the most beautiful person supporting the army" and "good person in Hunan". Recently, the Central Civilization Office released the "China Good People List" in the first quarter of 2024, and Shi Jinhua was on the list.
The first acquaintance with the cemetery formed an indissoluble bond
Shi Jinhua, born in Qiaotou Village, Shuangjiang Town, Passage in April 1954, is now a mausoleum keeper in the Passage Martyrs Cemetery.
His parents died when he was a child, and he was raised by relatives and villagers at the age of 6 and grew up eating hundreds of family meals.
In the summer of 1968, Shi Jinhua participated in a two-and-a-half-year support for the construction of the third line. Since then, he has worked in the commune and the county people's armed forces department, and also worked as a tractor driver in the production team.
In 1982, Shi Jinhua was favored by a unit stationed in the channel, became a warehouse keeper of the army, and became a "soldier" with a job and no title.
After entering the military organs, Shi Jinhua's affairs gradually increased—the storage and receipt of materials, the cleaning and sanitation of the courtyard, various maintenances, and the coordination of the relationship between the troops and the local people. Many tools and materials had to be procured from the local government, and Shi Jinhua also traveled more frequently to and from military offices and stores in the county seat.
From the military office to the county seat, it is more convenient to take the small road, along the ridge through the foot of Wolong Mountain, you can go directly to the south of the city.
Every time Shi Jinhua went into the city to purchase supplies, he always felt weird, especially the scattered tombs on Wolong Mountain, and the mounds still showed that they were new graves.
"One day in 1982, I saw the martyrs' tombs for the first time. At that time, the martyrs' cemetery was overgrown with weeds and noisy. Shi Jinhua recalled.
Once, Shi Jinhua returned home, talked about the doubts in his heart with the villagers, and learned the truth.
In 1969, the local government of the passage and the PLA troops stationed in the passage jointly determined that Wolong Mountain would be the burial site of the martyrs, and the martyrs who had shed their blood and sacrificed for national defense construction in the passage in recent years would be buried here. At the same time, the martyrs' burial site was planned and constructed as a passage to the martyrs' cemetery in Dong Autonomous County, and the "Revolutionary Martyrs Monument" with a base length of 4.03 meters, a width of 4.03 meters and a height of 12 meters was built to show the memory of the martyrs.
Shi Jinhua brought what he learned to the army organs, got verification, and solved the doubts in his heart.
Shi Jinhua himself did not expect that he would form an indissoluble bond with the martyrs' cemetery in this life.
Guarding the cemetery, more than 40 years without regrets
In the early days of the construction of the martyrs' cemetery, it was overgrown with weeds and there were no walls, only one by one martyrs' tombs.
Shi Jinhua had to pass by the martyrs' cemetery every day, and when he saw such a situation, he always felt uneasy when he thought of the martyr's story told by the head of the army.
"Most of the soldiers lying here are strong-blooded soldiers, who have left their hometowns to bid farewell to their parents and dedicate themselves to national defense construction, which makes me admire. Because there is no special person to manage the cemetery, coupled with the sun and rain, it is slightly desolate. Shi Jinhua said guiltily.
"Seeing so many soldiers and generals who sacrificed their precious lives for the Chinese revolution, they left their lives in our Dong Township. From then on, I made up my mind to do something for the martyrs of the revolution. Think about it, compared to our revolutionary martyrs, what is the point of working hard and tiring. Shi Jinhua said emotionally.
So, he used one weekend to call his brother and come to the cemetery to weed and clean up the garbage.
Since then, Shi Jinhua has been cleaning the cemetery every weekend, and he has slowly formed a habit and a routine every day. After that, he didn't want to trouble his brothers anymore, so he had to bring his lover, and the two of them took on the responsibility of taking care of the cemetery.
With the passage of time, the simple wooden tombstones in the martyrs' cemetery began to deteriorate to varying degrees, and some of them could not make out the names of the martyrs.
A martyr cannot be an unsung hero. Shi Jinhua saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart, and was determined to carry out a comprehensive cleanup of the martyrs' cemetery and set up a monument for every martyr.
Taking advantage of the dual identity of "military and local", Shi Jinhua enlisted the support of the army and the county civil affairs department to clean up the martyrs' tombs one by one.
Shi Jinhua and his wife lasted three years, from the original tombstone to "touch" the information word by word, after repeated spelling and consulting archives, finally the names and life deeds of 73 martyrs were checked, and handed over to the garrison troops.
However, four of the tombstones were so badly damaged that the information could not be restored. After deliberation, it was erected as the Tomb of the Four Unknown Soldiers.
Nowadays, every time during the Qingming Festival, the families of the martyrs come to pay respects, and Shi Jinhua can accurately lead the family members to the tombstone. Error-free.
So far, under the care of the garrison troops and the county government, the cemetery has undergone three repairs in 2008, 2010 and 2018. At present, the martyrs' cemetery has been built to cover an area of 8,200 square meters, with a cemetery area of 6,000 square meters, and a provincial-level national defense education base with 100 martyrs' tombs reserved. Now, more and more officers and soldiers of the army and the masses have spontaneously come here to commemorate the martyrs.
From 1986 to now 2023, the martyrs' tombs in the cemetery have been repaired four times, the first tombstone is a board, the second is cement, and the third is not uniform cement and bluestone. The last overall repair is the neat and tidy martyr's tomb that we see now.
Time flies. Today, Shi Jinhua is over 70 years old and has been guarding the cemetery for 41 years, becoming a professional cemetery guardian.
Ups and downs, the story behind the mausoleum is touching
Shi Jinhua's daughter Shi Luxia introduced that during the period of guarding the mausoleum, her father Shi Jinhua also experienced ups and downs. There are the righteous actions of stopping the destruction of cemeteries by young people in 1994, the illegal act of punishing the indiscriminate felling of cemetery trees in 2014, the touching of more than 100 comrades-in-arms who came to pay tribute to the martyrs during the National Day in 2021, remember their comrades-in-arms in the cemetery, and tell the heroic stories of their comrades-in-arms, and the firmness of refusing money and gifts from the families of martyrs to express their gratitude. Every year, there are endless phone calls from the families of the martyrs to express their gratitude.
During the Qingming Festival, Shi Jinhua went to the cemetery every morning to clean up, and then quickly hid at home. Because Shi Jinhua did not dare to face the kneeling and thank-you of the families of the martyrs who came to pay respects.
One year, an old lady in her 80s from Yunnan came to pay respects to her son's martyr's tomb. "When she saw me, the old lady was ready to kneel down and thank me. I immediately comforted the old man, you are so old, you don't need to thank me. We would like to thank your sons, the revolutionary martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for us in an era of peace and happiness. Shi Jinhua said excitedly.
There was a lady who came to pay respects to her husband's martyr's grave. When she came to the cemetery, she and her children and grandchildren cried profusely. Looking at this scene, Shi Jinhua's heart was broken. "She led her children and grandchildren to me, saying that she wanted to thank Grandpa Shi for helping him protect their ancestors. I said, no thanks, without the sacrifices of our revolutionary ancestors, how could we have this beautiful era. They are the ones we are grateful for. Shi Jinhua said with tears in his eyes.
Now, Shi Jinhua will definitely go to the cemetery every day, take a look, and sweep it with his hands. Sometimes they bring their well-behaved granddaughters and granddaughters, and the grandchildren carry forward and inherit the excellent revolutionary traditions in their work.
"On the occasion of major festivals such as Martyrs' Day, my father would call our children to participate in the cleaning of the cemetery, and ask every corner to be clean and tidy. Shi Luxia said.
"I have been in the army for almost 40 years, and now that I am old, I can't do much for national defense, so I will do my best to guard the martyrs' cemetery, wipe the monument and sweep the floor for the soldiers and martyrs, and accompany them for a lifetime!" Shi Jinhua said with emotion.
Shi Jinhua also saw from the actual actions of his juniors that there were successors to the mausoleum. This made him feel very relieved. "Today, I'm in my 70s. I'm thinking, if you can do it until you are 80 years old, you can do it until you are 80 years old, and if you can do it at 90 years old, you can do it 90. Shi Jinhua said.
In his spare time, Shi Jinhua will be invited to the grassroots companies of the troops stationed in Tongtong and various primary and secondary schools to tell them some stories of martyrs.
(Huaihua Daily all-media reporter Luo Yiyao, correspondent Lu Qingquan, Wu Sandong)