@文 / Cao Jike
In August 1985, after graduating from the Shijiazhuang Army School, Hu Guoqiao took the initiative to sign up for the frontier front line and came to the third company of a certain unit at the forefront of the theater to participate in defensive operations. They held a total of 4 high grounds, 3 of which were half occupied by the enemy, and some of the posts were only eight or nine meters away from the enemy's nearest point. Under extremely harsh conditions, the officers and men of the company stubbornly held their positions for 108 days and nights, withstanding the enemy's attack of tens of thousands of artillery shells. Hu Guoqiao was wounded in many places, insisted on fighting on the battlefield, and together with his comrades, he repelled hundreds of enemy attacks and sneak attacks. After the war, the Third Company was awarded the honorary title of "Sticking to the Hero Company" by the Chengdu Military Region, and Hu Guoqiao was awarded the first-class meritorious service.
In 1985, Hu Guoqiao was on the front line
"The beacon fire lasted for three months, and the family letter was worth 10,000 gold." In those years, communication was very underdeveloped, and communication with family members could only be limited in correspondence. The happiest thing for the fighters on the front line is to receive letters from the rear, and every letter from their loved ones is a great comfort and encouragement to the fighters. At the height of the battle, Hu Guoqiao received a letter from his mother, and the company copied the letter several times and sent it to various posts.
Hu Guoqiao received a letter from his mother on the front line
The comrades-in-arms said that this letter was not addressed to Hu Guoqiao alone, but to all the soldiers who fought on the front line. In the letter, Mom wrote:
Guoqiao, my son I miss:
It's been almost three months since you set out on the expedition. During these three months, the whole family has been thinking about you all the time. I have wanted to pick up a pen and write to you several times, but how should I write this letter as a mother of a son who is on an expedition! It's pride, it's excitement, it's longing, it's restlessness...... How many feelings are condensed together, it's really "a different taste in my heart." ”
"The line in the mother's hand, the wanderer's shirt. Before leaving, I am afraid that I will return late" and "my mother is worried about traveling thousands of miles", these poems that have been popular for thousands of years are especially deep for me now. I have read several letters before and after your expedition, and some of the sentences can be recited fluently. In the letter, I deeply realized that my son is no longer a chubby doll, but now he has become a mighty soldier of the People's Liberation Army, fighting at the border for the peace of hundreds of millions of people, fighting in the places where the motherland needs it most.
After graduating from university, you can become a scholar, a graduate student, and you can go back to your hometown, to your brother and us, and enjoy the joy that ordinary people should enjoy. However, instead of doing so, you chose the most arduous and sacred profession, and with the hope and entrustment of the whole family, you entered the military academy, went to the front, and accepted the test of blood and fire—the touchstone of the highest sensitivity! At this point, the whole family is reassured, and I can boldly say that my son, who will shine and heat everywhere, will be a son who will make the motherland and our pride of him.
Although I am in my fifties, I still attended the University of Magazine and am currently working overtime to prepare for the self-study examination for higher education in November. For me, it is very difficult to study, and at my age, diplomas and power are not attractive to me, but I just want to force myself to study by taking exams, improve my cultural and professional level, and strive to make more contributions to the party, worthy of my son who fought on the front line. Let's have a challenge for our mother and son in the far north and southern Xinjiang!
The leader is very concerned about our family, and recently wanted to send someone to help our family repair the house, we declined, our family's family style is dedication, selfless dedication.
Don't talk too much, look forward to replying. Pan'er, kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions!
Miss your mom
October 6, 1985
After coming down from the battlefield, this letter from Hu Guoqiao's mother was collected by the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. In 2022, the National Museum of China, located on the east side of the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, officially opened its exhibition "The Power of Personality - The Feelings of the Chinese Communists to the Family", and a large number of exhibits were exhibited to the public for the first time. A number of letters and handwriting exhibits full of feelings for the family and country, relatives and friends, vividly present the dreams and pursuits, feelings and responsibilities of the Chinese Communists in different historical periods. Among them, the letter from Hu Guoqiao's mother is located in the fourth unit of the "Home is the smallest country, the country is ten million" exhibition area.
Hu Guoqiao's mother's letter showcase
This letter from Hu Guoqiao's mother is in the collection of the Museum of the Chinese Revolution
Compared with the precious manuscripts and cultural relics of revolutionary ancestors such as Li Dazhao, He Shuheng, and Zhou Jiefu in the exhibition, this letter was written in a new historical period, although the age is not so old, but it contains the same mission, and is as precious as the revolutionary cultural relics before the founding of New China.
Not long ago, in order to promote the deepening and practical activities of education and practice and achieve results, the "Laoshan Brigade" of the Army of the Southern Theater organized and carried out the theme activities of "forging loyalty to the party with an iron heart, forging ahead with one heart and undertaking the mission" and "learning from heroes, praising heroes, and being heroes". Heroic combat models and experts and professors from military and local academies were specially invited to the team to give the officers and men a series of ideological and political courses that are "new" and heartfelt.
The scene of the theme activity of the "Laoshan Brigade" of the Army in the Southern Theater
When Hu Guoqiao's mother's letter was reproduced in the theatrical performance of the sitcom "Perseverance", the officers and soldiers at the scene burst into warm applause, and Hu Guoqiao burst into tears.
Stills from the sitcom "Perseverance".
"The last bowl of rice is used to make military rations; the last foot of cloth, which is used to sew military uniforms; the last old quilt, covered on a stretcher; The last flesh and blood will be sent to the battlefield! "This is the family and country feelings of our heroic mothers from generation to generation.
The grace of nurturing is as heavy as a mountain, and the sky is high and the earth is thick and will never be forgotten. On Mother's Day, let us pay our respects to all mothers in the world!
Producer: Pi Jun
Final review: Chen Min
Reviewer: Liu Xiao, Liu Bowen
Editor: Hao Zhizhou Yuhong