Dong Cunrui statue. Xinhua News Agency
In 2009, Dong Cunrui was elected as one of the "100 Heroic And Exemplary Figures Who Made Outstanding Contributions to the Founding of New China".
On the east bank of the Yixun River at the foot of Moss Mountain in the northwest of Longhua County, Hebei Province, there is a martyrs' cemetery, where the heroic soul of Dong Cunrui, a model Communist Party member and a famous national combat hero, is buried. Stepping into the cemetery, in the pine and cypress, stands a 19-meter-high granite monument, symbolizing Dong Cunrui's 19 years of youth. The inscription on the stele is the inscription of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De: "Sacrifice yourself for the country and never die."
Dong Cunrui was born in 1929 in Huailai County, Hebei Province. He came from a poor peasant family. As a child regimental commander, at the age of 13, he cleverly covered the secretary of the district party committee to evade the pursuit of the Japanese army invading China, and was known as a "little hero of the anti-Japanese resistance". In July 1945, he joined the Eighth Route Army. Later, he served as the squad leader of the sixth class of a certain department. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1947. He was highly skilled in military technology and brave in combat, capturing more than 10 enemy soldiers in one battle. He has made 3 major meritorious deeds and 4 small meritorious deeds, and won 3 "Bravery Medals" and 1 "Mao Zedong Medal". The class he led won the title of "Dong Cunrui Model Class for Military Training".
On May 25, 1948, our army attacked Longhua City. Dong Cunrui's company was tasked with attacking Longhua Middle School, the key defensive focus of the Kuomintang defenders. He served as the leader of the demolition team, led his comrades to blow up 4 artillery towers and 5 bunkers in succession, and successfully completed the specified tasks. The company immediately launched a charge, and was suddenly blocked by the fierce fire of a hidden bridge-shaped bunker. The troops were blocked in the open area, and the second and fourth squads failed to blast the bunker twice in succession. Dong Cunrui stepped forward and asked the company commander for battle: "I am a communist, please allow me to go!" Resolutely picked up the explosive package, rushed to the bunker, wounded his left leg in the advance, and stubbornly insisted on rushing to the bottom of the bridge. Because the bridge-shaped bunker is higher than the ground, the two abutments cannot be placed with explosive packages. At the critical moment, he did not hesitate to hold up the explosive package with his left hand, pull the fuse with his right hand, and shouted: "For the sake of new China, rush!" The bunker was blown up, and Dong Cunrui used his own life to open the way for the troops to advance, and he was only 19 years old at the time of his death.
On June 8, 1948, the 11th Column decided to posthumously recognize Dong Cunrui as a combat hero and model Communist Party member of the column, named his former squad "Dong Cunrui Class", and stipulated that the organs and units belonging to the column should be silent for 3 minutes to show their mourning during roll call and assembly. On July 10, 1948, the Jirecha Administrative Office made a decision to rename Longhua Middle School as "Cunrui Middle School". At the 1950 National Conference of Combat Heroes and Model Workers, Dong Cunrui was posthumously recognized as a national combat hero.
Source: People's Daily
![After Dong Cunrui died at the age of 19, how did his family live afterwards? The wife's actions were tearful[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)