Duty,Honor,Country

Duty,Honor,Country

Preface

It is a dark and quiet night. Everything is enjoying its sweet dream. The sky is dotted with some sparking stars. A crescent moon beams through the clouds. A gentle breeze blows through the weeds. A rapid river flows from west towards east like a last living thing in the world.

Suddenly a bunch of signal flares break the silence. Following it, tens of thousands of ground-based artillery fire and countless ferries set out toward the other side of the river. In one of these ferries, a squad of soldiers cling their guns looking forward to landing soon.

The invincible army wipes out the enemy like a gale sweeping the fallen leaves. Another new city is liberated and before long another new government is going to be established…

This is one of the most impressive stories my grandfather ever told me. It is a story but not a legend or fairy tale. It is a story of my respectable grandfather’s life and he, who was among those heroes, is one of the founding fathers of this nation in my eyes.

My grandfather was born in a little mountain village of Shanxi Province in 1926 when our country was on the brink of a dramatic change. His parents were both peasants leading a hard life. He joined the resistance army and struggled against the Japanese invaders under the lead of Chairman Mao. During the Liberation War, He fought in some battles and Crossing Yangtze River Campaign is what he takes pride in most.

I wrote this short story in order to show my sincere respect for my grandfather and many other unknown heroes, and to appreciate his enormous influence upon my life.

I can hear a voice in my deep heart saying, “Oh, my grandfather! It is you who taught me the true meaning of duty, honor, and country. I am proud to be a grandson of you and this nation.

Thank you!

Long live our motherland!

Long live all the heroes!

Chapter 1

Heroes are different in the career; but they are similar in character.

Sometimes I really miss my unforgettable childhood. It is my sunrise while it is my grandpa’s sunset. However, we are both on our own journey of precious life.

As a five-year-old boy, my favorite hobbies were watching cartoons like Police Chief Black Cat and Calabash Brothers, and playing games with my fellow friends.

One day, when we boys were chasing one another for fun, I fell on a stone and had my knees broken. Scarlet blood poured out, which frightened some of friends into tears immediately. Clenching my teeth, I tried to hold my tears back.

Soon my grandpa came almost out of his breath. He carried me home on back. I would never believe that he is so strong a man at his sixties if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

He cleaned my wounds and bound them up. Seeing that I didn’t even drop of tear, he was confused and asked, “Oh, boy! Maybe your tears were frightened back to your belly.”

“Not that, grandpa. I was on the point bursting into tears when I remembered what you told me before that a man can pour sweat but he can never pour tears. So I, as a real man, will not drop tears, now or ever!” I retorted, pouting my lips.

“Oh, a real man!” he seemed almost to laugh out, “you are a man but a wounded man. Anyway, would you tell me why you were chasing each other again? I have told you it’s dangerous for you to run that fast.”

“I just have nothing else even a bit more interesting to do. How boring the day is! How boring our childhood is! Oh, I can’t imagine how you spent those boring days in your life.”

“Do you really want to know something about my childhood?”

“Yes, if I may say so.” I was clearly filled up with curiosity.

“I do wish that I have had as ‘boring’ a childhood as you do.” he said leisurely, “When I was at the same age of you, my grandpa who was a peasant told me to herd cattle for a landlord. He made me believe that it was my destine and duty to do that.”

“How were you going with it?” I asked eagerly.

“Of course, I did the best as I could. Other boys sometimes got a good beating for losing a head of cattle, but it never occurred to me. It was my duty and, what is more, my honor to be praised by the landlord then.”

“Oh, you did! That’s the best fun I have ever heard for a boy. Grandpa, I promise you that I would do better than you if sent me to herd cattle for a landlord tomorrow.”

My grandpa was amused and nodding his head. Then he began to ponder what I said without a word. I didn’t know what duty and honor really means at that time but I was convinced that one should try his best to live up with his duty and honor, for without them the childhood would have been really boring.

Chapter 2

The first foreign historical movie I saw is “General Patton”. A line of this movie impressed me deeply—Thirty years from now, you are sitting on your fireside with a grandson on your knee, and he asks you “What did you do in the great World War Ⅱ?”You will not have to say “Well, I shoveled shits in Louisiana.”

I didn’t know that my grandpa had struggled and strived in that Great War until I was a primary school student.

I would never forget that day when I became a member of the Red Scarf—Young Pioneers. I bounced into my grandpa’s garden, brimming with happiness. He was watering the flowers there. His white hair was dyed golden in the midday sunshine. He put aside the water pot and sat down on a wooden bench. He took my schoolbag off and arranged my clothes. I could tell that he was more careful and attentive when he was arranging my new red scarf.

“Congratulations! New young pioneer!” he said to me smiling, “I am proud of you!”

“Oh, grandpa! You owe me an award. What gift are you going to give me?”

“Ok, what gift do you want?”

“Uh…” I thought for a while, “I wonder what is in your locked drawer. Could you show that to me? It must be the most interesting and fantastic thing of your life.”

“That’s right. A really magnificent and significant thing to me. If you promise to turn back and close your eyes, I will show it to you.”

“Oh, I promise and pledge that!”

Immediately I turned back and shut my eyes. I could hear that his key was opening a paradise for me. My eager heart almost beat to my throat. Every passing second was suffering for me and I felt that it was one thousand years before my grandpa told me to turn back again.

In his palm, there was a red metal five-pointed star with some rust spots on it. Although age had faded its brightness, I could tell that it had been preserved very well.

“Where did you get it, grander?” I asked curiously.

“About fifty years ago, a greatest misery befell in our motherland. The Japanese Empire waged an aggressive war totally towards our nation. Within a few months, half of territory was lost. My hometown was seized by those devils. They did all evils there. One of my cousins was bayoneted to death by them.”

“Where were the policemen? Where were the soldiers?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“The corrupted government didn’t organize any effective resistance against the enemy. The enemy drove straight into our hinterland. Those civilians who didn’t escape in time were massacred.”

“Oh, grandpa! We had to do something. What happened then? What did you do in that Great War?

“In 1943, one night I was about to go to bed when one of my laborer friends came to my house. He said that a resistance army was recruiting and he wanted me to join the army with him. That day was a turning point in my life. I started my career as a soldier.”

“Terrific! Did you kick them on their asses?” I said e

“It was not easy to make them surrender although we gain the victory. I lost one of my close comrades in the war.

It was a dark night in the late winter. He was sending messages through the battle line under tremendously roaring artillery fire. H