Tracking 173 military medals —— Perspective on the phenomenon of "meritorious group" of Xintai active officers and soldiers in Shandong Province ■ Jiang Yukun, Liu Dechao, Kong Lingqiang ① 109 father and son soldiers and three generations of grandparents and grandchildren soldiers "Home of meritorious officials" all over Xintai Six years ago, Li Rui, a freshman from Yantai Automotive Engineering Vocational and technical college in Shandong Province, came to Xintai martyrs cemetery to sweep the martyrs' tombs together with the recruits approved to join the army in the same period, and solemnly promised: "strive to be a model and make military contributions as soon as possible!" After two years in the army, Li Rui became an excellent soldier twice. In March 2017, he participated in the pentathlon team of the air force. Two years later, he "rushed" into the seventh world military games, won two gold medals for individuals and groups, and won the first class merit for this. Photo by Wang Guangrong From October last year to October this year, Xintai City has received 173 good reports of meritorious service from active servicemen, including 1 first-class merit, 10 second-class merit and 162 third-class merit. "Xintai City under the jurisdiction of Tai'an City is located in the hinterland of central Shandong and is the old revolutionary base of Yimeng." Mayor song Hongpeng said that since the official completion of Xintai revolutionary martyrs cemetery in 1990, the municipal double support office and the Ministry of people's armed forces have held an instrument of "saluting heroes and promising to join the army" every year before recruits enter the camp. In the new era, "joining the army and advocating martial arts" is still an unwritten "agreement between local people" of Xintai people. Father and son soldiers, three generations of grandparents and grandchildren and "home of meritorious officials" can be seen everywhere. In wenhebei village, Zhai Town, Li Rui, a second-class hero and explosive disposal technician of an army unit, became the pride of the villagers: his grandfather Li chuantao participated in the war of liberation and won the third-class Medal of liberation for many times. His uncle Li Le, who was serving in the army, sent back two third-class good news to his family and hung in the Li family hall with Li Rui's second-class good news. In malingzhuang village, Xizhangzhuang Town, Zheng Shengfeng, a noncommissioned officer of a certain unit in the northern theater, won the praise of the villagers: he won the third prize of the excellent noncommissioned officer talent award of the whole army, was rated as a "model of strong army and fine martial arts" by the theater, and was awarded the second prize twice. Zheng Yuanren, Zheng Shengfeng's grandfather, participated in the Menglianggu campaign and the Huaihai Campaign. He lost his left arm and left eye in the war and won the first-class merit. His father Zheng Chao and three cousins participated in the army, and all four of them won the military merit. According to the statistics of Xintai Veterans Affairs Department and the Municipal People's Armed Forces Department, there are at least 109 such "meritorious homes" in the city. Paying tribute to meritorious officials and being their successors have become the conscious action of Xintai officers and soldiers. ② 17 meritorious officials and meritorious officials of the Ministry of people's armed forces appeared on the stage Military Medal "shine the whole city" Referring to the award for meritorious service, corporal Chen Kexin of an army department who won the second-class merit at the end of 2020 said bluntly: "thank my 'meritorious mentors' in particular!" On December 9, 2017, Chen Kexin's first lesson in pre service training was "I met with meritorious officials". Wu Zhihui, an officer of a garrison unit, wore two first-class military merit medals on his chest. He once won the "Youth May 4th Medal" and "the 14th top ten learning and talent pacesetters of the whole army". After making a story report, he interacted with you on the spot. Chen Kexin asked straightforwardly, "is it easy to make contributions?" Wu Zhihui's answer was thought-provoking: "it's difficult to say, and it's easy to say. As long as you 'force' yourself to make progress every day, over time, you can surpass yourself and create miracles." Later, Chen Kexin, who became a special forces soldier, trained hard according to the requirements of "making progress a little every day", and "miracle" really appeared: he broke two brigade military records in the second year of enlistment, and participated in the army "special warfare Raiders" unrestricted sniper competition and the army "sniper elite competition" in the third year of enlistment. Over the past five years, Xintai City has successively invited 17 active service officers and soldiers who have won the first-class merit or the second-class merit to take the stage to speak their own stories and encourage recruits to build meritorious barracks. The Municipal People's Armed Forces Department also has a special "rule": from the training before the new military service, ministers, political commissars, staff officers, as well as civilian personnel and employees who have been transformed from veterans and have made military achievements, all wear military merit badges and national defense service commemorative badges. At the farewell ceremony for recruits in the second half of this year, there were careful numbers. Seven meritorious officials of the Municipal People's Armed Forces Department wore 19 Military Merit medals and 18 silver and copper national defense service commemorative medals on their chests. They also took the theme of "I am so meritorious and rewarded" and took the form of "one person, one lesson" to tell the growth story for the incoming recruits. Niu Jibao, Minister of the people's armed forces who has won the third class merit five times, and Ma Jian, an employee who has won the second class merit, have moved recruits with their own experience. At the farewell ceremony for recruits, accompanied by the war song of a strong army, seven meritorious officials of the Municipal People's Armed Forces Department dressed the recruits with ribbons and red flowers one by one, and "one-on-one" told them to serve and make contributions to the military camp. This scene deeply infected the cadres and masses present. ③ 170000 registered volunteers are devoted to supporting the army "Public welfare projects" warm the hearts of soldiers On October 1, 49 volunteers went out of their homes early, drove into the community, entered the village and met the military dependents separately. The parents, wives and children of 78 Xintai officers and soldiers opened a free "Xintai one-day tour": military families can visit Xintai scenic spots without spending a penny. Xintai City has formed a new atmosphere of socialized support for the army in accordance with the idea of "party and government leadership, military local interaction, social support and national participation". In the first 10 months of this year, we helped 320 retired soldiers realize their entrepreneurial dreams and implemented rights and interests protection for more than 1980 retired soldiers. "You are loyal to the country, and we are filial to you!" Hao Nan, head of Xintai good people association, introduced that the total number of registered members of the Municipal Federation of volunteer services for supporting the army has reached 170000, and there is an average of one volunteer for supporting the army in less than 10 people in the city. Volunteers to support the army regularly go to military barracks, military rest homes and families of special care objects, regularly provide 6 categories such as legal aid, entrepreneurship and employment assistance, and 58 categories of voluntary service projects such as planting and breeding and caring for the elderly, build 186 village and town volunteer service stations in the city, and establish 7 municipal volunteer service bases. Photo by Han Suixin Since this year, the municipal double support office and the volunteer Federation have successively planned and launched 11 public welfare projects to support the army, built 118 love huts to support the army, carried out 107 community and rural service activities to support the army, and helped 39 military dependents with difficulties. In 2019, Zhang Qing, a new Thai soldier of a certain unit in the central theater, encountered changes at his home. The city's relevant units have successively done several practical things within a week: assessing the disability of his seriously ill brother and running a minimum living allowance; He offered his mother a job as a cleaner and applied for subsistence allowance and special hardship allowance. Zhang Qing, who went into battle light, trained hard and won the third class merit by the end of 2020. Sergeant Fang Hao of a brigade in the Western Theater died heroically while performing military tasks. The municipal leaders specially approved the resettlement of Fang Hao's sister to work in public institutions, and the relevant departments coordinated the reduction of 300000 yuan for the martyr's parents. Liu Linlin, the wife of martyr Fang Hao, said that his son was also arranged to study in the best primary school in the city. "The concern of the government and the care of the society have become a strong backing for the meritorious military barracks of new Thai officers and soldiers," said Sui Yang, commander of Tai'an military district. (outlook new era)