BEIJING: “Step back and leave it to me,” Du Fuguo, a demining soldier of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), told a fellow soldier when working in a minefield in the border area of southwest China’s Yunnan in October 2018. That move, which saved his partner from imminent danger, pushed him into a tremendous abyss.
It was a suspicious unexploded grenade. Du, who was 27 years old at the time, stepped forward to examine it when it suddenly exploded. At that moment, Du swiftly leaned his body to protect his partner, who was left with only bruises. However, Du was severely injured, losing his eyes and arms in the explosion.
Du had two chances to choose not to be a demining soldier during his military service starting 2010, but he volunteered to work on the frontline clearing mines.
He revealed why he made the choice in his letter of application for mine clearance operations in 2015 — “I was reflecting on what kind of life is truly meaningful and valuable, and the only gauge is what has been done for the country.”
“I feel like it is my destiny to carry out this mission and there was a voice calling me to clear the mines,” he wrote. To win the “entrance admission” to the minefield, Du worked hard in his training and passed relevant tests with outstanding performance. –Agencies
