Profiles

To save lives is their mission

By Duan Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-30 06:52

FUZHOU, Jiangxi - Every year, 23-year-old Chen Xiayong, together with other soldiers of the special corps, spends about 20 days training to drive speedboats on the Qinshan Lake in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province.

Chen Xiayong, a soldier with the special corps of the Jiangxi military command, pulls a speedboat to the bank during a rescue mission in the flooded area in Changkai town, Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, last Wednesday. [China Daily]

But when Chen and his mates were ordered to leave on a mission to rescue 100,000 people in 41 flooded villages, with heavy rains forecast for the next three days, they knew no training could have prepared them for the situation.

The special corps of the Jiangxi military command were the first to reach the site of the breached Fuhe River dike on June 21 and began evacuating villagers within three hours of the breach.

"A 30-km trip on the lake usually takes only an hour, but when we were driving the speedboat in the flooded area, the same distance took us more than two hours to cover," said Chen, who has served in the Jiangxi military command for five years.

Related readings:  Finally, flood waters begin to recede  Flood toll: 377 dead, 147 missing  Farmers save pigs from flood  Chinese Premier visits flood-hit Jiangxi Province

He said he had to constantly switch off the boat's engine to get rid of the straws that got entangled.

When the boats entered the narrow laneways between the houses, the water reeked of feces, he said.

"There must be a toilet flooded nearby," Chen said.

When the engine wouldn't work in shallow waters, he jumped off the boat and pushed it forward.

"Many of our team members suffered from foot injuries," said Zhang Jin, battalion commander of Chen's squad. "Eczema is a common disease that occurs when soldiers stand in the water for a long period of time."

Zhang was coordinating the rescue work and temporarily lost his voice after four days of shouting commands from the shore.

Recalling a rescue effort, Chen said: "There was an old lady in Changkai, a town downstream of the breached dike, whose arm was broken and the door of her house was underwater.

"Her family used a rope to get her down from the second floor, and we stepped on a ladder to catch her.

There were countless such efforts during the four days of evacuation.

"I can't remember how many people we rescued," said Chen. "But kids and elders were our priority.

"When we drove past the flooded buildings, local villagers were yelling at us," said Chen, a native of Qimen county, Anhui province, which is adjacent to Jiangxi province.

But Chen couldn't understand the local dialect. "They must have thought we were driving away without rescuing people," he said.

The soldiers' boats were assigned to specific areas so as to avoid chaos and make sure all the 41 affected villages were covered.

"We lost two boats on the first day of the rescue because some locals took them away to save people," said Zhang.

Chen also met a number of people who were unwilling to get on the rescue boats. "They just didn't want to leave home," he said, adding that sometimes it took a lot of persuading to convince them to come aboard.

With the water level now gradually receding, Chen and his 20 comrades are lodged in villages near the flood zone.

They are helping transport the villagers back to their houses and taking trips to the recently repaired dike to check if everything's well.

Chen's father, a carpenter, was paralyzed in a car accident last August. His mother was forced to take over all the farm work besides caring for her bedridden husband.

Chen's 20-year-old brother has just finished high school and decided not to go to college so that he can take care of the family.

"Both Chen and his brother are very understanding," said company commander Xu Zhiwen.

The special corps soldiers organized a donation to help Chen's family after his father's accident.

During his spare time, Chen likes to practice calligraphy. He is also part of the army's basketball team.

"I'm not good at basketball though," he said.

Now as a squad leader, Chen, who is due to leave the army at the end of this year, wants to learn how to manage people. "I also want to practice public speaking," he said, adding, "It will help me land a job when I leave the force."