Lu Cunyuan joined the army in 2010. Since then, he has participated in two national military parades, served in Lebanon for peacekeeping three times, and received two United Nations Peace Medals of Honor, one second-class merit, and one third-class merit. Due to his exceptional performance, he was promoted to sergeant first class in 2021, one year ahead of schedule.

A Chinese soldier is on duty at a sentry post in the Lebanon mission area. [Photo by Qu Fatong]

Passion and curiosity support his unwavering pursuit of military dream

Lu was born in an old revolutionary base area in Shandong Province. As a child, he often listened to his father singing red songs and telling red stories. This planted the seed in Lu's mind that "soldiers are heroes." "I just want to see what the army looks like in my dad's words," he recalled.

Since his sister was a soldier's dependent, during school holidays, Lu spent one or two weeks visiting his brother-in-law's military unit.

Boom! One day, during a meal, Lu's brother-in-law was called back urgently.

Later, Lu learned that a pilot had lost control of his aircraft and, to avoid crashing into residential buildings, chose to sacrifice his own life. This heroic pilot had just gotten married. This incident profoundly impacted Lu, igniting a desire to find out what motivates someone to make such a sacrifice.

In early December 2010, on a chilly day filled with the warmth of the sun, Lu arrived at the barracks that he had long dreamed of.

In his early military career, as a man born and bred in northern China, he initially struggled to acclimate himself to the living environment in Yunnan, a southwest province. The intensive recruit training each day almost overwhelmed him. However, inspired by the words of the squad leader "If an egg is broken from outside, life ends; if an egg is broken from inside, life begins," he made up his mind, "Whatever I do, I must do it well."