Qiu Shaoyun

Qiu Shaoyun was born in a small village named Qiūjiāgōu (邱家沟) in Guānjiàn township (关溅乡) of Tongliang county, Sichuan province. He joined the People's Liberation Army in 1949 and earned recognition in the campaigns that were waged to exterminate bandits. Early 1951, Qiu signed up with the People's Volunteer Army taking part in the Korean War. In October 1952, Qiu died as a martyr in the Korean War, and is considered by the Chinese government to be a war hero. In the struggle for Hill 391, Qiu and his squad mates crawled closer to the enemy position, using hay and twigs as natural camouflage. The UN troops used incendiary bombs, dropped by airplanes, to try and smoke out the Chinese units. It is claimed Qiu got trapped in the ensuing brush fire and in order to not betray the 500 other Chinese soldiers taking part in the assault, he did not move and burned to death.