Retire with honor

Wearing red flowers, Wei Kai and other soldiers retiring from the national flag guard stood watching the flag raising parade across the Jinshui Bridge and Chang'an Avenue. Wei, along with his comrades, saluted the national flag. However, this time, they were no longer wearing their hat badges and collar lace.

Wei and some other soldiers retired from the army on that day. Five years ago, Wei became a member of the national flag guard. During his 1,825 days with the national flag guard, Wei raised the national flag over 1,500 times.

When he was a freshman in the guard, Wei sometimes trained until 3 a.m. In order to practice gun handling, Wei had to run 17 rounds along an 800-meter track while carrying stones in his arms.

Wei has had some unforgettable experiences: when he raised the flag for the first time, when he first became a flag bearer, when he participated in the NPC and CPPCC annual meetings and when he was part of the military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Wei did not realize how many people came to watch the flag raising before the day of his retirement, when he stood with them for the first time.