"Iron Army" solders recall rescue operations

"I'd think to myself: 'What would have happened if I were the one in that body bag? If people just left me there in pieces because they were squeamish, I'd be sad, too," he said.

But soon after their mission in Sichuan came to an end, the same courage that has kept Jinghua in the military drove Xinluo, a veteran of eight years, out.

Zhang Xinluo's decision to leave the army came as a surprise to many of his lads. After all, one more year of service would have translated into a much-envied promotion to NCO Third Class for the Luoyang native.

According to Liu Huichao, the political instructor of Zhang's former company, the shooter-turned-emcee "constantly suffered nightmares" after their troops returned to Henan. That experience, Liu hinted, was the major reason behind Zhang's unexpected retirement.

Zhang denied the claim, stressing: "No matter how long I stayed in the army, at the end of the day, I would have needed to get back to civilian life."

A promotion to Third Class NCO would have meant at least another eight years in the army; and when that time is up, Zhang would have been 35, "no longer young or competitive".

Almost half a year into his new life, Zhang says he loves being an emcee: He no longer needs to get up at 6 am, always the man with a crew cut and the same uniform.