"Iron Army" solders recall rescue operations

But the bullet in his necklace speaks the rest of the story. "I was one of the best shooters in our company," Zhang said proudly.

Still standing ramrod-straight, the emcee wears the bullet necklace 24-7. "It (the bullet)'s from my favorite Type 81 rifle," he chuckled.

A year on, dozens of soldiers like Zhang have left the company. Others, like An Le, whose name literally means "peace and happiness", chose to stay.

No more rescue operations to conduct. No more bodies to bury. No more houses to build. No more mountains to trek. And most importantly, no more time to race against. Here in their military camp in Luoyang's Mengjin County, time seems to be among the least important of factors.

An, like everyone else in the camp, follows the same routine: Getting up at 6 am, attending drill twice during the day, and going to bed at 9:30 pm.

But the 21-year-old is now a the pride of the entire battalion. Last May, he pulled out a young woman from the debris after almost six hours. For that, An was named a national role model in quake relief in Beijing.

"We have the entire footage of him saving the girl; most other rescue efforts went unrecorded. An's act, proved in video, contributed significantly to our company's award," Liu said.

Hairdresser Song Yanmei had been buried under the ground floor of what used to be a five-story building in Yingxiu for two-and-a-half days when Liu's company heard her crying for help on the morning of May 15, 2008.