"Iron Army" solders recall rescue operations

The soldiers quickly located her whereabouts and managed to dig a hole, through which only a teenager could fit. The 165-cm An immediately volunteered.

Like most Chinese army men, An, from Henan's Dengxian county, grew up in an impoverished village. For them, enlisting is a natural choice. Their families see the army as offering a stable environment and compensation, while the adolescent boys themselves envy "smart-looking, masculine army guys".

An joined the army following the footsteps of his elder brother, who enlisted a year earlier than him. His May heroics, though, have motivated many more, including his younger brother.

To save Song, An went back and forth between the hole three times amidst more than 100 strong aftershocks. He fed Song, who had not eaten anything since the tremor, with the company's limited food supply. He encouraged her to stay strong. He told her to believe in the army. Then, he showed her why.

Half-lying under the debris, Song's feet were deeply caught between the rubble, her legs atop two bricks. Plan A, in an ideal situation, required the rescuer to remove the bricks by hand, and, quite literally, dig her out.

The intensity of aftershocks, though, made the company commander opt for the much-safer Plan B: Amputation.

But An refused, stressing that he could save all of her. And he did.

When Song was pulled out of the debris at 2:05 pm that day, nearly 72 hours after the quake, the first thing she said was: "I'm going to introduce a girl to him (An)."