Decision in Crisis By Leiko

No war, no improvement. Almost every country that experiences war has a chance to recover and progress. Half a century ago, the leader of China, Mao Zedong, pushed the Great Leap Forward in1958. His purpose was to show the world that China was a successful agricultural country. In fact, at that time people were living without food or clothes. The Great Leap Forward and a series of natural disasters had led China into a three-year famine. No one believed it because in 1958, people thought China was the biggest agricultural country in the world. However, it didn't have food to offer to the people. This event had continued from 1958 to 1961. There was no a correct record to express how many people died during this time. Unfortunately, my grandfather was involved in this famine. At that time, he made a big decision, and he decided to join the military in 1961. Even though the famine in China was dreary, it gave my grandfather a chance to improve his life. Because of him, my family’s living standards were changed, the economy of our family was improved and our living environment made better.

The standard of living had changed while my grandfather achieved his goals. Since my grandfather joined the military, his job was to influence our family’s living standards. He dropped out of the school when he had just graduated from primary school in 1956, and began working for a wealthy family. In 1958, the military decided to gather people for protecting country. My grandfather preferred to sign up for the military rather than work for a wealthy family like that. At the time of registration, he wasn’t qualified to join the military because of his age, and his weight was below the requirement. However, he was too smart to be a communication staff when he was sixteen years old in 1958. After two years of working for the army, he continued to study the knowledge of communication for three months in Shenyang China. When he finished the course, he was promoted to be a staff officer. His promotion not only affected my grandfather, but also affected my mother, her sisters, and her brother. They were able to obtain education opportunities due to his status. There is a popular saying in China, “one person joins the military, and the whole family is glorious”. When my grandfather was promoted to be a staff officer, he made friends at different levels and people respected him. There is another saying in China about the kind of person you are depends on what friends you make. In other words, deciding to join the military had changed the position of my grandfather’s family in the country.

After a period of time, the economic conditions of my family had improved greatly. In China, when people joined the military, the government would offer money and materials to people’s families on a monthly basis. Obviously, when my grandfather joined the military, the living conditions were enhanced. That was a main reason that my grandfather took part in the Sino-Vietnamese War as a communication officer in 1963. His work was to distribute the warships. After that war, he acted as the leader who led an army to build the main cables of Hainan province in China. Those events affected my grandfather’s family. My mother said that the basic items were provided by the state; at least they could be well-fed and had warm clothes. They could be living in the army with other soldiers and their families. In addition, the army would give the family clothes, bedclothes and meal tickets. Thus, the family’s income had increased. The majority of electrical equipment was set up in the family and they could get more entertainment. Consequently, the economy influenced my family’s life directly.

Finally, when people were satisfied with the physical conditions, they needed to get satisfied with mental conditions. When all the foundations were established, my grandfather decided to change the environment where they were living. He thought that challenges could push people ahead. He moved the whole family from the country to the city when my mother was twenty-two years old. In the city, children could get better education and they could be open-minded and gain a wider view of the world. In other words, living in the country would change their thoughts. When my grandfather dropped out of school, he still was a poor peasant. On the contrary, while his studies in the military and got education, and became an intellectual. Now he is continuing the study by himself. I think my grandfather is a good model for me. He made a huge effort to achieve his goals. Consequently, my mother, her sisters and brother would have more job opportunities. There was no doubt that they didn’t need to plow the field day and night. When they graduated from high school, they could at least find a permanent job instead of plowing. Therefore, we could know that mental conditions could decide what the people could have in the future.

Even though I was not living in that period or born in that period, my cousins and I are proud of my grandfather. The Chinese policies affected a lot of people who lived in poor economic conditions during the three-year famine. However, my grandfather made a decision in crisis, and it helped us to change my family’s life, economy, and living conditions. If it was not my grandfather, we are also in farming now. We could not have had the opportunity to attend university, to get higher education or even come to the US. We all cherish what we have now even though we are not wealthy. Still, we are rich.