China Focus
Earthquake took away Guo months from retirement
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-20 07:43
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Portrait of Guo Baoshan and his relatives. [Wu Zhiyi/China Daily] |
Guo Baoshan, deputy director of the international cooperation bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, had planned to host his son's wedding when he came back.
But this day will never come.
Guo, 60, was the oldest among the eight officers killed in Haiti by the earthquake on Jan 13.
"He is gone now. He will never be able to attend the wedding," said Guo's wife, Sun Gemin, unable to hold back tears.
Just days ago, the couple celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. They looked forward to a relaxed life together after his retirement in July this year.
Guo planned to buy a car and travel with his wife. But now the planned trip will forever remain a dream.
"I have arrived in Haiti safely. Do not worry."
Then, a little more than an hour later, the 7-magnitude earthquake took him away from her forever.
"My husband was a strong man I do not want to be seen shedding tears, leaving him uncomfortable in heaven," she said, with tears in her eyes.
But under the weight of sadness she was unable to hold back.
Because of her extreme grief, she was hospitalized at Beijing-based General Hospital of Armed Police Forces the next day.
In Sun's eyes, Guo was a person who always put work before everything else, Beijing News reported.
Sun was worried about safety in Haiti and had warned him before he left.
But her husband insisted peacekeeping is an important issue, she said.
Guo was also remembered as an upright person by his brothers, who still live in the rural area of Jinzhou, Liaoning province.
His younger brother Guo Jinshan, 58, said Guo Baoshan refused to use his power to help family members for personal benefit.
When Guo Qichao, son of his elder brother, joined the armed police years ago, Guo Baoshan could have helped keep his nephew in Beijing instead of seeing the young man serve in the harsher border area. It may have only required a phone call. But it was one he didn't make.
Guo Youshan, the elder brother, told Liaoning-based Peninsula Morning Post that he once hated Guo Baoshan.
But after hearing Guo Baoshan died while on duty, the elder brother said he had misunderstood Guo Baoshan. "He will always be my good brother."
