Liang Weiguo was born in 1916 in Sichuan Province, the son of poor farmers. He had only two years of formal schooling before joining the army at 17, but he learned to read and write from a company scribe during training, practicing by copying out the Confucian classics by candlelight. He rose to sergeant through battlefield experience, not education. His letters are noted for their unpolished but deeply vivid descriptions of war. He carried a worn copy of the Art of War and a dried flower from his wedding day in his pack.
Found in the lining of a sergeant's cap after he fell defending the bridge approach at Changsha. He wrote this by moonlight on scrap paper, knowing he would not see the morning.