Sentry Duty Horror / Behind Me Were Graves – A “Platoon” Sang Military Songs for 20 Minutes Late at Night

▲ Soldier. (Photo / Illustration, not the actual person in the story, photo by reporter Ji Xiangru)

By / No Supernatural Experience, No Qualification as a Travel Journalist

As a travel journalist, I’ve stayed in many hotels and often encountered some “peculiar” things. In fact, I had already come across a shocking ghost story back when I was in the military (as if I were destined for this line of work). When I was just a rookie sentry, I personally experienced something extremely eerie and mind-blowing – every midnight, a group of people in a certain military camp would collectively sing military songs.

This happened over a decade ago. At the time, I was assigned to sentry duty near the ammunition depot and grenade throwing range, with the graveyard right behind me. I heard my fellow recruit and senior say, “Someone sings military songs near the grenade throwing range late at night, but I can never find anyone.”

Back then, I was pretty skeptical and fearless. Actually, during that period, I had heard a girl singing in the woods, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find her. Though it felt strange, I didn’t think much of it. But I really had never heard anything about a whole platoon singing military songs – what nonsense. With a young and headstrong heart, I decided to ask the sentry shift leader to let me experience it for myself...

Back then, my fellow recruit told me that those ghostly singing voices usually appeared between 11:50 PM and 12:10 AM, and they would definitely be sung by an entire platoon. The songs were always the same (though I only remember one was “The Camel of China,” and I’ve forgotten the other).

That day, I deliberately went on duty at 11:30 PM. I chatted, smoked, and squatted, waiting for the time to pass. Finally, 11:50 PM, 11:55 PM, 12:00 AM, 12:05 AM...

“There’s absolutely nothing at all. What a load of crap!” Just as I said that, a group of “people” behind me at the grenade throwing range actually started singing. But how could that be? And in that night where even birds chirping and frogs croaking could be clearly heard, there were really human singing voices!?

After that sentry shift, I stopped being so skeptical and became more respectful toward the unseen “good brothers.” Everyone around me felt my personality had changed, but not many believed me after hearing the full story. But I really clearly heard the lyrics of that song.

“Though the road is long and distant, I still move forward...”

Even after all this time, I still know how to sing that song... The reason, I think you can all guess.

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