Zhang Hong, currently living in San Francisco, used to work as a nurse in the Beijing Hospital. Zhang witnessed the China Liberation Army killing students on June 4, 1989. Sixteen years after the June 4 Massacre on Tiananmen Square, Zhang tells a reporter about the unforgettable bloody scenes she witnessed.

The Beijing Hospital was located near Tiananmen Square. When the students in the Democratic Movement started a hunger strike, Zhang and her coworkers set up a tent in Tiananmen Square so they could treat and take care of any sick or vulnerable students. Zhang went home on the night of June 3. The next morning, she could hear gunshots but she took the chance of being shot at and went to the hospital.

Zhang said, “After I got to the hospital, I saw injured students all over the place as well as a lot of blood. There was so much blood accumulated on the carts [used to transport patients] and in the operating rooms. The operating rooms must be clean and sterile, and one must put on clean shoes and clothes before entering. But nobody had the time to worry about cleanliness that day. The worst thing was how the bullets had exploded after entering the student’s bodies. Most of the injured students had smashed bones and blood vessels torn open. Their flesh was severely damaged by the exploding bullets. My tears poured down as soon as I saw them.”

The Liberation Army also killed the doctors who went to the tent on the Square to treat the students.

Zhang recounted, “The doctors from the Beijing Hospital evacuated from the tent after midnight. The Army shot at the doctors. The bullets went straight into the chest and exited through the back.

“You know what the worst thing was? Nobody dared to claim the students’ bodies because the authorities would accuse them of being one of the “ruffians” too. This lasted for about 2 weeks; the families dared not claim their children’s dead bodies. No matter what, most people will want to see their family members for one last time. But that was how scared the students’ parents were- nobody went and claimed the bodies.”

“The violent suppression was over, and the lies quickly surfaced,” Zhang continued. ”The most outrageous thing the authorities did was to make every Party and League member state that no one died on the Square. People from outside of Beijing believed this lie, but how could the Beijing residents believe that? Where did all the corpses lying in the hospital morgue come from?”

Zhang Hong immigrated to the US eight years ago. She has always wanted to tell the people what she saw on that bloody day of suppression.

Zhang said, “People should know the real story. It’s been 16 years since the massacre. Whenever I talk about it, I feel pain in my heart. I want to do something for the deceased and their families. All I can do is tell people what really happened and wake them up [those who believe in the CCP and their lies].”