Close Hearts | Inheriting the Friendship Forged by Blood and Fire

2024-04-08

There is a legendary friendship that links each other's destinies amidst the flames of war and the smoke of gunpowder. Despite the baptism of time, it still moves people's hearts. On this shore of the ocean, in Quzhou, China, the simple and righteous Chinese villagers in the deep mountains recount the life and death rescue that swept their hearts 82 years ago; On the other side of the ocean, Houston and Chicago in the United States, descendants of Operation Doolittle pilots during World War II have always been concerned about the land of Quzhou, which is engraved with ancestral friendship and passion. The story of China US relations is written by the people, and the future of China US relations is created by the people. Nowadays, at Quzhou No.2 Middle School in Zhejiang Province, a "friendship tree" planted by Chinese and American friends is lush with branches and leaves. The stone tablet beside the tree is engraved with a message for the future - "Continuing the legend of the 'Du Lite raid' and composing a new chapter of Sino US friendship.". After Japan's life and death friend crossed the ocean and launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, in 1942, the US Air Force launched 16 B-25 bombers on Japan. On the way back, due to fuel shortages and other issues, pilots such as Colonel Doolittle abandoned their planes and parachuted over China. The Chinese military and civilians bravely rescued them, and the Japanese army slaughtered 250000 Chinese civilians as a result. The Doolittle raid on World War II Memorial Square in downtown Houston, USA is depicted on a stone tablet. "If it weren't for the generous and selfless support of the Chinese people, most members of the raid might not have survived," said David Kantenberg, head of the Durit Raider Children's Association. On December 8, 2023, David Kantenberg, head of the Durit Raider Children's Association, was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporters in front of the monument at World War II Memorial Square in downtown Houston, USA. At around the age of 10, David read a book called "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", which had signatures from over 50 pilots participating in the Doolittle raid. Father told David that his grandfather Rodney Ross Wilde was directly involved in the operation. "At that time, they were in a difficult situation, and it was the Chinese people who helped them... With a curiosity about the past, I began to closely monitor this period of history," David said. On the evening of April 18, 1942, on a pitch black stormy night, Wilde, the co pilot of Operation Doolittle 5, parachuted urgently and landed on the slope of Suyuan Village in Jiangshan Bridge Town, Quzhou. David said that his grandfather drank up the small bottle of whiskey he carried with him and warmed himself up, wrapping himself in a parachute for the night. On December 8, 2023, the National Museum of Pacific War in Texas, USA exhibited B-25 bombers that had participated in the Doolittle raid. The next day, Mao Guangxiao, a villager from Suyuan Village, discovered Wilde and took him down the mountain to bring back to the village. David said, "My grandfather knew there was a railway in the nearby valley, but he couldn't speak the language. So he drew a railway line on the sand and used gestures and imitations of train sounds to make the villagers understand the direction he wanted to go."

Edit:Yi Jing    Responsible editor:Li Nian

Source:XinhuaNet

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