The Road for Veterans to Return Home: Reunion on Both Sides
2024-05-24
On May 23, at the 2024 China Shaoxing (Shangyu) Filial Piety Culture Activity Week held in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Liu Dewen and Sun Chunlong, who were also awarded the title of "2024 New Era Filial Piety Figures", embraced each other on stage. This is a embrace that spans the Taiwan Strait and unites the two sides, as well as a filial piety that connects the hearts and hands of the Chinese people. Liu Dewen is the community chief of Xianghe Village in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Sun Chunlong is the initiator of the "Veterans Going Home" public welfare campaign in mainland China. Over the past decade or so, they have been doing the same thing on both sides of the Taiwan Strait - bringing veterans home. "Uncle, come home!" Not long ago, at the station in Fuding City, Fujian Province, Liu Dewen carefully took out the ashes of Taiwanese veteran Cai Guoshen from his backpack and handed them over to his relatives. This kind of righteous act can be traced back to 2003. At that time, Liu Dewen was working for a volunteer organization to provide assistance to Taiwanese solitary veterans, and over time, everyone recommended him for the position of neighborhood chief. Later, Liu Dewen resigned from his high paying job at the bank and devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving the veterans. One day, an old soldier approached him with two bottles of sorghum wine. "The old man drank a glass of wine and said to me, 'The neighborhood chief asked you to take my ashes home and bury them in front of my parents' graves, so that I can fulfill my filial piety.'" Faced with the old man's plea, Liu Dewen agreed. Not long after, the old man passed away. Liu Dewen has made several attempts to contact the elderly's relatives in mainland China. In 2004, Liu Dewen carried the ashes of an old soldier across the strait to Hunan, fulfilling the old man's long-standing wish. After this incident spread, more and more veterans found Liu Dewen and entrusted his final fate to him. Liu Dewen couldn't refuse, so he carried the ashes of the veterans on his chest time and time again, allowing the reunion and longing that had been delayed for over half a century to continue. "The cultures on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same roots and origins. Our compatriots on both sides are descendants of China. Our ancestors taught us that filial piety is the top priority, so we must pass on this filial piety. In my heart, these veterans are all my fathers." Over the past twenty years, Liu Dewen has crossed the Taiwan Strait hundreds of times and traveled to more than 20 provinces in mainland China, helping more than 200 Taiwanese veterans to return to their roots. On the other side of the strait, Sun Chunlong was also running on the "way home" for the veterans. In 2005, during an interview in Myanmar, Sun Chunlong, who was once a journalist, became intertwined with a group of veterans wandering in foreign lands. He resolutely resigned and launched the "Veterans Going Home" public welfare campaign. Li Xiquan is the first veteran interviewed by Sun Chunlong in Myanmar. From the time he went abroad with the Chinese Expeditionary Force to participate in the war in 2005, to know Sun Chunlong, Li Xiquan has not returned home for 70 years. After my first interview with veteran Li Xiquan, I returned to China and posted on my blog about veteran Li Xiquan finding a home. When we finally found Li Xiquan's hometown and told him this exciting news, the old man was so sad that he burst into tears Memories of Sun Chunlong. After several twists and turns, Li Xiquan finally embarked on his journey home in October 2008. From then on, Sun Chunlong began to help more and more Chinese veterans in Myanmar return to their homeland. When the country is in crisis, the veterans are loyal to the country. Today, whether in mainland China or Taiwan, our generation will fulfill their filial piety During his more than ten years of helping veterans return home, Sun Chunlong gained a deeper understanding and insight into the culture of filial piety in the Chinese nation. At present, Sun Chunlong and volunteers have taken care of over 11000 veterans of the Anti Japanese War, found the remains of over 1400 fallen soldiers, and helped over 300 families find their lost loved ones during the war. (Lai Xin She)
Edit：Luo yu Responsible editor：Zhou shu
Source：Chinanews.com
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