China News Service, Kunming, February 28th: 93-year-old female soldier in the Anti-Japanese War returns to Kunming to visit relatives to fulfill her long-cherished wish
Author Luo Jie
"I have no other wish in my life to be able to return to my hometown and see these relatives again." Recently, Tian Guifen, a 93-year-old female soldier in the Anti-Japanese War, set foot on her homeland for the second time in more than 70 years, and was once again in her hometown with her relatives in Yunnan. reunion.
At the beginning of the new year, Vientiane was renewed. Tian Guifen returned from Luoyang, Henan, to Kunming, Yunnan to visit relatives. The land of Yunling echoed the nostalgia of heroines.
Tian Guifen, born in 1929, was originally from Songming County, Yunnan Province. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, she married Zhang Rongguang, the second lieutenant of the 4th Company of the National Revolutionary Army's Fifth Army War Defense Artillery Company, who was stationed in Songming County at that time, and later became a member of the Fifth Army. Caretaker.
The picture shows Tian Guifen arriving at Kunming Changshui International Airport on the evening of the 25th.
Photo by Kang Ping
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Tian Guifen returned to Yunnan to be stationed at Baoshan Airport, and then she returned to her hometown with her husband and settled in Luoyang, Henan.
In the memories of Tian Guifen and his third sister Tian Zhengmei, except that she returned to her hometown when her mother died in 1998, she never set foot in her homeland for the next 24 years.
On the evening of February 25, Tian Guifen arrived in Kunming with the help of volunteers from Yunnan and Henan.
After a long journey, she finally returned to Guanzhuang Village, Yanglin Town, Songming County, and met her third sister Tian Zhengmei and her family.
From the entrance of the village to the door of the house, Tian Guifen insisted on walking.
The dogs barked in the village, and by the moonlight, 80-year-old Tian Zhengmei told her sister about the changes in Guanzhuang Village over the years, "The new home is behind the old one, and the second child has been in bad health recently and can't get up at home. already."
The picture shows Tian Guifen returning to Songming County, Yunnan Province by car on the evening of the 25th.
Photo by Kang Ping
"Go home, go home, finally home!" At around 10:30 p.m., Tian Guifen, who had just stepped into the house, finally felt a real sense of home, with the voices of volunteers reminding her.
"How many years ago was the last time I went home, I can't remember." Sitting at home, Tian Guifen took the volunteer's hand and kept saying thanks.
The accent in her mouth has not changed, and tears welled up in her eyes from time to time.
On the morning of the 27th, volunteers and the people of their hometown specially held a welcome ceremony for Tian Guifen, and caring people from all walks of life also joined this warm event to send gifts to the elderly.
Zhou Derong, the director of the Yunnan Veterans Care Program Project Office and the leader of the volunteer team, was the witness of this trip home.
Beginning in 2021, she and the volunteer team went to Henan several times to learn about her wish for the rest of her life from the elderly.
"Caring for the veterans is a race against time. The volunteer teams in the two places have overcome many difficulties and finally let Grandma Tian go home," she said.
The picture shows on the 27th, the volunteer team and the people of the hometown held a welcome ceremony for Tian Guifen.
Photo by Kang Ping
In the two days after returning home, Tian Guifen visited the bedridden second sister Tian Xiaopei, and met with more than ten relatives one after another.
"When everyone sits together, there are endless things to talk about. My aunt and my mother are reluctant to fall asleep after talking late at night. When we talk about sad things, the tears can't stop flowing." Tian Li, Tian Zhengmei's daughter, said.
When relatives and volunteers sat around the house and asked Tian Guifen what other wishes she wanted to fulfill, she shook her head and said, "This time I can go home smoothly, my biggest wish has been fulfilled. Now I just want to accompany you again. Second sister, when she recovers, I can safely leave for Henan." (End)