Looking for, for the comrades in the foreign land
【Family Searching Story】
Narrator: Cao Jialin, a veteran of the Korean War
In 1951, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was going on. Seeing batch after batch of volunteer soldiers going abroad to fight, the 15-year-old was passionate and I did not hesitate to register: Go to the battlefield and defend my country!
My wish was soon realized. I became a member of the Civil Engineering Team of the Political Department of the 199th Division of the 67th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.
I suffered two injuries on the battlefield and encountered several dangers. Fortunately, my comrades protected me.
After the war, I entered the Chinese People's Volunteer Army Staff School in North Korea.
After returning to China, I missed my former comrades more and more, especially those who died in North Korea.
If you have the chance, you must go back to see them!
In 2000, as a representative of the veteran of the Volunteer Army, I went to North Korea to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army’s fight in North Korea. In 2004 and 2009, I went to North Korea twice, but I had no chance to fulfill my wish.
In 2014, I finally found the Volunteer Army Martyrs' Family Search Service Group and contacted many descendants of the volunteer army martyrs.
It turned out that many of them wanted to go to North Korea to visit the grave.
So, with the help of all aspects, I participated in organizing three or four tomb sweeping activities, and found the gravestones of relatives for some martyrs' descendants.
There is an veteran of the Korean People's Army who guards the tomb of the volunteers in the cemetery of the Volunteer Army in Shangganling.
He has been guarding the cemetery since 1954. Although he does not know a Chinese character, he can call out the name of every hero on the tombstone.
In 2018, when I led a team to North Korea, I went to look for him, only to know that he had passed away.
His son and two daughters took our hands and said: Don't worry, we must follow the instructions of our father and take good care of the volunteer army cemetery.
The descendants of the martyrs who accompanied the regiment were very moved and gave them all the handy items they carried.
In 2018, I visited the tomb of the Volunteer Martyrs’ Cemetery in Jiufengli, North Korea, and learned a touching story. In 1950, Zhang Zifeng, an officer of the 68th Army of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, was stationed near the "38th Line" and lived in Jinyu, a North Korean resident. Lotus family.
One day, 12-year-old Jin Yulian suddenly developed a high fever. Zhang Zifeng sent her to the Volunteer Army Hospital for treatment overnight and was busy taking care of her until she was out of danger.
After that, the North Korean girl called Zhang Zifeng "Papa Zhang".
During a battle in July 1953, Zhang Zifeng died.
Jin Yulian visits his grave every year.
For almost 50 years, Zhang Jinde, the son of the martyr Zhang Zifeng, has been in contact with Jin Yulian's family.
This time, Zhang Jinde went to North Korea with the group and finally met his "relatives" whom he had never met.
In the Songgu Peak blockade, 71 martyrs died in the 1st Battalion, 335th Regiment, 112th Division, 38th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers. The burial site has not been discovered so far.
On November 15, 2019, my team and I boarded Songgu Peak, recited the sacrificial text aloud to the earth, and called the names of these 71 martyrs: Zai Yuyi, Yang Shaocheng, Yang Wenhai, Ma Lianshui, Yue Xiangsong...
On Songgu Peak, we collected 20 kilograms of soil, which we plan to give to the descendants of 71 martyrs, as well as the Shenyang Anti-US Aid Korea Martyrs Cemetery and Dandong City Anti-US Aid Korea Memorial Hall.
Zhang Zhijun, a descendant of a fellow veteran, also found a stone with sharp edges and corners, leaving traces of burning. It must have survived the wars of that year and soaked in the blood of heroes.
We brought it back and plan to give it to the relevant troops as a souvenir.
Today, the whole society is working hard to find relatives for volunteer martyrs.
I will continue to look for it, for the sake of my respectable comrades, and for those relatives who look forward to their "return"!
Project team: reporters Li Xiao, Chen Zhiyin, Long Jun, Yu Aihua, Cui Zhijian, Liu Xiaobing, Wang Simin