History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
The once heroic Lieutenant Colonel of the Chinese Air Force, who shot down 6 Japanese planes, has now become an anti-Japanese veteran, but his title of "anti-Japanese veteran" has been decades late, and his bumpy experience has brought tears to his eyes.
This anti-Japanese veteran named Wu Qiyuan, is a fujian Minqing County fifteen people, the family is quite solid, in 1936, 18 years old he was studying at Qingdao Normal University, once came across the Huangpu Military Academy Jianqiao Central Aviation School enrollment information.
With full of enthusiasm for serving the country, he did not wait for his parents' consent, he resolutely signed up, he wrote in a letter to his parents: "I only want to kill the enemy to repay the country and retake the three eastern provinces." In this way, Wu Qiren became a pilot.
At that time, the Chinese Air Force was still very weak, Wu Qiyuan recalled, on June 22, 1941, when they were training in Chengdu, they were suddenly bombed by the Japanese army, Wu Qiyuan drove a trainer plane to evacuate, and was shot down by Japanese aircraft.
This was the first time he was shot down by a Japanese plane, this time he was seriously injured, thanks to the help of his fellow villagers, he cultivated for more than a year before returning to the army, when he was designated as a second-class third-class disabled and could have returned home, but he insisted on participating in the war against Japan.
In the days that followed, he shot down a total of 6 Japanese planes, during which he was also shot down twice, but all were safe, and once he flew back in a plane that had been beaten into a honeycomb.
Wu Qiren, who was very difficult to die, had the privilege of witnessing the surrender of the Japanese army, he personally experienced the surrender ceremony of the Japanese army in the auditorium of the Central Military Academy in Nanjing, and he personally saw the commander-in-chief of the invasion of China, Okamura Ningji, disarm and surrender his saber and sign the surrender, the whole process lasted 20 minutes.
Wu Qiyuan said: "The essence of these 20 minutes runs through my life, affects my life, and sublimates my life, and the Chinese nation is invincible." ”
For his participation in 88 air operations, he was awarded the "Cross of Flight Excellence" by the Allied Headquarters, as well as the "Aviation Medal" and the "Unit Collective Medal of Honor".
In 1948, with superb flight skills, he entered the United States Military Academy Aviation Branch at West Point with the first place from more than 3,000 air crews, and after the completion of his studies, he went to Taiwan and became a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force.
If he had stayed in Taiwan, he might have lived a good life, but he missed his hometown and returned to the mainland through the Hong Kong uprising, but was later censored and imprisoned for more than 20 years.
It was not until 1974 that he was released, and Wu Qiren, 56, found a job pedaling three wheels, loading and unloading more than 600 pounds a day, and only earned 1 yuan and 2 dimes a day, living in a small house of 12 square meters with his wife and children.
It was only after 6 years of pedaling three rounds like this that Wu Qiyuan restored his political reputation and was arranged to work as a herbarium at Zhejiang University, which can also be regarded as a special care for him.
In 2010, in the last year of his life, he dragged his seriously ill body to the Yue Wang Temple to worship, and in front of the statue of Yue Fei, he shed tears. After returning home, on October 13, Wu Qiyuan left peacefully at the age of 92.