As the saying goes, the golden nest and the silver nest are not as good as the small nest in the hometown, and the hometown love is such a wonderful existence that you can't feel in your hometown. But once you step out of this place where you have lived for a long time, the thoughts in your heart cannot be stopped, perhaps your hometown is not so good, not so developed, but it is a place where you can't put your mind and mind down for a lifetime. The veteran we are talking about today has been living in a foreign country for more than 60 years, and at the age of 90, he still holds a republic of China passport in his hand, until he finally returned to his hometown before his death.
The distance from Myanmar to Guangdong is not far, but he has spent 73 years to walk, his name is Yang Jianda, perhaps everyone has not heard of him, but his deeds are very touching. Born in Guangdong in 1921, Yang Jianda left his hometown at the age of 16 because of the force of life, first arrived in Hong Kong, then passed through Malaysia, then went to India, and started a business with his sister in Kolkata. Watching the days gradually improve, but in 1941, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered a difficult date, and every Chinese descendant was obliged to join the battle against foreign aggression. Yang Jianda, too, gave up his days of already wealth, gave up his growing business, and joined the Kolkata Overseas Chinese Self-Defense Corps to protect the safety of overseas Chinese.
After three years of hard work, in 1944 the Chinese army won the victory in the counter-offensive in northern Burma, and the Stilwell Highway from northeast India to Yunnan, China was built. At that time, Yang Jianda and more than 50 overseas Chinese in the team were incorporated into Sun Liren's new 38th Division, and in the search company at that time, only Yang Jianda spoke Indian, which was of great help to the team at that time, so Yang Jianda became the personal translator of the chief.
With the joint efforts of everyone, the war was finally won, but because of the civil war, Yang Jianda chose to continue to live in northern Myanmar, but he did not expect that this choice made him unable to return to his hometown for decades. After Yang Jianda stayed in Myanmar, because he could speak many languages, it was still relatively easy for him to survive, and he did a lot of work in order to live, from the owner of the business field to the migrant worker of the steamship company, etc., and his life was also relatively rich.
Yang Jianda also specially transported military goods for Myanmar, in and out of many places on the Border between China and Myanmar, as long as there are soldiers can see his figure, because there is no way to return to China, he married a Burmese woman as a wife, the feelings are still good, gave birth to eight children, life is very moist. But the peaceful life in Myanmar has not made him forget his hometown, living in Myanmar for decades, Yang Jianda has never forgotten that he is a Chinese, he has always refused to become a Burmese citizen, despite repeated invitations from those around him.
Because he is not a native of Myanmar, many movements are restricted, and he has to apply for a long trip, but Yang Jianda still insists on holding his own passport, and let all eight children learn to speak Chinese, teaching children to make Chinese a mother tongue. As for Yang Jianda's patriotism, although his Burmese wife did not understand it, she unconditionally supported it. Because there is no Myanmar identity card, Yang Jianda's life is subject to various restrictions, and any real-name system cannot participate. Until the age of 90, Yang Jianda still held a passport from the Republic of China, which is also his only identity.
In September 2011, many volunteers learned the story of the elderly Yang Jianda and reached out to help him. Yang Jianda, who has been wandering outside for 63 years since the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, finally returned to his hometown of day and night thinking with the help of volunteers, and when he arrived in Yunnan, Yang Jianda was received by everyone. On September 3, 2011, Yang Jianda finally returned home and returned to his ancestors with 8 children. But unfortunately, a month later, Yang Jianda stayed in Myanmar forever because of advanced cancer.
Before his death, Yang Jianda hoped to be able to return to his roots after death, but this wish was not easy to achieve. However, a month before his death, he finally returned to his hometown, which did not leave with greater regrets. Looking back on the days of the 1930s and 1940s, it was our most difficult period, and I don't know how many heroes like Yang Jianda made great contributions to defending the country, and here we pay tribute to all the anti-Japanese veterans!