October 25, 2021 is the 71st anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
71 years ago, the Chinese Volunteer Army launched its first campaign after entering the DPRK, and opened the curtain of the great War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea with a glorious victory.
After 33 months of bloody struggle in a foreign country, 197653 martyrs have written a heroic history with their lives, and behind them are the support and perseverance of thousands of Chinese.
The people of Jiangyin, like all parts of the country, carried out the Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea under the leadership of the party.
Jiangyin is in action
On June 25, 1950, the Korean Civil War broke out. The United States immediately intervened in the internal affairs of The Dprk by force in the name of the United Nations, expanded the Korean War, and sent the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait. The CPC Central Committee made the strategic decision of "resisting US aggression and aiding Korea to defend the homeland." On November 4, the first meeting of the Third People's Congress of Jiangyin County made the "Resolution on Resisting US Aggression and Aiding Korea, Defending the Country and Defending the Family." On November 16, the Southern Jiangsu District Committee issued the Instruction on Carrying Out the Study and Propaganda Campaign on Current Affairs of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. The Jiangyin County CPC Committee immediately held a meeting to convey and implement it, demanding that the people of the whole county clearly understand the nature of imperialist aggression and establish confidence that they will win a just battle, and at the same time calling on all circles in the county to conclude a patriotic pact with patriotic and international enthusiasm. In December, the county's urban and rural areas formed a strong atmosphere of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea.
△ Ji Lotte, then secretary of the Jiangyin County CPC Committee, delivered a speech at the conference
After in-depth patriotic education and extensive ideological mobilization, the ideological consciousness of the vast number of young students and workers and peasants in Jiangyin County has been continuously enhanced, the enthusiasm for revolution has been rising day by day, and the whole county has set off an upsurge of enthusiastically signing up for the study of the Chinese Volunteer Army and military cadre schools.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which lasted more than three years, a total of 11,480 enthusiastic young people in Jiangyin County signed up to join the army and approved 5,865 people to join the army. Among them, after enlisting in the army in 1950, 2153 new recruits returned to their hometowns to produce standby returnees, and 2829 people voluntarily signed up to participate in the war in North Korea. Successively, 121 commanders and fighters sacrificed their lives for the country. During this period, 148 medical workers in Jiangyin went to the DPRK in two batches to participate in the field medical rescue work, and a group of car drivers volunteered to enter the DPRK to help transport materials and ammunition. With a fearless spirit, with blood and life, the enthusiastic young people of Jiangyin have made great contributions to resisting US imperialism and defending world peace, and their spirit has also inspired generations of Jiangyin to forge ahead and strive to be stronger.
Donate planes, donate cannons!
The people of Jiangyin vigorously supported the Korean front not only in terms of manpower but also in material resources. The first meeting of the Fourth People's Congress of All Walks of Life held in Jiangyin County from April 16 to 19, 1951, adopted the "Convention on the Common Patriotism of the People of All Walks of Life in Jiangyin County", calling on the people of the whole county to deepen the activities of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea with practical actions of concluding a patriotic pact and increasing production and economizing. On 1 June, after the General Association of Chinese people to resist US aggression and aid Korea issued three major calls to "conclude a patriotic pact, donate aircraft cannons, and strengthen preferential treatment for the families of martyrs," the Jiangyin Branch of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea immediately demanded that all circles respond positively and carry out activities to increase production and save money and make patriotic donations with great fanfare.
△ Plans to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in some districts and towns of Jiangyin
At that time, the Southern Jiangsu Administrative Office proposed to donate 120 fighter jets to form the "Southern Jiangsu Air Force Division". In response to this initiative, Jiangyin set the goal of donating "four aircraft and one cannon" (150,000 yuan for fighters and 90,000 yuan for cannons at that time).
According to statistics in January 1952, the people from all walks of life in the county donated 700,000 yuan in weapons, ranking among the top counties in the administrative region of southern Jiangsu, 10,000 yuan more than the scheduled donation target of "four machines and one cannon", and successfully completed the donation task.
Preferential treatment of martyrs
While actively completing the tasks of the former branch, the work of giving preferential treatment to the families of martyrs has also received sufficient attention from society. Since 1950, the county party committee and various districts and townships have held several meetings of the families of the martyrs to implement the policies and measures of caring for the families of the martyrs politically, spiritually and materially. In rural areas, volunteer farming for the dependents of martyrs has become a regular task. Many martyrs' subordinates praised the farm work done by the dai cultivator group as better than their own, and wrote letters to the front line one after another to encourage their relatives to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions. According to statistics at the end of 1951, the county's substitute ploughing land reached 202,800 mu, and the number of people participating in the substitute ploughing was 89,700. In urban areas, the government lends money to some martyrs' families to do small business and properly arranges for the employment of some martyrs' families. In the two years from 1951 to 1952, the government subsidized 165,100 kilograms of grain and 14,400 yuan in cash for the county's martyrs. After 1952, the county implemented regular condolences and living allowances for the families of martyrs, and the preferential care work was institutionalized. The vast number of martyrs' families have fully felt the care of all sectors of society.
On July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed at Panmunjom, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea won a great victory. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which lasted more than 3 years, the people of Jiangyin made their own contributions in terms of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, greatly enhanced national self-esteem and self-confidence, enhanced the patriotic thinking of the masses of the people, and fully demonstrated the brand-new spiritual outlook that people never had under the leadership of the party in the early days of Jiangyin's liberation.
Today, pay tribute to the most lovely people, peace is not easy to come by, peace must be defended, let us remember the history to pay tribute to heroes, courageously move forward.
Data map: Dandong, Liaoning, in the new museum of the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Photographed at sea
Source: Jiangyin Municipal Archives and History Museum