In 2005, the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang University led a group of people to Wu Qiyi's home to express condolences.
Wu Qiyi, a former member of the Flying Tigers of the National Army, had suffered a stroke at this time, had difficulty moving, and his face was stiff, his speech was slurred, intermittent, and he was unable to communicate normally.
On behalf of the party and the government, the leaders of Zhejiang University awarded Mr. Wu Qiyi a medal for the 60th anniversary of the Anti-Japanese War veteran.
After receiving the medal, Wu Qiyi instantly became excited, tears were in his eyes, and he said word by word: "Special thanks to the government, this medal is very important to me, a veteran ......of the Anti-Japanese War, and it proves that my blood has not been shed in vain."
In 1936, Wu Qiyi was 18 years old at the time, and his future plan was to become a teacher, teach and educate people, and cultivate talents for the motherland.
This year, Wu Qiyi left his hometown in Fujian and went to Qingdao, Shandong Province to study at Normal University, but what he saw and heard in the north made him change his original intention of becoming a teacher.
One day, Wu Qiyi and his classmates went to the street to play, and accidentally saw the enrollment notice of "Huangpu Jianqiao Central Aviation School".
Faced with the country's eager call and thinking of the future tragedy of the country's ruin and family ruin, Wu Qiyi couldn't sit still, wrote a letter to his old father, and decided to drop out of school and join the army.
In the letter, he said: "The child has interrupted his studies and is determined to become a pilot in the country, and he only wants to kill the enemy to serve the country and recapture the ...... of the three eastern provinces."
Without waiting for his father's reply, Wu Qiyi took it upon himself to participate in the selection of the army, and was successfully selected.
One
In 1941, Chiang Kai-shek sent Soong Ziwen to the United States to negotiate the purchase of aircraft.
Song Ziwen lived up to his trust, reached a purchase intention with the US government, and halfway intercepted the 100 P-40 fighters that were originally sent to Britain, and then put them into the domestic anti-Japanese battlefield.
However, there was a shortage of domestic flight practitioners, so according to the suggestion of Chennault, an adviser to the Air Force of the Nationalist Government, he began to recruit flight "mercenaries" in the United States with high salaries.
After nearly half a year of operation, 110 pilots and 150 ground staff were successfully recruited to form the "Chinese Air Force American Volunteer Aviation Brigade for China", which was headquartered in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and Chennault served as the commander to command the operation against the Japanese invasion of China.
In June of this year, Wu Qiyi had just graduated from the Huangpu Military Academy Flying Officer School with excellent results and was sent to Chengdu Airport for practical training.
One day, Wu Qiyi and captain Hong Yangfu were flying training at the base, but they were unfortunately discovered by Japanese reconnaissance planes, and then many Japanese fighters came to attack.
In order to protect the planes at the base from being bombed, Wu Qiyi piloted the training plane and decided to take a risk to take off and deliberately divert the enemy planes.
Wu Qiyi's training plane had no combat capability and could only be beaten passively, and as a result, it flew to the area around the Kuaihuo Forest of the Minjiang River, was besieged by four enemy planes, and finally crashed into the river.
Wu Qiyi was also unfortunately shot several times, his buttocks bloomed, and he was wounded in multiple legs, and the plane fell into the river from a height of 40 meters.
The enemy pilots were not at ease, and dropped a long line of bombs into the river, vowing to kill them all.
Fortunately, the metal material of the plane was blocked, and the bullets and shrapnel of the enemy plane did not penetrate the body, and Wu Qiyi was only unconscious and did not sacrifice.
The local villagers waited for the enemy plane to fly away, and rowed a small boat to the river to rescue them, but the river fire on the river burned the water in the engine room, and several villagers who went to the rescue were burned.
The operation was successful, and Wu Qiyi was later sent to Dujiangyan by the troops, where he entered a sanatorium to continue his recuperation.
At that time, Wu Qiyi lived in a room with an army major general surnamed Shi. General Shi has a daughter who is in high school and often comes to visit her father.
Wu Qiyi was tall and handsome, and his conversation was extraordinary, which immediately attracted the attention of the Shi family's daughter.
After getting along for a long time, the two young people naturally fell in love, and finally gradually turned into a raging fire of love, which was out of control.
General Shi saw it in his eyes, but he resolutely disagreed with this family business, and made many obstructions from it, trying his best to hinder his daughter's feelings. However, her daughter didn't listen to persuasion, and threw herself into Wu Qiyi's arms, and there was a great posture that he would not marry.
General Shi had no choice but to compromise, and finally found Wu Qiyi for a direct showdown, saying: "I have no opinion on you, but being a pilot is not good, it is too easy to sacrifice." If you want to marry my daughter, you have to make a choice, either join the Army in the future, or leave my daughter and break off the relationship thereafter......"
Wu Qiyi fell into a deep entanglement, on the one hand, to protect the family and defend the country, on the other hand, the private relationship of his children, no matter how he chooses, it is a problem.
After a period of careful consideration, Wu Qiyi still decided to put aside his children's personal feelings first and continue to fly the plane to fight the Japanese army.
He found General Shi's daughter, told him about his decision, and broke up with tears in his eyes.
Two
In 1942, Wu Qiyi returned to the team after recovering from his injuries, but his right foot was disabled, and he walked a little lame, and was rated as a third-class and second-class disabled soldier.
After a re-flight assessment, although Wu Qiyi successfully passed, the troops refused to let him fly the plane for "safety" considerations.
Wu Qiyi was not convinced, and repeatedly requested, but the troops still refused to approve it. In desperation, he had no choice but to ask his relatives to imitate his father's handwriting, issued a "fake certificate" of his family's support for serving the country, and continued to "entangle" with the army leaders.
At this time, a large number of American fighters were replenished into the troops, and the "Flying Tigers" commanded by Chennault had officially entered the war, and there was an urgent need for skilled pilots.
In this way, Wu Qiyi became a member of the "Flying Tigers", arranged to be stationed in Zhijiang, Hunan, and began to fly fighter planes to fight the Japanese invaders.
In 1943, Wu Qiyi piloted a fighter plane to attack the Japanese defensive position in Xiangtan, but was unexpectedly attacked by the enemy's crazy shooting, resulting in more than 20 bombs hitting the fuselage wing, and he had no choice but to return.
The Japanese anti-aircraft artillery fire was intensive, and Wu Qiyi stubbornly piloted the plane through the blockade line and drove the fighter back to Zhijiang Airport in a shaky manner.
When the old American pilot saw him so brave, he threw himself on the ground with admiration, gave him a thumbs up, and said: "The quality of the American plane is excellent! But the Chinese pilot is even tougher, and even if the fighter plane is beaten into a hornet's nest, he can actually fly back!"
In 1945, with the continuous attrition of the battlefield, the Japanese invasion of China fighter formation no longer had an advantage, and the "Flying Tigers" began to take more initiative to attack, looking for the main force of the Japanese army to attack.
Wu Qiyi set out with the troops, bombed and destroyed the Japanese army's airfields and material warehouses many times, and bombed Nanjing, Guangzhou, Guilin and other places.
On April 12, Wu Qiyi was ordered to carry out a mission near the Wuchang Railway Station, but was unexpectedly besieged by Japanese planes, and the plane's engine was hit during the retreat.
Wu Qiyi also wanted to fly back to Zhijiang, but when he flew to the Chenxi area, the fighter plane could not continue to move forward, so he could only make an emergency landing in a mountain stream.
The local villagers had already witnessed everything, and men, women and children rushed to the rescue, and after finding out that he was fine, they warmly invited him to his home.
After a few days, when the villagers learned the news, they all lined up, carrying things and running to condole, and everyone called Wu Qiyi an "anti-Japanese hero!" and "national hero!"
Wu Qiyi was moved to tears, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "The Chinese nation cannot be defeated! The power of justice is eternal!"
In September 1945, the Great Hall of the Central Military Academy of the Kuomintang Government held a signing ceremony for the surrender of the Japanese army.
As the commander of the Fifth Brigade of the 14th Air Force of the US Air Force Aiding China, Wu Qiyi sat in the first row of the venue with all the members of the team and witnessed the historic moment of the surrender of Zhijiang.
Although the whole ceremony ended in only 20 minutes, Wu Qiyi remembered it for a lifetime. In an interview in his later years, he said: "That moment is very quintessential, throughout my life, affecting my whole life, especially making me proud to be a member of the Chinese nation!"
During the entire Anti-Japanese War, Wu Qiyi shot down a total of 5 planes in 88 air battles against Japan, damaged and repelled dozens of enemy planes, and was ordered to fly over the Hump route four times, accumulating more than 800 hours of flight......
In view of Wu Qiyi's outstanding performance, the Allied Headquarters awarded the "Cross Medal for Flying Excellence", "Aviation Medal", "Unit Collective Medal" and other honors as a commendation.
Soon after, Wu Qiyi stood out in the flight assessment of nearly 3,000 people and was sent to the United States Military Academy at West Point to continue his training and further studies.
When Wu Qiyi returned from training, the Kuomintang had retreated to Taiwan at this time, and the Nationalist Government promoted him to lieutenant colonel of the Air Force and became a flight instructor.
One day, Wu Qiyi was walking on the pedestrian street when he was suddenly stopped by a friend, saying that the Wu family's father had asked someone to bring a letter from the mainland.
In the letter, the old father deeply hoped that Wu Qiyi could return to the mainland, reunite with his family, and build a new China......
After reading it, Wu Qiyi was taken aback, and quickly hid the letter, if it was seen by others, it would be a big trouble, but after that, he had plans to go home.
However, at this time, the whole island is blockaded at the dock and port, and all personnel are closely checked, and if there is the slightest suspicion, it is inevitable that they will be imprisoned.
Therefore, Wu Qiyi can't go anywhere, and he is cautious everywhere, let alone returning to the embrace of the motherland.
Three
Half a year later, the United States sent several aviation instructors to Taiwan to provide guidance, and Wu Qiyi was instructed to accompany and receive them on their visit.
The American instructor who led the team happened to be Wu Qiyi's old classmate at the West Point Military Academy, and the two had not seen each other for a long time and had a very happy conversation.
After more than ten days, the old classmate received an order to go to Hong Kong temporarily.
Wu Qiyi deliberately tried it, pretending to say that he had never been to Hong Kong and really wanted to see it.
The old classmate was very refreshed and replied: "Then let's go, I'll take you there!"
In this way, Wu Qiyi followed his old classmates on the plane and arrived in Hong Kong, where he found the CCP organization in Hong Kong and said that he wanted to revolt and surrender.
Afterwards, the Kuomintang government was furious, but it did not dare to do anything to the Americans, and finally had to secretly order the enemy elements lurking on the mainland: "If you meet Wu Qiyi, you don't have to wait for instructions, you can kill them!"
Soon after his return to the mainland, Wu Qiyi was hired by the army to serve as a flight instructor at Beijing's Nanyuan Airport, responsible for training air force pilots.
Because of various policy reasons at that time, Wu Qiyi was not reused, and as a flight instructor, he could not get close to the plane, which made him depressed.
At the end of 1950, Wu Qiyi simply resigned and went to Zhejiang Zhijiang University (the predecessor of Zhejiang University) to find a teaching position, and decided to regain his dream of teaching and educating people in his early years.
Unexpectedly, as soon as life settled down and the national anti-rebellion movement began, Wu Qiyi was retried in the first instance for political reasons, but he was still imprisoned in 1953 and sent to Yuhang Farm for labor reform.
Wu Qiyi was deeply shocked, and since then he has been in a slump, and even has the idea of committing suicide, and the appearance of a woman at this time saved his life.
This person's name is Qiu Qiujin, and he is a salesperson in the commissary of Zhijiang University, and the two have talked about their relationship for a period of time in college, but they have not reached the stage of "growing old together, life and death".
When everyone avoided it in time, only Qiu Qiujin came to visit the farm, and when she saw Wu Qiyi's decadent appearance, she was distressed and quietly shed tears.
A week later, Qiu Qiujin came to visit again, and immediately said that she wanted to "marry and start a family" with Wu Qiyi, and found a new job near the farm.
Wu Qiyi was shocked and moved by her indefatigability, and since then he has actively transformed, his mental state has been refreshed, and he is full of hope for the future.
Later, the two formed a happy little family, and according to relevant regulations, Wu Qiyi can go home once a week for reunion.
However, the road to appeal is extremely long, and more than 20 years have passed in the blink of an eye. In 1974, Wu Qiyi was finally released from the farm, but he couldn't find a job, and finally found a delivery job in a knitting factory in Hangzhou after being introduced by others.
Since then, Wu Qiyi has pedaled a tricycle every day, pulling a cart full of goods, running around the streets and alleys of Hangzhou, and has a job to support his family.
This work is more than six years, although life is very tiring, Wu Qiyi is very content, often said to his children: "Thank you most for so many years to your mother, without her there would be no family, and there would be no ...... for you."
In 1980, Wu Qiyi was rehabilitated, because he had technical experience in mining on the farm, Zhejiang University hired him as a taximen and had a new life.
In 2005, people did not forget the former anti-Japanese heroes, Hunan Zhijiang Anti-Japanese Memorial Hall was about to open, all over the country to look for the "Flying Tigers" members, and finally contacted and found Wu Qiyi, warmly invited him to participate in the opening ceremony.
Wu Qiyi readily agreed, even if he unfortunately suffered a stroke and couldn't walk, he still let his son push a wheelchair and take him to participate in the event.
After returning, the leaders of Zhejiang University, on behalf of the national government and the Central Military Commission, presented Wu Qiyi with a medal commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Anti-Japanese War veteran.
In 2010, Wu Qiyi's health was not as good as before, but accompanied by his son, he finally went to Hangzhou Yuewang Temple.
Perhaps feeling that his time was short, Wu Qiyi sat in a wheelchair, staring at the statue of King Yue with tears in his eyes, looking at the plaque of "Return my rivers and mountains", and suddenly became quite excited and choked speechlessly.
On October 13, the 92-year-old Wu Qiyi closed his eyes forever due to illness, and the last member of the Flying Tigers on the mainland passed away and met his comrades-in-arms in heaven.
Reference: Strait Metropolis Daily: "The Last Flying Tiger Member of the Mainland Passed Away--Wu Qiyi"