FUZHOU,
China, April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --
Sino-American non-governmental culture exchange activities
commemorating the 82nd Anniversary of the Great Rescue of Doolittle
Raid with the theme "Let the friendship forged by blood and flame
be passed down from generation to generation" took place in the
Memorial Hall to the Doolittle Raid at No. 9 Shuiting Street,
Kecheng District, Quzhou City, Zhejiang
Province between April 17 and
19.
"There is a Memorial Hall to the Doolittle Raid in Quzhou,
Zhejiang. The descendants of the
American soldiers who were rescued that year often come here to pay
tribute to the righteous and courageous Chinese people." On
November 15, 2023, Chinese President
Xi Jinping gave a speech at the joint welcome banquet hold by
American friendly organizations in San
Francisco, specifically talking about the story of Chinese
soldiers and civilians bravely rescuing American pilots during the
Anti-Japanese War and the descendants of rescued American soldiers
returning to the Memorial Hall to the Doolittle Raid in Quzhou.
After the Japanese Attack on Pearl
Harbor on April 18, 1942, 80
pilots such as Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle of the United States flew 16 modified B-25
"Mitchell" bombers to attack Japan. Due to problems such as insufficient
fuel on the way back, the pilots abandoned their planes to
jump over China, where the Chinese
military and civilians bravely rescued them. As a result, the
Japanese army launched the Battle of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, killing 250,000 Chinese
civilians.
Since the 1990s, the pilots that are still alive of the
"Doolittle Raiders Association" as well as the pilot descendants
from the Association "Children of Doolittle Raiders" have returned
to China many times to search for
the rescuers.
On the morning of April 17,
Susan Ozuk, the daughter of
navigator of the plane No. 3, Ozuk, once again came to the depths
of the mountains in Zhangcun Township, Jiangshan City, Quzhou, and
revisited the rammed earth room located at "Xiaonankengkou No. 3".
Eighty-two years ago, the villager Liao Shiyuan's family took good
care of her father here. In 2018, she donated $15,000 to renovate the old house.
Since 2016, the Association Children of Doolittle Raiders has
set up scholarships in Quzhou Second Middle School and organized
English essay competitions around the "Doolittle Raid" for many
times, sowing the seeds of peace-loving in the hearts of young
students. On campus, a "friendship tree" jointly planted by
Sino-American friends in September
2015 has been leafy and vibrant, and the stone tablet beside
the tree is engraved with the message - "Succeeding the Doolittle
Raid, a memorial to the legend and a new page in the Chinese-US
friendship".
Contact Person: Lan Chen
Tel.: 0086-18057022000
Email: 45872601@qq.com
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByW7U_EDg68
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByW7U_EDg68
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SOURCE City of Quzhou