On March 28, 2014, the remains of the first batch of 437 Chinese People’s Volunteers marched home from the Incheon Airport in South Korea. After the special plane carrying the martyrs entered China’s airspace, the Air Force sent two J-11B fighter jets_ span4span welcomes the escort.
The escort military aircraft talked with the special plane: "Welcome the volunteers to return home, two J-11B military aircrafts of our Ministry are ordered to escort you throughout the process.
After this, March 20, 2015 The second batch of 68 martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned home.
On March 31, 2016, the third batch of 36 martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned home.
March 22, 2017, the fourth The remains of 28 Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned to the country.
The Volunteers returned home
On March 28, 2018, the fifth batch of 20 remains of Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned to their homeland.
2019 On April 3, the remains of the sixth batch of 10 Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned.
On September 27, 2020, the seventh batch of 117 remains of Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned to China.
September 2021 On the 2nd, the eighth batch of 109 remains of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea returned to the country.
Since the first handover of the remains of 437 Volunteers in 2014, the two sides have carried out 8 consecutive handovers of remains and relics, each of which was successfully handed over. , Will arouse widespread attention from the domestic people, and every batch of the remains of the volunteer martyrs who have returned to their hometowns will be picked up by the People’s Air Force special plane, and will receive a special return ceremony after landing to express the motherland and the people’s spirit of the martyrs. Salute and comfort.
In the Korean War of 2 years and 9 months, the People's Volunteers went out of the country and defeated the "United Nations" army led by the United States. However, great casualties were also paid. In this war, a total of 19,685 Chinese People's Volunteers commanders and fighters died gloriously.
Most of them said that they were buried in the Korean Volunteer Army Martyrs Cemetery and did not return to the motherland. However, many volunteer soldiers died in the enemy's position, and their bodies were not well buried.
In fact, shortly after the end of the war, the Chinese, North Korean, and coalition forces had carried out several handovers of the remains of soldiers.
In early 1954, North Korea built the Songyue Mountain Volunteer Martyrs Cemetery on the outskirts of Kaicheng city near the 38th Line, which was mainly used to bury the remains of volunteer martyrs sent from the south of the 38th Line.
Korean Volunteer Army Martyrs Cemetery
In September 1954, China and North Korea handed over the remains of 10,000 martyrs from the coalition forces at one time, and they were all buried in Songak Mountain Cemetery. But since then, as the situation on the peninsula changes, the handover of such martyrs' remains has been interrupted.
The remains of the martyrs who were scattered and buried by comrades-in-arms in the south of the 38th parallel were trapped in the enemy's territory. It was not until the easing of relations in the late 1970s that South Korea began to hand over the discovered remains to the Volunteer Army Liaison Office in Kaesong.
Why did South Korea excavate the remains of volunteer soldiers?
After the Chinese People's Volunteers were all evacuated and returned to China in 1958, the Volunteer Army agencies still stayed for a long time. The Volunteer Army has always set up a liaison office in Kaesong , and the military armistice committee of Panmunjom also has a volunteer army delegation.
These institutions and representatives remaining in the DPRK are mainly responsible for the aftermath of the armistice, including the search for the remains of the missing volunteers.
After entering the 80th year of purchasing agents, China and South Korea began to exchange frequently. South Korea began to hand over the remains of the Volunteer Army found in the territory to the Volunteer Army Liaison Office in Kaesong or the "Military Suspension."In May 1989, South Korea handed over the remains of 19 volunteer martyrs to the Chinese representatives who had suspended the military.
By 1991, the U.S. proposed that the South Korean army should appoint a general to be the chairman of the "Military Suspension". This aroused dissatisfaction from the DPRK and immediately withdrew the suspended delegation. The military suspension was actually paralyzed. China withdrew the delegation. Soon, the Volunteer Army's liaison office in Kaesong was also abolished.
After the Chinese representative withdrew, the search, excavation, and burial of the remains of the missing volunteers also stalled. Although the search for the remains of the volunteers has been suspended, in South Korea, the remains of soldiers scattered on the site of the former battlefield will still be found. Many belong to the Chinese People's Volunteers.
In 2000, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, the South Korean government proposed a plan to excavate the remains of those killed in the Korean War.
South Korea excavated the battlefield of martyrs
How to find the remains of the volunteers
In 2003, the South Korean army formally formed a full-time corps to excavate and sort out the remains. The South Korean military formulated the excavation plan based on the army headquarters, which was originally planned to be completed in three years, and formally established a full-time excavation and reorganization unit (5 officers and 18 soldiers).
In January 2007, South Korea established a skeletal discovery team dedicated to this work, which was promoted by the army chief to the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense. The main person in charge was the rank of colonel, with 9 officers and 78 soldiers under its jurisdiction.
This professional team directly under the jurisdiction of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense has been responsible for the excavation and identification of the remains of the dead in the Korean War for a long time.
In January 2009, the office building of the Han Army Remains Excavation Forensic Group was officially put into use, and the Han Army also initially possessed the scientific and precise detection capabilities of the remains.
After that, the excavation and identification of the Korean army's remains entered the fast lane. Since 2009, the number of excavated remains has been around 1,000 each year, far exceeding the previous number.
The remains identification work of this excavation group is mainly divided into three stages:
The first stage is to determine the scene of the war. As the war has passed for decades, time has changed and the exact location of the battle has been found.It is very difficult, the staff, mainly based on some historical materials of the war, as well as the nearby residents, and veterans who participated in the war.
After getting some information, it conducts on-site survey and verification to identify whether it is the battle scene of the year. After identifying the site and before excavating, experts have used the metal detector to conduct a round of detection.
South Korea's digging the battlefield of martyrs
After all, it is a place that has fought before. In order to prevent the risk of undetonated explosives, the staff wears bulletproof helmet and gloves to start work.
The second stage is excavation and collection. The staff will use professional tools to conduct detailed excavation in the determined battle position.
made a detailed record of the excavated remains, and gave a simple mourning, and then placed the remains in a coffin made of plane wood according to the traditional method.
The third stage is to determine the identity, including the initial screening of the age and gender of the remains by the staff with naked eyes, and the preliminary identification of friend and foe based on the status of the remains and the condition of the remains.
The remains of the Korean army war dead were sent to the Central Forensic Institute in Seoul by special vehicles, and the remains of the Korean People’s Army and Chinese Volunteers were sent to the "Korean and Chinese Soldiers Cemetery" in Paju for temporary burial.
Numbers each excavated remains, performs forensic analysis, and uses cutting-edge equipment for identification, including analyzing the sex, age, race, and personal characteristics of the dead, using 3D scanners, Detailed analysis is carried out with a broad-spectrometer, tooth X-ray analyzer, etc.
Collect DNA samples from the remains and perform additional detailed inspections on the remains. Compare the DNA of the remains with the declared DNA samples of the survivors of the war dead, and determine the specific kinship.
The remains that have not been clearly identified will be placed in a special storage box for long-term storage.
In fact, most of the remains of the volunteer army can be identified with the naked eye through the relics. The relics may be military uniforms, boots, helmets, guns, ammunition, satchels and other military supplies.It may also be personal items such as glasses, rings, pipes and even family photos, all of which can be identified from one side.
Collecting the relics of martyrs in Korea
In 2005, 22 volunteers were excavated in the area of Hwaak Mountain in the north of Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In 2008, they were found in Haman-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do and Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, etc. The remains of 69 volunteers have been excavated in 15 areas. As of 2013, a total of 437 remains were excavated in South Korea, all of which were buried in the cemetery of Chinese soldiers in South Korea.
The cemetery is very unremarkable. There are weeds all around, and the tombstones are made of crude wood. After years of wind and sun, they look decayed and discolored. Some have been swayed, and some have already fallen. Presents a bleak scene.
The only striking thing about this cemetery is that the tombstones of the Korean People's Army are facing south, while the tombstones of the Chinese Volunteers are facing south to north. The reason is that that is the direction of the motherland. They looked at the direction of their hometown every day. I am also looking forward to one day I can return to my hometown and settle down in peace.
The most sad thing is that the tombstones are always numbered instead of the names of the dead. Because the identity of the martyrs cannot be confirmed. Therefore, at that time, they could only be numbered according to the order in which the remains were found.
The remains of the Volunteer Army returned to China
In June 2013, the then President of South Korea Park Geun-hye , during his visit to China, took the initiative to propose to us that South Korea had preserved the remains of 437 Chinese Volunteers. These remains have been properly preserved by the South Korean government, and they should be even more expected to return home.
At that time, Park Geun-hye's proposal quickly received a gracious response from the Chinese side. Therefore, under the arrangement of Park Geun-hye, South Korea successively returned the remains of the volunteers to China.
In December 2013, China and South Korea reached an agreement to return the remains of the Chinese Volunteers before the Qingming Festival every year.
Volunteer soldiers return home
On the morning of March 27, 2014, the South Korean side transported the remains of 437 Chinese People’s Volunteers who had been sealed in their coffins from the temporary shelter.Then 22 special vehicles were sent to transport the remains of volunteer martyrs.
At 6:30 am on the 28th of the same month, China and South Korea held the first handover ceremony for the remains of the Chinese People's Volunteers in South Korea at Incheon International Airport .
The first batch of 437 remains of the Chinese People's Volunteers embarked on their way home from Incheon Airport in South Korea. After the special plane carrying the remains of the martyrs entered Chinese airspace, the Air Force sent two J-11B fighters to escort them.
At about 9:30 in the morning, a special plane carrying the remains of 437 Chinese People's Volunteers landed at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, and the heroes who had left the motherland for more than 60 years returned home.
At 11:30, the Chinese government held a grand welcome ceremony at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport. At about 12 o'clock, the salute escorted the remains of 437 volunteer martyrs on a hearse to the Shenyang Anti-US Aid Korea Martyrs Cemetery for burial.
At the same time, the descendants of the volunteer army who rushed to Shenyang from all over the country held chrysanthemums, wrapped black gauze on their arms, and came to in front of the cemetery of the Martyrs of Anti-U.S. Aid Korea. Waiting for these heroic heroes who have been wandering for more than 60 years to return to their homeland.
Because of the long distance from the war, most of these volunteer martyrs are missing persons, so their exact names, hometowns, and whether they have relatives and other information are difficult to confirm.
Identification of Volunteer Martyrs
In order to make unknown heroes famous, help heroes find relatives. In 2014, shortly after we welcomed back the remains of the first batch of volunteers, our civil affairs department immediately launched the task of DNA testing and database construction of the remains of martyrs.
At the current level of technology, DNA identification is currently the most effective and convincing tool for identity verification.
But extracting DNA information from the remains of martyrs is not an easy task. First of all, among the DNA samples that can be extracted, the extraction of bone samples is the most difficult, while the remains of volunteer martyrs, due to their age, Only the remains are left.
Secondly, because it was buried under the loess during the war,After decades of microbial invasion, it has increased a lot of difficulties for the extraction of effective DNA samples, and our researchers found in the sample extraction work that the efficiency of using conventional techniques to extract DNA from the remains of martyrs is very low.
However, after the unremitting efforts of scientific researchers, all the remains of the volunteer martyrs have been DNA tested, and a database has been established for the volunteer martyrs to find their relatives.
In April 2019, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of China launched the "Finding Heroes" campaign on the Internet. It posted pictures of 24 personal seals found in the relics of the returning volunteer soldiers on the Internet.
I hope to find the relatives of these martyrs. As soon as the "Finding Heroes" campaign was launched, many netizens responded.
Many newspapers and media actively reported on this activity, and the people also established a charity organization for seeking relatives of martyrs. After many efforts, these six martyrs finally found their families.
Volunteer soldiers return home
After DNA identification, the Shenyang Anti-US Aid Korea Martyrs Cemetery held a special recognition ceremony. The identity of the six returning volunteer martyrs was confirmed. After 70 years of absence, they finally "see" their relatives. This is the first time that the identity of these unsung heroes has been confirmed through DNA testing.
Subsequently, the Veterans Affairs Department issued the "Certificate of Identification" to the relatives of these martyrs, and properly buried the remains of the martyrs in the Shenyang Martyrs Cemetery.
At present, China has welcomed back a total of 825 volunteers in 8 batches. These volunteer martyrs slept in a foreign country during the magnificent war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea.
But half a century later, the motherland has not forgotten its martyrs. Every time a volunteer martyr returns to his "hometown", the motherland welcomes the volunteer martyrs to return home with the highest etiquette.
The war has passed, but the motherland and people will never forget those "unsung heroes" who sacrificed everything for the motherland!
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