World War II veteran Wang Guangya salutes to the camera. (Photo : http://www.rednet.cn)
The people remember. It’s payback time.
A nursing center, the first one for this year, opened in Changsha, Hunan Province, for World War II veterans where they get admitted for free.
Changsa Evening News said that the China Elderly Development Foundation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the China Elderly Office, initiated a project last year entitled, “Salute to War Veterans.” Huaxia Charitable Foundation, the social service arm of Beijing-based Huaxia Insurance Company, is the major sponsor.
The new nursing center, situated at Liaojia Village in Wangcheng District, is part of the said charity project. The center was the former Anhua Mountain Villa Elderly Apartment.
Liu Xiao, the vice chairman of Hunan's Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference, said that whatever the war veterans did for the country, those “should not be unnoticed” by the people. The Huaxia Charitable Foundation will pour in an additional 5 million yuan to fund future nursing centers and similar war veteran-related projects.
At present, 15 war veterans are under the care of the nursing center. One of them is centenarian Wang Guangya.
During World War II, Wang got stationed in Myanmar, still known that time as Burma, and in Guangxi, which become an autonomous region only in 1958.
Liu Dong, the vice president of Huaxia Insurance Company, said that Changsa was the final choice for location after examining 21 other places for five months. People might easily recall that the highly esteemed young People's Liberation Army soldier Lei Feng was a native of Hunan.
Renowned for selflessness and commitment to serve, Lei, who died at the tender age of 21 in 1962, remains to be a popular figure even beyond his death. Prominent statesmen Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin revered him and even wrote about him.
More than just giving a salute, the present and future nursing centers will be a living testament to the gratitude of the people to the country’s war veterans.
