The Chinese Republic New York Glory Fellowship, after a 13-year hiatus, officially announced its resumption on October 4th – on the eve of the 113th National Day of the Republic of China, at the New York Overseas Chinese Cultural and Educational Service Center. Over 200 Republic of China veterans and their families attended the event despite their advanced age. The current chairman of the organization is also the chairman of the “Republic of China Veterans Association in the United States,” Cung Guozhu.
Representatives including Ni Bangchen, the director of veteran affairs at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the United States, Reservist Major General; Li Zhiqiang, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York; and Chen Yongfeng, director of the Overseas Chinese Cultural and Educational Service Center, attended the event to congratulate and thank the veterans and their families for their selfless dedication to the country. This branch is an official organization of Taiwan, affiliated with the “Veterans Affairs Council of the Armed Forces” (“Veterans Council”), and is the 44th branch of the “Overseas Glory Fellowship.”
Chairman Ni Bangchen and Chairman Cung Guozhu introduced that the New York branch currently has 245 members, the majority of whom are over 80 years old, with over 10 members above 90 years old and only about 10 members in their 70s. These veterans are getting older, and after the resumption, they will support and take care of each other, promote national diplomacy overseas, and speak up for the Republic of China. The Glory Fellowship also provides services for veterans, such as assisting overseas veterans who do not receive lifelong pensions in receiving the $500 monthly maintenance allowance provided by the Taiwanese government on October 25 and conducting survival verification work.
The Chinese Republic veterans who were born in mainland China are all over 80 or 90 years old, and in interviews, they proudly recounted their history as soldiers defending the country for the Republic of China.
The 91-year-old chairman of the United East Air Force Da Peng Fellowship, Li Guorui, shared that the veterans are gradually declining. In 2001, the Da Peng Fellowship had 165 members, but now there are only 35 members left, with 130 members passing away in the past 13 years. After the resumption of the Glory Fellowship, everyone can gather regularly again, making the comradeship even more cherished.
Li Guorui, originally from Hebei, graduated from the Air Force Officer School 37th session, and the Bomber Class 23rd session. He served in the Republic of China Air Force for 20 years, carrying out anti-communist missions behind enemy lines 55 times and other combat missions 345 times. During the 1958 Kinmen “823 Artillery Battle,” he carried out nighttime airdrop missions 84 times; served in the Air Force’s 34th Squadron (Black Bat Squadron), conducted support missions behind enemy lines 23 times in one year, and was awarded the 19th National Military Hero of the Armed Forces in 1969. He was dispatched to Vietnam to carry out combat missions alongside the U.S. military from 1967 to 1972, receiving an award from the U.S. Pacific Command and the Vietnam War Service Commemorative Medal. He retired as an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel in 1972.
Li Guorui mentioned that he left mainland China for Taiwan in 1948 and lived in Taiwan for 28 years before moving to the United States, where he has been living in New York for 49 years. His father was a member of the first session of the Legislative Yuan and a Overseas Affairs Committee member of the Nationalist Party office in Hebei Province; at the age of 15, he sailed to Taiwan in 1948 and joined the Air Force after graduating from high school. His brother and younger brother are soldiers in the Army and Navy, respectively.
What Li Guorui is most proud of is his eight-year service in the “Black Bat Squadron,” where he carried out risky low-altitude reconnaissance missions deep into the mainland. He said, “At that time, the Republic of China and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States signed a contract to carry out missions to enter the mainland for low-altitude reconnaissance, reconnaissance of missile bases and artillery bases on the mainland, which was very dangerous. Thirteen aircraft from the Armed Forces were shot down, with 148 team members sacrificed; I carried out many missions, going in and out, and was very lucky not to be hit.”
Regarding mainland China’s radar, Li Guorui said, “The radar covers 200 miles, so when the plane takes off from an airport in western Taiwan, the mainland’s radar can detect it. As soon as you go in, they will shoot you, or the MiG aircraft will shoot you. Our plane is large, and sometimes it was shot many times by MiG aircraft, but it didn’t hit me, and I made it back.”
Several family members also attended the founding meeting, including Luo Yiling, over 90 years old and chairwoman of the Fushou Elderly Care Center, known as “Mom Luo.” She said all the branches of the Army, Navy, and Air Force were represented in her family – her father was in the Air Force, her husband belonged to the 18th Batteries II of the Army Officer School, her eldest son is in the Naval Academy, and her youngest in the Air Force Officer School. She laughed, “My husband is in Batteries II, and they say I belong to Batteries III.” She expressed great pride in attending the resumption meeting that day.