For the first time in China, DNA technology was used to confirm the identity of the remains of unknown volunteers

　　On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, a special ceremony was held in Shenyang Martyrs’ Cemetery to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea: the identities of the remains of six returned volunteers in Korea were confirmed, and the heroes and their relatives finally reunited after nearly 70 years.

　　Wang Shengqi, a researcher at the Institute of Military Medicine of the Academy of Military Sciences, said that this is the first time that China has determined the identity of the unknown volunteer martyrs through DNA technology.

　　Leaving home is still a teenager, and returning is already a body of serving the country. Let us always remember their names: Chen Zengji, Fang Hongyou, Hou Yongxin, Ran Xubi, Xu Yuzhong and Zhou Shaowu.

　　Let the unknown be famous, and let the hero find his relatives.

　　According to the known information, the youngest of these six martyrs was 19 years old and the oldest was 31 years old. They died on the Korean battlefield from 1950 to 1951, and their remains remained in South Korea.

　　Since 2014, South Korea has successively handed over the remains of volunteers to China. So far, six batches of 599 martyrs’ remains have returned to the motherland. They are all unknown martyrs, and their identities are difficult to identify.

　　Let the unknown be famous, and let the hero find his relatives. In April this year, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched the activity of "Searching for Heroes" on the Internet. The most direct basis is 24 personal seals found by the staff from thousands of martyrs’ relics, and the words on them are clear and identifiable. The seals of the six martyrs who confirmed their identity this time are among them.

　　The activity of "looking for heroes" has aroused widespread concern and participation in society, and people have devoted themselves to it with the feeling that "they sacrificed for us yesterday, and today we do something for them". For example, in the process of searching for the relatives of Xu Yuzhong’s martyrs, the local newspaper carried out more than 10 special reports, and the local government spontaneously set up a non-governmental charity organization to find relatives for the martyrs together with government departments. After many twists and turns, Xu Yuzhong’s martyrs were finally reunited with their families.

　　According to the introduction of the Department of Veterans Affairs, it is a new field and breakthrough to praise the memorial work and solve a series of technical problems by using technical means to determine the identity and relatives of martyrs.

　　Since 2014, the research team of the Institute of Military Medicine of the Academy of Military Sciences has collected and analyzed DNA samples of martyrs’ remains in batches. These samples are buried in the battlefield and eroded by environmental factors such as rain and microorganisms for years, which brings great challenges to DNA extraction, analysis and identification. With the spirit of respecting every martyr, researchers worked day and night, screened three or four hundred formulas, and finally solved the key problem of DNA extraction from martyrs’ remains, and established a database, which laid the foundation for martyrs’ identification and relatives’ recognition.

　　At the ceremony, the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a certificate of kinship identification to the relatives of martyrs. The appraisal certificate of Xu Yuzhong’s martyr reads as follows: Through DNA comparison and analysis, it is supported that the individual belonging to the sample of 506 coffins numbered 10506 is biologically related to Xu Tonghai, Xu Tongqiao, Zhao Chunhai and Zhao Chunhe. On the premise of excluding external interference, comprehensive auxiliary materials support that the remains of coffin No.506 belong to martyr Xu Yuzhong.

　　Leaving home is still a teenager, and returning is already a national body.

　　Martyr Chen Zengji was the first of the six martyrs to die. He was only 20 when he died in 1950. His younger brother, Chen Hushan, rushed to Shenyang with several relatives to "recognize relatives". In the memory of 82-year-old Chen Hushan, my brother will always be the heroic young man.

　　"Brother is the boss in the family, and everyone listens to him. He fought bravely and participated in many big battles in the Liberation War, such as Liaoshen Campaign and Crossing the River Campaign, all the way to Hainan Island … …” Chen Hushan has a hoarse voice. "His last letter was sent from Hainan Island in 1949, and there has been no news since."

　　Many years later, Chen Fengwan, Chen Hushan’s fifth uncle and a volunteer soldier, returned to China and told his family that Chen Zengji had died and would never come back.

　　"Big brother died, and the whole family was very sad. My mother was the saddest, crying all day and always chanting." Chen Hushan said that every Chinese New Year and August 15th, my mother would give a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks to my eldest brother at the dinner table.

　　During his stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day this year, Chen Hushan received a phone call from the relevant departments in Yanji City, Jilin Province, and the other party said that he was looking for the family members of the volunteer martyr Chen Zengji. After repeated confirmation and DNA testing and comparison, it was finally confirmed that the martyr Chen Zengji, Chen Hushan’s eldest brother, was the coffin on the 22nd.

　　At the scene of recognition, Chen Hushan, dressed in uniform, took his family to look for Chen Zengji’s name on the famous wall. On this circular wall of fame, there are more than 190,000 names of martyrs to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Looking at the name of the eldest brother, Chen Hushan’s tears swirled in her eyes.

　　According to the arrangement, the family members went to the underground palace to visit the martyr’s coffin and talk for a while. As soon as Chen Hushan saw Chen Zengji’s coffin, he threw himself into a hug and burst into tears: "Brother, my mother and I have been waiting for you for more than 70 years, and you finally came back … … Mom died in 1997 and left peacefully. The whole family carried on your legacy, and I joined the Volunteers. Six people from my nephew’s generation joined the army … … The country has not forgotten you, and we are finally reunited. Brother, rest in peace, and I will come to see you again … …”

　　Chen Zengji’s relics were wrapped in satin cloth. Opening the package, one of the wooden frame photos was wiped spotless. The soldier in the photo, with a handsome young face and a steel gun in his hand, is dashing.

　　Martyr Xu Yuzhong didn’t even leave a photo. His nephew, Xu Tonghai, said, "My mother looked at the photos of my youth, and they are really like your uncle."

　　Xu Yuzhong is from Qingxian County, Hebei Province. Born in 1921, he died in May 1951. He was a vice squad leader of the 543rd Regiment of the 181st Division of the 60th Army of the Volunteers.

　　His nephews Xu Tonghai, Xu Tongqiao and his grandnephew Xu Gangming rushed to Shenyang to recognize their relatives. In front of the name "Xu Yuzhong" on the famous wall, they placed a handful of loess, a handful of dates, a handful of peanuts and six apples brought from their hometown.

　　"Sanbo joined the army eating dates, peanuts and apples from his hometown," said 64-year-old Xu Tonghai. "Now Sanbo is back, try something from his hometown and touch the soil of his hometown again!"

　　When Xu Yuzhong died, Xu Tonghai was not born. When Xu Tonghai was a child, he once went to a neighboring village and heard a veteran returning from the Korean battlefield tell his father about the sacrifice of Sanbo. "The veteran said that in the battle, the company rushed up at the command. Before the charge, Xu Yuzhong said four words: See you in the afterlife. Since then, people have never come back. " Xu Tonghai said that there is only one relic of Xu Yuzhong at home now, which is a book of meritorious service and good news during the liberation war.

　　It reads: Comrade Xu Yuzhong bravely pursued the enemy in the Qinling campaign and completed the task without fear of difficulties, and established a third-class merit. It was signed on November 28th, 1949.

　　Tens of thousands of volunteer soldiers died in the tragic Korean battlefield. For 29-year-old Xu Gangming, the war was far away, and so was his third grandfather, who didn’t even leave a photo. But "recognizing relatives" has changed him a lot.

　　"Three grandfathers are the glory of the family." Xu Gangming said, "He has gone home now, and he is relieved that he is alive in heaven. The country he is defending is now prosperous and the life at home is getting better and better. I will come to see him often. "

　　They are always the loveliest people.

　　At the wedding ceremony, Qian Feng, Vice Minister of Veterans Affairs, said that these six martyrs, like other martyrs who died in Qian Qian, are the brightest names in new China. On the eve of anniversary, the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, and the Martyrs’ Memorial Day, the ceremony was held, which fully showed that the motherland and people have never forgotten those unsung heroes and will never forget those heroic sons and daughters buried in foreign countries.

　　The great spirit of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Chinese will always be the precious wealth of the people of. When five veteran volunteers who attended the ceremony stepped into the scene, people applauded them warmly. Li Weibo, an 88-year-old volunteer veteran, could not help but burst into tears. He said that this applause is for us, but also for the martyrs. I am sad and happy to attend the wedding ceremony today. The sad thing is that we came back alive, but so many comrades fell on the battlefield and never came back; Happily, these six comrades-in-arms went home and found their loved ones.

　　"Volunteers have played national prestige and military prestige, and they will always be the cutest people!" Li Weibo, whose hair and beard are all white, said slowly in a hoarse voice, "The victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea has swept away China’s humiliation for a hundred years!"

　　Before that, 123 volunteers were buried in Shenyang Martyrs Cemetery to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, including Huang Jiguang, Qiu Shaoyun and other well-known volunteers in Chinese. Since 2014, the remains of 599 volunteers who returned from South Korea have also been buried here. The ceremony was held at the Memorial Square of the Martyrs Cemetery to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

　　The square is composed of martyrs’ famous walls, theme sculptures and other elements. The theme sculpture is taken from the Himalayas, which means heroes are like mountains. The relief of the white dove on the mountain is a homing pigeon, symbolizing the hope of returning home; It is also a dove of peace, symbolizing the hope for peace. In front of the 100-meter-long circular wall of fame, people can’t help feeling deeply: the hero has finally returned to the embrace of the motherland and relatives.

　　According to the consensus reached by China and South Korea, the two sides will continue to excavate and identify the remains of volunteers in South Korea, and conduct a normalized handover before Tomb-Sweeping Day every year. This time, the identities of six martyrs were confirmed, and the remaining 18 seals have not confirmed the identities of the martyrs corresponding to them. The main reason is that family members have not been found for a long time, or the comparison of DNA information has not been successful. In the future, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other relevant departments will continue to do a good job in finding relatives of martyrs.

　　The motherland will not forget, and the people will not forget. Every time in Tomb-Sweeping Day, in front of the Monument to the Martyrs to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in the middle of the cemetery, flowers will be filled and people will bow and salute. Many elegiac couplets say "To the loveliest person". (Reporter Xu Yang, Wang Bingkun)