"My mother-in-law has always been looking for this son..." Facing the Jinan Veterans Affairs Bureau's family search team, Wang Ruizhen has been talking about her brother and the family's longing for many years.
They have been on this journey of finding their parents for nearly 80 years.
"Brother, where have you been?"
In the 1930s and 1940s, Wang Weihe and his brother Wang Weifa were born in a small village in Panshidian Town, Haiyang City, Yantai City, Shandong Province. "My parents gave birth to six children, two sisters and four boys. My elder brother was Wang Weifa. I heard my mother-in-law say that it is glorious to fight the enemy, so I sent my brother to join the army..." Wang Ruizhen said that the year was 1947. In 2008, Wang Weifa was 22 years old and Wang Weihe was only 3 years old.
Once Wang Weifa left, there was no news, and he did not return until the liberation of the country. A few years later, some people said that Wang Weifa had died. "In what year did he die? Where did he die?" My parents asked everyone when they met, but no one could tell clearly.
Wang Weihe has been working as a farmer in the village since he grew up. He has never given up searching for his brother's whereabouts. "Where is he buried? I want to see him." He searched in Haiyang and contacted other soldiers who served together, but he never found out about his brother's whereabouts.
Looking for a needle in a haystack.
"My mother always talked about my brother during the holidays. There were 6 children in the family, and she felt uncomfortable without one. Later I found out that he had passed away, but there was no remains, so I erected a tombstone at the entrance of the village and put his photo in the soil. They were buried together," said Wang Ruizhen, Wang Weihe's wife.
"After 76 years of waiting, I finally found my brother!"
html On July 18, the Jinan Revolutionary Martyrs' Family Search Team came to Wang Weihe's home and told them that the bones of martyr Wang Weifa were buried in Jinan Licheng Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery. "My father and mother's lifelong wish has been fulfilled, and they can rest in peace. I will take their wishes to Jinan to visit my brother, burn a handful of paper in front of his tombstone, and tell him how the whole family misses him." Wang Ruizhen He said that now that he has got his wish, he will definitely go to Jinan to worship and comfort the spirits of his ancestors in the future.
"Back then, many people in our village went to join the army and never came back. Every year, people come to the village to look for people. This time they really found them. You have really done a good thing." The person in charge of civil affairs in the village Wang Zhishui said that he still remembered that his mother was very sad when she learned the news of Wang Weifa's death. "When she received the martyr certificate, she almost fainted from tears. After all, it was his own child. He left and never came back. It was so disappointing." "Sad."
"On September 24 this year, we will erect a monument for the martyrs. You can go and see the martyrs' brother," Zhou Guangtao, the family search team of Jinan Veterans Affairs Bureau, told the two elderly people. "We will go, we will definitely go." Wang Weihe and Wang Ruizhen looked into the distance with bright eyes...
Reporter: Li Kunran Photography: Li Kunran Videographer: Li Kunran Proofreader: Tang Qi Editor: Liu Yuhong
