2015年CRI 被中国人救下的已故美国飞行员之子表达感谢

 

In February 1944, Lt. Donald W. Kerr of the U.S. Air Force had his airplane shot down by Japanese troops during an Allies' operation to bombard the Kai Tak airport.

The airport in Hong Kong had been occupied by Japanese troops since 1941.

Lt. Kerr managed to parachute from the airplane and landed in the mountains in Hong Kong's Kowloon.

The Japanese, who were eager to catch a U.S. airman, had deployed¹ thousands of soldiers to look for him.

A guerrilla force formed in south China's Guangdong Province later found and rescued him.

David Kerr, son of Lt. Kerr, talked about the historic moments that his parents had told about him many times.

"When he was in the burning airplane, he got burned. He got bad burns on his leg. His eye was burned. And when he jumped out of the airplane, his shoulder hit the tail of the airplane and he couldn't use his arm. So he had a lot of problems. And these kids, I mean, 12, 13, 14-year-old kids were getting him away from the Japanese."

The rescuers are with the Hong Kong-Kowloon brigade of the Chinese guerrilla force, called the Dongjiang Column, formed in 1942 to reinforce China's war efforts against Japanese Aggression² in the region.

Kerr said his father told him that a small boy brought him up into the mountains. There he was cared for by the soldiers of the guerrilla and local villagers.

"...And although he was only 12, 13, maybe 14 years old, he had an important job of taking messages for this guerrilla organization from the city of Hong Kong, Kowloon around different islands. And that's why he knew that it was important to rescue my father."

Lt. Kerr was later escorted by the East River guerrilla to the U.S. air base in Guilin, south China's Guangxi.

He went on to record his experience with a memoir³ entitled "I bring you go home now".

After Lt. Kerr's death, his son David Kerr had come to Shenzhen, Guangdong to look for the old soldiers, especially the "small boy" who had been frequently talked about by his father.

The name of the small boy is Li Shi, said Kerr, who finally met him.

"He was in a retirement⁴ home. He had a stroke, so he couldn't talk to me. But through an interpreter, I was able to thank him on behalf of our family for the great risks that he took so many years ago. And, that was so important to our family as you might imagine."

Kerr said he also visited other soldiers who had escorted his father at different places along the way.

The memoir, with photos and cartoon drawn⁵ by Lt. Kerr have been compiled into a book by the Dongjiang Column history research association.

The book was first published in Hong Kong on Aug. 5.

For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

3 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

4 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。