Beacons of heroism and friendship

Five elderly Chinese who had participated in the rescue operation pose for a group photo with rescued American pilots in front of the White House in 1992. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To most people, Juexi and Shipu might seem nothing more than relatively remote locations in Xiangshan in East China's Zhejiang province, but the two coastal towns are in fact highly significant in the history of Sino-US relations.

On April 18, 1942, the Doolittle bomber team of the US Army flew to Zhejiang after conducting an air raid on Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe and other Japanese cities. Unfortunately, the crew lost contact with the ground and failed to land in Quzhou Airport according to plan. Fifteen aircraft ended up crashing or making forced landings in the Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces of China.

Zhao Xiaobao, a resident of Tantou Mountain Island in Xiangshan county, and Ma Liangshui, her husband, found five American pilots and took care of them for days despite the danger - Xiangshan was then occupied by the Japanese army.

Ma and other villagers later disguised the American pilots as Chinese fishermen to avoid detection and escorted them to a safe place using a small boat.

In 1990, Mr Moon, a former vice president of Northwest Airlines, organized a delegation to search for the Chinese who had played a part in the rescue of American pilots.

This search led them to Zhao, who was presented with a thank you card signed by 44 rescued American pilots.

In 1992, Zhao and four other elderly men who had saved American pilots visited the United States to participate in the 50th anniversary of Operation Doolittle. During the event, then US president George W. Bush presented a letter to these individuals, while the then US secretary of defense Dick Cheney received Zhao in his office.

In 2002, Zhao was once again invited to participate in a photo exhibition related to this historic incident in Washington.

"At that time, I sent the silk scarf, a specialty of Zhejiang province, to them. I said that I could not speak English but I hoped that the Chinese and the Americans would remain friendly through the generations," said Zhao during the activity.

Zhao Xiaobao is presented with a gift in the form of a porcelain jar during her visit to the United States in 1992. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhao Xiaobao and her family pose for a photo with a pilot who was rescued. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]