Reported by Li Jin-Ciang / County Government
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. The Kinmen County Government invited veterans to revisit the battlefields together. Yesterday Bai Hai-Cin, Battalion Commander of the 643rd Battalion, 127th Division, and his 31 comrades arrived at Shangyi Airport in Kinmen amidst solemn and powerful music and embarked on their journey. Witnessing the recent transformation of Kinmen evoked a lot of sentiments from the veterans.
Under the leadership of Bai Hai-Cin, veterans who served in the Ancian Artillery Battalion beside Juguang Tower from 1980 to 1982 and their family members, a total of 59 people, came to Kinmen from the northern, central, and southern regions of Taiwan yesterday. They represented the largest group of veterans. All of them wore a hat that says “643rd Battalion’s Trip of Nostalgia,” which attracted much attention and expressed their sentiments about the battlefields.
This group of comrades reestablished contact with each other due to the popularity of social media, and they reunited once a year starting from three years ago. Their trip to Kinmen this year echoed the “Remember Kinmen and Return to Glory” campaign launched by the County Government. Liou Kuan-Feng, Squad Leader of the 643rd Battalion, recalled that their troop was stationed at Stable Master's Shrine in Ancian. Yesterday he put on the on-duty belt for squad leaders and sang “Nine Brave Soldiers” with his comrades. Many visitors stopped to listen to their singing.
In addition to the veterans joining the campaign in groups, some veterans came back to Kinmen individually. Hong Mo-Syong, a 75-year-old veteran who served in the Integrity Troop in Lieyu in 1964, came to Kinmen in a wheelchair in the company of his family. Revisiting Kinmen 53 years later, Hong happily showed the photos taken during his military service in Kinmen and his discharge order. After receiving the commemorative wine, he went to Little Kinmen to embark on his trip of nostalgia.
According to the County Government, the commemorative wine is Kaoliang (red sorghum) wine made from pure waxy sorghum with thick shells and large grains in the production area on a project basis. The unique “Three Highs, Two Lows, and One Turning” techniques were adopted during the solid state fermentation process using pure grains, and experienced winemakers carried out the distillation, extraction, and brewing processes by hand before the wine was stored in cellars at constant temperature and humidity. Made with the efforts of the winery director, who is also a member of the national evaluation committee, the No. 1 mixologist, and more than ten first-class tasters for three years, the wine represents the techniques of Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc. over the past sixty years and has received wide recognition. Its taste resembles what the 100,000 soldiers stationed in Kinmen greatly loved and were familiar with, and every wine expert will not regret having a taste of it.
“Please do not drink if you are under 18”