Some 100 volunteers, including WWII veterans, their family members and college students, will join an expedition to retrace the footsteps of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces to Myanmar (Burma) 65 years ago.

The volunteers will erect monuments along the route, visit battlefields, and write a book on this special expedition, organizers say. The activity is supported by Chinese and American institutions including Yunnan Research Society of the Flying Tigers, China Federation of Patriotic Projects, the New England Air Museum, and the non-profit Thin & High Organization from the United States, according to Sun Guansheng, head of Yunnan Research Society of the Flying Tigers.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the entrance into Myanmar by the Chinese Expeditionary Forces in the war against Japan. "History should not be forgotten; heroes should not be forgotten," says Li Xuntang, 88, who participated in the expeditionary forces as an English interpreter. The project is to run from October 20 to November 2, starting from Kunming, Yunnan province. The call for volunteers will start in May.

(China Daily February 4, 2008)