"I volunteered to join the fight the Japanese invaders," said 110-year-old Dong Jimin in Beijing.

The 110-year-old Dong is the oldest soldier who joined the Anti-Japanese Aggression War (1937-1945) and is still alive. [File photo: Fu Ding/Legal Evening News]

As the oldest soldier who joined the Anti-Japanese Aggression War (1937-1945) and is still alive, he witnessed the Chinese people's sufferings, struggles and glories during the eight-year war.

In 1904, Dong was born in north China's Hebei Province. As a child, he moved with his family to northeast China's Jilin Province and later worked in a local department store.

On Sept. 18, 1931, the Japanese troops bombarded the Chinese army barracks at Mukden (now Shenyang), and began a large-scale armed invasion of northeast China.

Hearing the news, Dong quit his job and joined the local army. The next year, his troops were incorporated into the Kuomintang's military force, and he became responsible for secretarial and weapon distribution work.

In the following decade, Dong joined bitter battles in north China's Hebei Province, central China's Henan Province, east China's Jiangxi Province and central China's Hunan Province.

"The Japanese invaders were the most evil force in the world," Dong said. "They bullied us, and we couldn't live on unless we beat them."

In 1945, Dong witnessed the Japanese troops surrender in Jinzhou City in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

On Dec. 4, 2014, Dong was granted an honor certificate and a medal for his bravery in the war by the Forum on Mutual Aid for Anti-Japanese Veterans. With the medal on his chest, the old man said, "This is a great honor, and I'm so proud of myself."

The forum staff also helped Dong make a hand print, to be exhibited with the hand prints of other veterans of the war in a museum in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

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