- Date:2022-04-01
- Department:Department of Veterans Service and Assistance
VAC representatives in the United States, Director of TECRO’s Veterans Affairs Division Pang-Cheng Ni, and Senior Officer Kuo-Feng Cheng visited the Fort Benning Main Post Cemetery last week to honor fallen ROC Air Force who died in training during the Second World War.
Ni and Cheng visited the cemetery on behalf of VAC Minister Kent Feng. Also present at the ceremony were Mike Wang, President of the ROC Veterans Association in Atlanta, David Chiao, President of the ROC Air Force Association in Atlanta, and Ms. Eva Aiken. She has sponsored hundreds of Taiwanese military officers studying at Fort Benning over the past 40 years.
During WWII, the ROC dispatched some 1,000 Air Force members to receive air training in the United States, but over 50 died in the process, due to weather factors, mechanical failure or poor communications. Because it was difficult to transport their remains back to their hometown in wartime, they were all buried in the U.S., and five of them were laid to rest at the Fort Benning Main Post Cemetery.
According to the cemetery’s archives, the five officers perished in 1942 and this year marks the 80th anniversary of their sacrifice.
The people and government of Taiwan will forever remember the contribution and sacrifices of these heroes. We remain deeply grateful to the ROC Veterans Association and the ROC Air Force Association in Atlanta for their unremitting support to Taiwan, promoting exchanges with local U.S. veterans’ associations, and providing care for elderly Taiwanese veterans overseas.