Susann Ozak, daughter of Charles Ozak, a navigator on the third plane of the Doolittle Raid, revisited Longtoudian village in Zhangcun town, Jiangshan, Quzhou city, on April 17.

She shared memories of her father's ordeal during the raid.

"My father hung from a cliff in his parachute all night until he was discovered the next day by Liao Shiyuan, a local villager,” she said.

The Liao family provided exceptional care for Charles Ozak, treating his injuries and feeding him. They let him sleep in their child's bed for about five days.

During Susann Ozak’s visit, Liao's wife served several bowls of chicken egg noodles, inviting her to taste the same dish which her had enjoyed 82 years ago in the old house.

The Raid and the Chinese rescue

The Doolittle Raid, also known as Doolittle's Raid, as well as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on April 18, 1942, when the US seeking retaliation against Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, assembled 80 pilots for the Doolittle Raid.

Disoriented by darkness and bad weather, many pilots had to abandon their planes over China's Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian provinces. 

The Chinese military and civilians launched a massive rescue operation, successfully evacuating 64 American pilots, with 51 of them finding refuge in Quzhou.

Source: Tide News

Reporter: Xu Zhitian

Editor: Zhong Xinyi Shao Wenyun