Sun, Aug 24, 2008 page3

• FEATURE: Hero reflects on 50th anniversary of battle

  THE POSTMAN In the 1958 battle of Kinmen, Tung Kuo-chung learned to predict the distances of explosions by the sound they made while delivering mail to the soldiers

  • By Maubo Chang / CNA, WITH STAFF WRITER
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  Tung Kuo-chung (董國忠) is one of a few postmen in Taiwan to have won the Kuanghua medal from the Ministry of National Defense for his part in the 1958 artillery battle between China and Taiwan.

  However, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the battle, 74-year-old Tung said he would happily give up his medal in exchange for peace if he were given the choice.

  The battle began on Aug. 23, 1958, when Chinese artillery troops deployed across the Strait from the Taiwan-controlled island of Kinmen fired the first shot on the tiny island at 5:30pm.

  

  Tung Kuo-chung, one of just a few postmen in Taiwan to have won the Kuanghua medal from the Ministry of National Defense, stands in front of a building on Kinmen on Sunday.

  PHOTO: CNA

  That first barrage lasted for two hours, during which Chinese troops pounded the island with more than 57,000 shells.

  Tung, who was 24 at the time, was serving as a postman at Kinmen’s now-defunct First Military Post Office, which was responsible for delivering letters to various military units on the island.

  Tung’s route covered Mount Taiwu (太武山), which housed the Kinmen Defense Command and was therefore the target of China’s heaviest attacks.

  As a young man who grew up on the battlefront island, Tung was no stranger to artillery attacks, but none so intensive as the one the island underwent during that battle.

  In order to deliver his letters, Tung said he went on his regular round between volleys, crawling from position to position and taking shelter in bunkers or whatever structure could shield him from the Chinese shelling.

  As there were no telephone links between Kinmen and Taiwan at the time, Tung knew that letters were the only link between soldiers pinned down by artillery fire and their families in Taiwan.

  It was about 2am the next day when Tung finished delivering all the mail he received Aug. 23 and returned to his home at Gugang (古崗) in southern Kinmen where his mother, wife and 23-day-old baby girl were waiting anxiously for his return.

  He knelt down in front of the flickering flame of the “Heaven Lantern,” which was supposed to bring his family the blessings of the Emperor of Heaven, and the tablet of his ancestors enshrined in the family altar, thanking them for his survival.

  The relentless artillery barrage lasted for 44 days. Chinese troops hammered the 148km² island with more than 474,000 shells — a rate of four shells per square meter.

  At the peak of the barrage, the whole island was shrouded by a thick cloud of smoke and many residents and soldiers hunkered down in bunkers and shelters barely able to breathe because of the gunpowder fumes.

  Tung carried out his job despite the danger, learning to predict the distances of the explosions by the sound they made while delivering letters to the soldiers.

  The reward was more than adequate compensation for the risks he was taking, as Tung was welcomed by the soldiers wherever he went with his mail bag.

  The soldiers greeted him with applause, shouting “long live the postman,” or carrying him on their shoulders as a hero before poring over the letters he brought.

  Tung collected letters and money the soldiers were sending home. He also bought postage stamps for them.

  His services earned him the nickname “soldiers’ vitamin” on the island and the Kuanghua medal after the battle.

  The barrage took a heavy toll on Kinmen island, taking the lives of around 500 military personnel, including the three deputy commanders of the Kinmen Defense Center, and 80 civilians, while leaving hardly a house undamaged.

  Tung retired from the Kinmen Post Office in 1996. His medal is on permanent display at the Postal Museum in Taipei.

  The Directorate General of Posts considered him a hero for his dedication to his job, believing his courage would rub off on his fellow workers.

  Looking at his grandchildren toddling around him at his Gugang home, Tung said he hoped his descendants would live in peace and never suffer the ordeal of war.
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