Seven army veterans and son of a martyr who took part in the Victory-day Parade for the 70th anniversary of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, returned home to Changchun by train, on Sept 5, with one of them, Shi Baodong, gaining some fame across the nation for keeping his salute during the entire parade, according to a local website on Sept 6.

These veteran representatives from Jilin province were invited to Beijing to join the event where they were met by President Xi Jinping and appeared in the parade.

Seven army veterans and son of a martyr who took part in the Victory-day Parade for the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, return home to Changchun on Sept 5. [Photo by Wang Xiaoye/news.xwh.cn]

Shi Baodong walks into his home in Changchun, Jilin province. [Photo by Guo Liang/news.xwh.cn]

Sun Tingjiang receives interview. [Photo by Guo Liang/news.xwh.cn]

Yang Zhengxin recieves interview. [Photo by Guo Liang/news.xwh.cn]

Deng Yeyun recieves interview. [Photo by Guo Liang/news.xwh.cn]

90-year-old Shi Baodong is surrounded by media representatives when he walks into his home. He was an assistant regimental commander and chief of staff of the New Fourth Army during the war. In this trip, he was invited to attend the ceremony in the Tian'anmen gate tower.

He kept his salute to the parade during the whole event which was captured by the media and moved the whole nation.

When asked about his salute, he replies, "I couldn't help myself, I had to do it, especially when I recall the old days with my brothers in arms who were not so lucky to witness this anniversary celebration. So I saluted to tell them how great our nation is today and to express my gratitude to the army."

Today five of his six children are in the army because, as he explains, "Safeguarding the country is a family tradition."

Another of the heroes, Sun Tingjiang, a veteran of the 8th Route Army who is above 100, could barely contain his excitement in attending the event and comments, "I was lucky to take part in the ceremony in Beijing and thanks to this trip, I'm more convinced of the strength of our nation."

Deng Yeyun, who is in her 80s and joined the fight when she was only 9, now recalls, "I saw the parade in 1949 when we had just a few tanks and planes, but today we have so many high-tech weapons and I'm proud of it and hope we can safeguard the peace."

Yang Zhengxin, 89, concludes, "I'm proud that I could make my own contribution to the development and peace today and I believe we can realize the China Dream one day."

The group was warmly received by Jilin provincial leading officials at the railway station.