CCTV News:Going back to the Long March is a "complex" in the hearts of many foreigners. However, the Long March Road is actually impossible to "retrace"! Let’s look at a set of data: March 37 kilometers a day, and encounter almost once a day. For every kilometer on average, three or four people give their lives … … These are well-known incredible myths 368 days and 25,000 miles away. They really happened, but they can’t be copied! What can really be copied is the "Long March Spirit" embodied in the Long March, which pursues faith, shares difficulties and hardships, and is not afraid of difficulties and dangers. Eleven years ago, an Israeli veteran in seventy years of age returned to the Long March with reverence, and it was this "Long March Soul" that he sought.
Retired Israeli Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Wu Dawei:When I revisited the Long March Road in 2005, every town and village I passed by and everyone I met asked me the same question — — Why does a foreigner, who is 70 years old, have to take the Long March again? My answer is that I want to find the "Chinese soul". People don’t understand after listening, and ask me what is the "Chinese soul", and I say it is the leadership (of the Red Army in the Long March).
A soldier, whose real name is David Ben Houzelle, is 81 years old this year. When I was young, I read Si Nuo’s "Red Star Shines on China", and I accidentally saw the difficult scene of the Red Army’s Long March climbing the snow-capped mountains and crossing the grassland on TV. It has always been a dream in his heart to take a personal walk on the Long March. In 2005, this dream finally came true: he and Zhang Xiaoai, the daughter of General Zhang Aiping, traveled from Jiangxi to Shaanxi in nearly five months, covering more than 24,000 kilometers, including more than 1,200 kilometers on foot. Personal experience of the difficulties and hardships encountered by the Red Army made him deeply moved:
Retired Israeli Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Wu Dawei:I wrote (in the guest book of the Red Army’s Long March Memorial Hall) that the officers and men of the Red Army had to fight while continuing the Long March and successfully completing the journey, which laid the foundation for the establishment of a new China.
During his legendary military career, Wu Dawei has been working in areas with difficult conditions. During a hard training across the desert, one of his second lieutenant officers drank water first when he looked at the eager soldiers with golden flowers. Wu Dawei, who learned of this matter, did not say anything, "kicked him out of the company with one foot." Caring for soldiers and suffering first is the "Long March spirit" that Wu Dawei understands.
Wu Dawei also chose the steep mountain road when he took the Long March Road again.
During the re-taking of the Long March Road, he interviewed nearly 100 old Red Army members who participated in the Long March, and personally heard a 90-year-old Red Army’s account of the "Long March Soul":
Retired Israeli Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Wu Dawei:I asked (the old Red Army commander), why did your soldiers follow you on the Long March? He looked at me and replied, I will always be at the front of the team, and I will lead my soldiers to continue the Long March.
Wu Dawei believes that the Red Army can overcome the unimaginable difficulties of ordinary people because of a spirit of unity between officers and men and sharing weal and woe together.
Retired Israeli Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Wu Dawei:The secret of the Red Army (the victory of the Long March) is that leaders and commanders set a good example.
He personally went to China in seventy years of age to feel this spirit. Before that, he always regarded the Long March of the Red Army as a beacon for his progress.
Retired Israeli Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Wu Dawei:The Long March itself is unique, because the harsh combat and living conditions at that time could not be replicated. (Long March Road) is really hard and cruel. I said to IDF officers, listen, you will never face such a harsh environment, and don’t even think about it. If you want to save your comrade-in-arms who has fallen into the swamp, you need to let yourself fall in, so that you can have a chance to save him. Try to get the strong willpower and great spiritual strength of them (Chinese Red Army soldiers) from the Long March story I shared with you.
In the eyes of the elderly, the miracle of the Long March not only belongs to China’s army, but also should be a teaching material for the armies of all countries in the world. He took the initiative to contact the Israel Defense Forces and gave lectures to pass on the "Long March Spirit" to Israeli soldiers, including his grandchildren.
After pursuing the "Long March Soul" for decades, Wu Dawei always thought that the Long March Road was an ordinary road. It was not until he finished the Long March Road that he realized that there was no road on the Long March Road, but a "China Road" made by the Red Army itself.
Retired Israeli Paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Wu Dawei:In fact, the Red Army soldiers are willing to overcome difficulties and continue the Long March, which has far-reaching implications. It was from the Long March that the first generation of leaders of New China got the road to founding the country.
Today, the Long March spirit and the Long March Road have become a new road of revival to change the face of contemporary China.
Although it has been 11 years since he took the Long March Road again, Wu Dawei still feels that the influence of the Long March spirit on himself is deepening. On September 20th, 81-year-old Wu Dawei held a special report meeting on "Re-taking the Long March Road" in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, telling about the Long March spirit of the Chinese Red Army and letting more people know about this human feat 80 years ago.