For the group of volunteers, they've been running a race for the past 10 years. The opponent was time, and the prize was photographs of veterans, which, if anything, made history for the nation.

On June 7, Wang Xiangyi, a 98-year-old anti-American aid soldier for North Korea, received a special gift - a military uniform photograph he took in front of Tiananmen Square. "Tiananmen" is a set built by volunteers of the Yale City Photographers Association and staff of the city's Department of Veterans Affairs.

The old man held up the frame and stared at himself in the photo wearing the medal, his eyes wet. He rubbed the frame over and over as if he were touching the distant war years. The scene struck a chord with his colleague, Duan Jianguo, president of the Yaoshan Photographers Association, even though he has seen too many such scenes - in the past few years, he and volunteers have traveled through city streets and into village compounds, shooting portraits and giving commemorative photographs to veterans at no charge. Each time the veterans took the photo in their hands, they were solemn and touched that they were convinced that it was worth doing all the time.

Milky Mountain is a hot red field. During the war years, nearly 20,000 daughters and sons from Nanshan went to the battlefield without a second thought, and more than 4,000 of them bloodied the mountains and rivers, forging the red roots of their hometown with their lives. "The veterans are a precious spiritual asset, and we are willing to use the camera to capture the heroes' faces and preserve the great past." In 2016, Gao Shixin, then president of the Yale City Photographers Association, and a leading cadre, Jiang Selfi, initiatived to form the "I Photograph for Veterans" volunteer service team, officially launching the veteran portrait public welfare filming campaign. This team is the predecessor of today's "Light and Shadow Honoring Veterans" volunteer service team, and Duan Jianguo is the new head of the volunteer service.

During visits to the countryside and field photography, Duan Jianguo found that due to previous objective conditions, the vast majority of veterans could not leave a formal military uniform photograph, which became a lifelong regret. To help veterans fulfill their wishes, he led the planning of a special public welfare event called "Light and Shadow Tribute to Veterans." Once the initiative was launched, teachers, doctors, retired cadres, self-employed people and others gathered. In just one week, a team of more than 30 people, ranging in age from 19 to 70, "gathered" to mark the veterans' appearance with light and shadow.

"When the Japanese invaders burned and plundered, we gave up our lives and were determined to kill the enemy and defend our homeland..." In August 2016, Gong Zhaoxing, a volunteer, visited Guo Gongsheng, a veteran of the war against the Soviet Union, in the village of Caihou in Zhuang town. He carefully arranged the uniforms and medals for the elderly, and listened attentively to the veterans recall the memories of the war. Halfway through the conversation, the old man was emotional, and Gong Zhaoxing quickly pressed the shutter to stop the moving moment.

In 2019, Guo Gongsheng died. Before he died, he held the photo tightly, filled with regret. "We are very grateful to have recorded what the veteran looked like in his uniform before he died." "The veterans are very old, and our team is always in a race against time," Wang said.

A scooter, a few photo bags, a simple background cloth and a portable spotlight were all the volunteers' possessions. They walked in the heat of the sun, in the snow, and without stopping. From scene taking and adjusting lighting and shadow, to post-production painting, framing, and home delivery, the whole process is free of charge. The veterans were years old and physically disabled, and as they filmed, the volunteers patiently adjusted their sitting and captured their manners until the camera captured a moment that suited each individual's inner essence.

“Grandpa, laugh! Look at the camera, one, two, three!”With the new rapid press of the shutter, the kind smile of the old man Ma Fengshan was instantly stopped. Ma Fengshan joined the army in July 1945 and was shot through both legs during the Battle of Pingdu. In December 1946, he retired from military service due to a category six disability and returned home.

"The shutter button was only a brief moment, and the laying-out was even more important." Gao Xue, who is 70 years old this year, is always the first to sign up whenever the team has an event. With years of experience, he led them to come up with a working method that worked well: start with the house, listen to the story, and take a picture of each person.“Veterans are mostly not used to shooting in front of the camera, and holding up their cameras at first can make them nervous and stiff-faced. After a few conversations and relaxation, their eyes lit up.”"Every time a veteran receives a photo, tears come to his eyes and he feels that finally there are images of his military career, and all the arduous work and effort are gone," said Gao Xue.

It is with such patience and sincerity that the volunteers knocked on the door of the veterans' homes and their hearts.

"I've held a camera for nearly 10 years, and I'm still touched when I look at the figure in the frame." In May 2026, volunteer Xin Mingli photographed Liu Fengshun, a 99-year-old veteran, when the old man raised his right arm and gave a military salute in Yuquan Mountain back village in Yashanzhai. This is the 24th veteran he filmed. During the filming, the old man recounted his experience on the battlefield against the United States and aiding North Korea - soldiers in patched cotton clothes sheltered in the snow, their hands and feet frozen, and still stood their ground. Living memories of the war made Sin Mingle increasingly aware that his photographs were not only portraits of veterans, but also national memories.

Visiting and photographing veterans is no easy task. They are mostly scattered in the countryside, and communication is difficult. To this end, Duan Jianguo took the initiative to reach out to the armed forces departments of the respective townships and villages and the service stations of the retired military, and various parties canvassed the information of war veterans and disabled veterans within their jurisdiction and established a ledger. As long as veterans have a filming need, no matter how far away or near, the volunteers will come to the appointment on time and without hindrance.

It is encouraging that this heart-warming cause now has younger receivers.

On June 4, Liu Xiangyuan, a 19-year-old volunteer who participated in his first public service filming, visited Liu Zhiyao, a 93-year-old veteran of anti-American assistance to the DPRK from Haichang village in Haiyangshuo township. The old man held out a severely damaged military enameled cylinder treasured for more than 70 years, recalling his wartime experiences: when he went to North Korea as a railway soldier, and his fellow soldiers braved enemy aircraft bombing to repair the railway day and night, in order to build a durable steel transportation line. Conditions on the battlefield were tough, and this enameled cylinder was both a water cup and a rice bowl. The comrades used it to carry snow water and to chew dry grains. Every bump in the cylinder was a testimony of hardship and indomitableness.

After listening to the story, Liu Xiangyuan remained silent for a long time. Carefully adjusting the lights and the position of the plane, he took precious photos of the elderly man in military uniform and holding an enameled cylinder. After filming, he said:“Visiting veterans and listening to the past have allowed me to understand the patriotism of my predecessors. Veterans should be treasured and remembered for generations.”

"The veterans are dying, and they are in a race against time to preserve their red memories." Duan Jianguo said that from 2022, the volunteer team will expand the content of its services and will no longer be limited to single portrait shooting. They joined forces with the local veterans' affairs department to collect veterans' medals, medals, and old photographs from their homes, and simultaneously recorded audio and video of veterans' oral history. The relevant officials of the Yale City Veterans Service Center said that so far, they have compiled 446 veteran archives, taken more than 10,000 documentary photographs, recorded oral videos for more than 130 veterans, and produced 130 documentary short videos, maintaining the red archives of Yale City in a more systematic way.

“Veterans are still there, and history has roots. The image lasts and the spirit endures.”That's the voice of the founding fathers and all the volunteers. They made a promise to keep filming as long as physical and physical conditions allowed, so that those rays of light would "keep" our heroes and illuminate the nation's struggle. (Looking ahead to a new era)