Flying Tigers' remains neglected 6 years after discovery  

昆明飞虎队公墓500英烈遗骨横陈 6年无人管(图)

Kunming (ECNS) -- The graves of fallen Chinese members of the Flying Tigers, a US volunteer group that fought alongside the Chinese in Southwest China against Japanese aggressors in World War II, were abandoned in a village in southwestern Yunnan province, sparking calls for a dignified reburial.

More than 800 soldiers, including 200 Americans and 500 Chinese, were buried in the cemetery before 1945. After the Anti-Japanese War, the American soldiers. remains were sent back to the United States. In 1953, the cemetery was moved to Xiao Maqie village.

The graves were relocated in 1954 to Changchun Hill, after the previous graveyard was reclaimed to build a warehouse.

Robbers raided the graves in the late 1980s, leaving the bones exposed.

The graves were discovered by the Yunnan Flying Tigers Research Institute in 2007, according to Sun Guansheng, the president of the institute.

"Scattered in the weeds, the coffins were dug up, and some of the bones could be seen on the ground," Sun recalled of the scene he saw six years ago, when he first sought the whereabouts of the graves, adding that the situation has not changed much since then.

Sun said his group has been urging authorities to tackle the problem as soon as possible and give soldiers the peace they deserve.

In August 2008, the provincial government of Yunnan held a meeting aimed at renovating the graves. A design drawing for repairing the cemetery was made by the Flying Tigers Research Institute and other government departments, said Sun.

However, the plans were not implemented in the following six years, Sun said.

Despite facing a public request for reburial, the regional civil affairs bureau, which is responsible for repairing and renovating the graves, didn.t respond.

"The bureau will inform the media after the details concerning the impaired graves are investigated,. it said.