[Video/Quzhou International Communication Center]

A fragment from B-25 bomber No 8, one of the United States aircraft used in the 1942 Doolittle Raid, was donated to the Memorial Hall to the Doolittle Raid in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, on Sept 28.

On April 18, 1942, 16 B-25 bombers led by US Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle took off from the USS Hornet and carried out a bombing mission over Japan after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After completing the mission, some crew members bailed out or made emergency landings in parts of China, including Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Fujian provinces, after running out of fuel.

Local residents risked their lives to search for and shelter the airmen, providing them with food and assistance despite the threat of Japanese retaliation. A total of 64 US crew members were rescued, becoming part of a notable wartime rescue effort.

No 8 was the only aircraft that did not reach China, landing instead in the Soviet Union.

Eighty-four years later, a fragment of that aircraft has arrived in Quzhou.

It was donated by US filmmaker George Retelas, digital content manager at the USS Hornet Museum. His grandfather served aboard the USS Hornet and helped load bombs for the Doolittle Raid.

Retelas first visited Quzhou in April 2025 for a China-US people-to-people exchange. He has continued documenting the stories of Chinese people who helped rescue US airmen.

"This is not just an American story, and it is not just a Chinese story," Retelas said. "It is a story shared by the people of our two countries."