50 veterans gather in L.A. to mark 70th anniversary of WWII end

Fifty World War II (WWII) veterans attended a large gathering of 6,300 people here Sunday evening to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.

All above 90 years old, some over 100, the veterans were each awarded with a specially designed medal engraved with the words "For Peace 1945-2015."

Artists from Southern California and China showed their respects to the veterans by presenting dancing, singing and music performances at the event held at the Shrine Auditorium downtown.

A photo exhibition with dozens of pictures of WWII at the entrance hall of the auditorium made 92 year-old Gene Wong tearful as he remembered events from 70 years ago.

Wong was a member of the Flying Tigers who fought against the Japanese in China's southern city of Kunming.

He said this event was a precious opportunity for him. "This is probably my last time to participate in such an event," he said.

Jun Chen from the event's organizing committee told Xinhua that "We want to take this opportunity to salute the WWII veterans. After 10 years, we may have less of them."

In cooperation with Los Angeles County, some Chinese-Americans formed the organizing committee in July 2014, and have been preparing for the event for more than one year.

Five planes from the 1940s that have been carefully maintained hovered above downtown Los Angeles just before sunset in a short airshow.

"I can hear they are the aircrafts from that time. The noise of the engines is very different from (that of )today's jet planes," 90-year-old veteran Mel McMulan said.

"I was so happy when the war ended. Today's event let young people know history and know to cherish peace," he said. "No more war!"

Janet, a 12-year-old girl, went together with her family to watch the performance. She believed the end of World War II is very important, and so is the cooperation between the United States and China during the war.

"Because it changed the world, the United States and China should work together again in the future to change the world," she said. Endi