BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- During World War II, the US took tens of thousands of photos and videos of the China-Burma-India Theatre. Those valuable artifacts were preserved in the US National Archives. In recent years, they have been put on display for the public. One particularly eye-catching photo features a Chinese child soldier.

With a thumbs up and an innocent smile, he looks like any young boy, except for the battlefield supplies hanging on his little body. It has become one of the many unforgettable images of World War II and its victims.

The photo, copied from the US National Archives, is well-known in China. Veteran Chen Youli, 83, says it was him aged 13.

Chen was drafted into the army in 1942, when he was just 11. Two years later, he became a logistics soldier in the 200th Division of the China Expeditionary Force.

He still remembers the moment in November 1944 when two Americans took that photo of him, the youngest soldier in the unit.

"We were in Longling, Yunnan province, building barricades at Tashan Mountain after a battle. The two Americans came to see us several times. One usually carried a tripod and a food bag. At first, we wanted to take the photo in the trench, but I was too short. Then we moved to a crossing, some villagers passed by me when the photo was taken," Chen said. Chen says there was some staging involved in the photo. Fellow soldiers added some equipment on to him that he usually did not carry.

"This bottle is empty. This bottle has pepper and salt inside, it's my battalion commander's. And this rice bag? I didn't usually carry it. There are two steamed buns."

And the thumbs up? Chen says it was directed at the photographer.

"When we were in Kunming, there were many Americans. We usually gave them a thumbs up to say 'very good' and they were happy. I gave a thumbs up to the camera to say you are good and we Chinese are good, too," he said.

The photo was among tens of thousands taken by photographers of the 164th combat camera company in the US Army Signal Corps.

Chen never thought he would see it again.

"I was just giving him a photo as a souvenir, because I knew he was a child soldier, too. But when he saw the photo, he said it was him immediately. We were all astonished. He told us immediately what exactly he was carrying without any hesitation. That made us believe he was the boy in the photo," said veteran care volunteer Zou Jihong.

In the archive notes for the photo, the subject's name is listed as "Lee Chan-Hon," which may be because of differences in the way Chinese and Americans write their names.

But Chen is certain it is him and treasures it as the first photo ever taken of him. It captures an important experience in his childhood, but also one he hopes his grand-daughter and other Chinese children will never come across again.

(Source: CNTV.cn)