Pu Hsien Chen

My father was born June 16, 1923 on a family farm near Hanzhong City in the Shannxi providence. At the time, China was ruled by warlords, and endless war kept the country apart. After the Japanese invasion of China, the great country was completely ruined. Father left home after finishing school and answered the summons of General Chiang to join the Chinese Salvation Army along with thousands of other young people. He was shipped to the rear of Chongqing, Sichuan to receive military training. Right after the Japanese unconditionally surrendered, party struggles within China resulted in civil war. The entire country fell into turmoil again. The chaos of siege and battle forced my father to retreat to Taiwan in 1949, though he still saw action along China's coast. In 1953, father was reassigned to a special military unit that focused on the battlefront in China. During his service, he continued to train for military duty, demonstrating his willingness to learn and his spirit to work hard. Because of this determination he won numerous medals during his service.

After the government moved to Taiwan, he was dispatched overseas to confront the enemy. Due to the circumstances, he couldn't return home for longer than a decade at a time until he was ordered to retire from the military in 1982. After retiring from military involvement, he was assigned a managerial position at a Shanghai printing business in Kaohsiung where he worked for several years before his full retirement from the workplace.

My brother and I came to States to study in 80’s. Our parents shuttled between Taiwan and the U.S each year until mother passed away suddenly in an accident in Taiwan. Father was greatly affected by her passing, and his health deteriorated, resulting in him taking multiple medications on a daily basis. Ultimately, he passed away at home on the morning of November 28, 2013, at the age of ninety.

Both father and mother were devout Christians with minds of love, and were known to forgive and respect people. May our father dwell in the house of the Lord forever..