Activist and statistician Dr. Nancy Lo was born in southwest China in DaDing (大定),
Guizhou. The name of the city means “big determination”-- something that Nancy is filled with. I
first met her online—as a mutual friend pointed me to her San Diego group, the
Association for Preserving Historical Accuracy in Foreign Invasions in China,
(aphafic.org). I had the chance to meet her in person when she invited me to
discuss Blossoms and Bayonets at their winter meeting in February.
Nancy was born in 1943, a time when Japan occupied many
parts of China, but not Guizhou. “We were not in the front area where Japanese soldiers
were. We were in the back. So we were pretty safe.”
Her father Wu Chia Lo worked with China’s Air Force. And, after the war (1945), he transferred to the Air Force
Institute of Communications. So, their family of seven moved
further northwest to Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. (Today known as “Panda Central.”) By this point China was engaged in a Civil War: the Nationalists
(whom her father worked for) against the Communists.
“We heard people mention, ‘This place was lost or that
place was lost’ to the Communists. By 1949, many people had already moved to
Taiwan.”
Nancy’s father didn’t see the need to leave. His
friends were telling him that everything would be okay. In hindsight, those
friends were probably Communist spies. Fortunately, Nancy’s mother insisted, “Let’s
go."
“We were almost among the last of the Air Force Institute of
Communications to leave for Taiwan.”
(To Be Continued. Next: Taiwanese School: Like Entering Another World)
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