Photographer documents final days of centenarian war heroes

Born on Dec 8, 1922, Sheng Jinyun is from Huangxing township of Changsha, Hunan province. In June 1942, he was recruited into the Chinese Expeditionary Force. He took part in the counterattack of western Yunnan, a critical campaign to reclaim Japanese-occupied territories in China's Yunnan province bordering Myanmar. After Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945, the expeditionary force was downsized, and he returned to his hometown. Sheng passed away in January 2025. The photo was taken at Sheng's home in August 2018.