Son of American WWII veteran donates father's belongings to private Chinese museum

Son of an American veteran has donated some of his father's belongings to a private Chinese museum in Sichuan Province on Sunday, reports the Xinhua News Agency.

Rex Beitz Jr. (R), son of an American veteran who fought in China during WWII, displays one of his father's war-era items he's donated to a museum in Sichuan on July 16, 2017. [Photo: Weibo.com]

Rex James Beitz joined the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1941.

He later became a member of USAF's 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, and was deployed in China during China's war against Japanese aggression.

File Photo of Rex James Beitz. [File Photo: Weibo.com]

"It was a very dangerous and important job," said Rex Beitz Jr., son of the American veteran, "22-hour flights without convoy for every aircraft every day, aiming at proving necessary weather reconnaissance to U.S. army for military operations," he noted.

The battle map being donated to the Jianchuan Museum Cluster in the town of Anren, Sichuan Province, July 16, 2017. [Photo: Weibo.com]

The 7 items donated include a battle map, a food stamp to buy daily necessities and a one US dollar Hawaii-pattern note with 8 signatures of Beitz's colleagues, two of whom died during the war.

The note was carried by Beitz in his wallet until his death in 2016. "It is, along with other items, a record of the heroes during WWII, as well as a record of the history of China and the U.S. fighting together," said Chen Shouren, a Chinese American collector and friend of the late Mr. Beitz.

The one dollar Hawaii-pattern note with 8 signatures of Beitz's former wartime colleagues that is being donated to the Jianchuan Museum Cluster in the town of Anren, Sichuan Province, July 16, 2017 [Photo: Weibo.com]

The Jianchuan Museum Cluster is a privately-owned museum founded by Dr. Fan Jianchuan in the town of Anren, about one hour's drive from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as an example of "the increasing openness about the way recent history is viewed in China," the complex consists of 15 museums, featuring more than two million historical and cultural artifacts, mostly from Fan's personal collection.