The 90-year-old Wang Zhengyuan, a Nationalist soldier during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, looks at a photo of himself on a cellphone when a group of Chinese volunteers visited him in June. More and more young people in China have made it their mission to rediscover the country's wartime history and honor some of its long-forgotten heroes. Zhang Guorong / For China Daily

"Inside his crumbling little house, dust was dancing merrily in the slanting beams of sunlight that had penetrated the wood-boarded roof. We decided to send him to a local nursing home for the elderly," Wang Yi says. "A few days later, we drove a car to pick him up. He took with him a gentleman's hat that had previously hung in the corner of his room, to hide a slit in his trousers. The next time I visited him at the nursing home, he had drawn me a long list of books that he wanted to read."

Positive energy for future "Those old soldiers impressed me a lot with their positive energy," said Zhou Dejin, 29, a salesman in Beijing who also promotes public awareness of the history and contribution of the Nationalist veterans. "Even in their 90s, they never stop learning or traveling around the country to give lectures. Their positive energy is being injected into the younger generation, who are promoting a more tolerant society," he said. Zhou has attended lectures given by some of the old soldiers and says: "I felt so surprised when these men in their 90s took out their smartphones and showed me their micro blog accounts at the end of the lecture. I never knew they were so passionate about learning new things." Zhou helped an old soldier in his 80s who had suffered a stroke visit Linfen city, Shanxi province, where he trained in the military. By Yang Wanli

It turns out that the man, now 91, was a graduate from the renowned Whampoa Academy. Established by Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, back in 1924, it was the country's first modern military academy.

"For a university graduate like me, getting to know these men has been a humbling experience. They surprised me not only by what they had been through, but by what they had managed to keep despite what they had been through."

A cautionary note

Since 2012, Wang and the 1213 Volunteers Association have sent 12 veterans to nursing homes. They also give 500 yuan ($80) a month to each of the 45 veterans on their support list. All the expenses are paid by donations to the NGO.

"Our own website has made it happen," said Wang. "In the early days, we gave the money to a beneficiary, let him sign, photographed the receipt and then posted it on the Internet for our donors to see. Credibility is everything."

Li Lei, a seasoned volunteer who has become a minor celebrity within his circle, believes that by involving themselves, the young generation has added crucial momentum to a cause whose survival relies heavily on public awareness.

"The first outcry came around 2007, when people started to engage in instant messaging using their cellphones. Within months, numerous clues regarding the existence of these old soldiers appeared on the screen of my phone."

The second wave of publicity came a few years later with the introduction of micro blogs,

"Never underestimate star power. If I have written something on my blog and a celebrity chooses to forward it, then the same message stands the chance of being read by tens of thousands of people," he said. "There's really no faster way to build up a following."

And it is the vast potential of modern media that the younger generation is fully equipped to tap, Li says.

"Moreover, they are also great events organizers, making our cause appeal to a wider public," he adds.

However, Lai Endian, a Beijing-based documentary filmmaker, who retraced the route traveled by the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, under the then Chinese Nationalist Government, from the border province of Yunnan to Burma during WWII, says young people are also very susceptible emotionally to the stories and situation of the veterans they meet.

"The initial days after my first glimpse of that history were filled with craziness. I went crazy looking for every Nationalist veteran I could find. I listened to their stories, and shed tears with and for them," he said. "It has taken almost 10 years, and speaking to more than a few hundred of them for me to really start calming down, and to considering my position as a recorder of history."

"They are our heroes there's no doubt about that," he adds.

But the 32-year-old cautions that one should remember that the veterans, often because of age, may not always remember things correctly.

"And remember: never go to extremes. Because by going to extremes, you risk committing the same wrong that was committed before," he warns.

Wang Yi, the high-school teacher, believes that history is infinitely more complex than people ever fully grasp. She says she wants her students to learn one thing from their visits to the veterans, "and that is love".