According to elementary school teacher Chen Lien-hsing, the Battle of the Taiwan Strait (as the 1958 bombardment has come to be known) came without warning. On the first night of the bombardment, he and his family had no time to run for the bomb shelter, and could only crouch under a big table and wait for the fearsome rain of bombs to end.
任教於金湖鎮金湖國小的陳連興表示，八二三炮戰來得突然，砲聲響起的那夜，根本來不及躲到防空洞，他們一家人就蹲藏在神明牌位的供桌下，滿懷恐懼地靜待砲擊結束。