In the Nationalist government's chaotic retreat to Taiwan in 1949, few of the million soldiers it brought with it-most of them young enlisted men-had the chance to say goodbye to their families. In the years that followed, so little information passed between the two sides that neither the soldiers nor their families knew whether the other still lived
民國 38 年前後，國共內戰，國民政府率百萬軍民──其中絕大多數是年輕阿兵哥──退守台灣，兵荒馬亂中，許多人來不及向父母道別，就此音信阻隔，生死不知。