At the old Dongjiang Column headquarters in Dapeng on Aug. 29, student performers brought 1944 to life in a tense, moving reenactment of Lt. Donald W. Kerr’s rescue — and in the audience sat the man who keeps that story breathing. David Kerr, the U.S. pilot’s son, watched as a new generation traced the footsteps that saved his father, the same chain of villagers, guerrillas, and a weathered banner that first led his family back to this place more than a decade ago. The scene — part theater, part homecoming — underscored an 81‑year bond between a rescued American airman’s family and the people of Shenzhen.