His mission is to reunite fallen soldiers and families

More reunions

Gradually, people on mainland began turning to Liu to help find their fathers in Taiwan who had not been heard from for decades. Many third-generation descendants of the soldiers have asked Liu to fulfill their elderly parents' wish to find their grandfathers in Taiwan and bring them back.

Two years ago, a 72-year-old man from Beijing sought Liu's help to search for his father, in order to fulfill his mother's dying wish to be buried alongside her long-lost husband.

The correspondence between the veteran and his wife in Beijing had ceased in 1987. Shortly before that, he had promised his family that he would quickly return to mainland as soon as it was possible.

In April, Liu finally located the veteran's grave in central Taiwan. Sadly, he had been killed in a car accident there just before he could fulfill his promise to return. For over thirty years, his family in Beijing had been tirelessly searching for him.

The 72-year-old son was overcome with emotion when he learned that his father had been found. Liu still remembered the man's excitement over the phone and that he said, "You have fulfilled my lifelong wish and my mother's final wish."

The son sent a photograph of his mother to Liu and requested that it be printed and placed on the veteran's tombstone, allowing them to symbolically reunite. He also promised to bring his father's remains back to their hometown.

For over half a century, such reunion stories have been made possible by Liu's persistence. But finding veterans' burial sites has not been an easy task.

Liu has visited cemeteries around Taiwan and checked about 100,000 tombs. He has gone to unattended graves overgrown with weeds, and checked in temples where ashes were kept.

In some cases, only a client on the mainland knew of a veteran's presence in Taiwan. The searches would normally take a year or more.

Over time, Liu has built his own database. Whenever he goes out to search, he takes photos of the tombstones and documents the information of the deceased veterans. Their birthplaces and dates are usually carved on the stones.