Old fisherman recalls heroic act

Seven decades after the end of WWII, historians shine a light on Chinese valor during a tragedy at sea, Joseph Catanzaro, Zhou Wa and Liu Xiaoli report.

Shen A'gui stared vacantly at the ceiling above his bed, hands fluttering weakly like broken birds on the bunched-up blankets. They are the hands of a fisherman, every scar and callus a footnote for a life spent hauling oars and nets in the stony seas off China's southeastern coast. They are the hands of a man who saved lives when the world was gripped by war and so many others were taking them.

Standing at the bedside, his friend Xu Guoquan, 67, shook his head. "He's 92 years old, and he's sick with a fever," he said. "He hasn't spoken in two weeks."