The journey to find the remains of martyrs of soldiers in Laos

Tien Hung• May 30, 2018 15:53

(Baonghean.vn) - The dry season in Laos is very harsh. During the day, it is scorching hot but at night it is freezing cold. To find traces of where their comrades fell half a century ago, soldiers had to gropingly build huts and sleep in the forest for many days and nights.

Established in 1984, the Martyrs' Remains Search and Collection Team (Nghe An Military Command) was assigned the task of searching for the remains of Vietnamese experts and volunteer soldiers who died in the three provinces of Xiangkhouang, Vientiane and Xaysomboun. These are provinces with complex terrain, most of the martyrs' burial areas are located in deep forests. To search for and collect the remains, the soldiers performing this task often have to cross forests and wade through streams for many days. Photo: TH

According to the team leader, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Nam, the team currently has nearly 100 soldiers. Affected by the weather, the soldiers can only carry out their duties during the dry season in Laos (from October to April of the following year). There were times when, to find the remains of martyrs, these soldiers had to trek through the forest for two days. Photo: TH

Meals in the deep forest have become all too familiar to soldiers on duty searching for martyrs' remains. Photo: TH

"Procedures" before digging graves and bringing the soldiers back to their homeland. To find these remains, soldiers often rely on sources of information such as cemetery maps provided by units, information from veterans who directly buried them or relatives of martyrs, and information from local people. Photo: TH

This seems to be a "needle in a haystack" job. Especially when most of the martyrs died nearly half a century ago. To determine the exact burial location is not an easy thing. While the terrain of Laos used to be mostly bare hills, now trees are growing everywhere. Roads and place names are also different. Even veterans who directly buried the bodies now have difficulty returning to find them... Photo: TH

A metal plate with the name of the martyr is buried next to the remains. Since 1984, the Nghe An Martyrs' Remains Search and Collection Team has recovered and collected more than 12,000 remains of Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers and Experts who died in Laos. Of these, more than 900 remains with identified identities and hometowns have been handed over to local authorities and families to organize burials in the martyrs' hometowns. Photo: TH

In the dry season of 2017 - 2018 alone, the unit collected 98 remains. Of these, only one grave had its identity, hometown and unit identified. That was martyr Nguyen Dinh Quang, from Ninh Binh province. Martyr Quang sacrificed his life in 1971, when his first daughter was not yet born. Photo: Tien Hung

The old battlefield is now covered by gloomy forests, but many minefields and bombs still remain. Many soldiers were injured while doing this work. Most recently, at noon on April 5, while searching for 6 martyrs' graves in Na Pan village, Ket Nam Xien 2, Pha Xay district (Xieng Khouang), Lieutenant Nguyen Khac Au was continuously caught in 2 mines while groping for the way. The lieutenant's right hand was seriously injured, the pressure of the mines punctured his eardrum.... In the photo: Bringing the martyrs back to their homeland. Photo: Tien Hung