Nghe An collects 98 martyrs' remains in Laos during the 2018-2019 dry season

On the morning of June 12, the Steering Committee 515 of Nghe An province held a conference to summarize the work of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains in the dry season of 2018 - 2019. Comrades: Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee 515 of Nghe An province and Senior Lieutenant Colonel Thai Duc Hanh - Deputy Secretary of the Military Party Committee, Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command, Deputy Standing Committee of the Steering Committee 515 of Nghe An province co-chaired the conference. Photo: Thu Giang

Attending the conference, on the side of Military Region 4, there were comrades: Major General Nguyen Duc Hoa - Member of the Party Committee Standing Committee, Deputy Political Commissar of the Military Region, Head of the Military Region's 515 Steering Committee; Major General Doan Ngoc Son - Deputy Chief of Politics, Deputy of the Military Region's 515 Steering Committee; Colonel Tran Van Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Commander of the Provincial Military Command.

Collecting 98 martyrs' remains from 3 provinces of Laos

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa affirmed that the work of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains is a major policy of the Party and State, demonstrating the Vietnamese people's morality of "When drinking water, remember its source" and the sacred and deep affection for comrades and teammates who sacrificed for the cause of national liberation, protecting the Fatherland and performing noble international duties.

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee 515 delivered the opening speech at the conference. Photo: Thu Giang

In the dry season of 2018 - 2019, under the close leadership and direction in all aspects of the Steering Committee 515 of Military Region 4; the direction, deployment and organization of the search and collection of martyrs' graves by the Steering Committee 515 of Nghe An province, the Collection Team - Provincial Military Command proactively overcame difficulties, closely coordinated with all levels, sectors and localities of the three provinces of Xieng Khouang, Vientiane and Xay Xom Bun, Lao People's Democratic Republic to search and collect 98 remains of Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers and Experts who sacrificed their lives for the noble international duty in Laos and returned to their motherland, reaching 122.5% of the plan. Of which, there was 1 remains with a full name but unknown hometown (martyr To Van Chi), the remaining 97 remains had unknown names and hometowns.

Xieng Khouang province collected 82/70 remains, reaching 117.1% of the plan. Vientiane province collected 5/4 remains, reaching 125% of the plan. Xay Xom Bun province collected 11/6 remains, reaching 183% of the plan.

The Provincial People's Committee sent a delegation of officials from the Provincial Steering Committee 515 to receive and move the martyrs' remains back to the country for burial at the Nghi Loc district martyrs' cemetery, ensuring proper rituals, thoughtfulness, strictness, solemnity, safety, and economy, which were recognized by Party committees, authorities at all levels, and the people.

The burial ceremony of the remains of Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers and Experts who heroically fought and sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for the noble international duty in Laos at the Nghi Loc District Martyrs Cemetery. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In the province, the Steering Committee received and processed 6 pieces of information about 6 martyrs' graves buried in the districts of Nam Dan, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc, Vinh City; developed a plan to survey 3 graves and collect 1 grave in Con Cuong district.

The task is increasingly difficult and complex.

In the dry season of 2019 - 2020 and the following years, the task of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains in Laos and in the province has become increasingly difficult and complicated. Some areas in the collection area in Laos have complicated security and political situations; the remaining martyrs' graves are mainly scattered in remote areas, with difficult roads, and many martyr burial locations are difficult to determine due to the long time and changing terrain.

In the country, most of the graves provided by organizations and people do not have tombstones... so it is difficult to determine whether they are martyrs' graves or not.

Speaking at the conference, Major General Nguyen Duc Hoa - Member of the Party Committee Standing Committee, Deputy Political Commissar of the Military Region, Head of the Military Region 515 Steering Committee, praised the results that the Nghe An Provincial Steering Committee 515 has achieved in the past time. In the coming time, he suggested that it is necessary to continue to thoroughly grasp the policies of the Party and State, regulations of the Government, and guidance documents of the Military Region, strengthen leadership and direction of solution groups, and do a good job of propaganda in performing the task of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

Steering Committee 515 of Military Region 4 inspects the Nghe An Province Collection Team on duty at Xam village, Muong Kham district, Xieng Khouang province, Laos. Photo: PV

The Head of the Military Region 515 Steering Committee noted that in the process of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains, the Nghe An Province 515 Steering Committee needs to develop a tight, realistic plan, closely following the Military Region's directive documents, strictly implementing legal regulations, performing well the mass mobilization work, paying attention to maintaining solidarity with localities, and absolutely not allowing negativity to occur during the performance of tasks.

Lieutenant Colonel Thai Duc Hanh - Deputy Secretary of the Military Party Committee, Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command, Deputy Standing Committee of the Steering Committee 515 of Nghe An province presented Certificates of Merit to individuals with outstanding achievements. Photo: Thu Giang

On this occasion, the Provincial Military Command awarded Certificates of Merit to 4 groups and 10 individuals who made many positive efforts, tried to overcome difficulties, and excellently completed assigned tasks in searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.