Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam directs the acceleration of the search for the remains of fallen soldiers.

On the morning of December 21st, the National Steering Committee on Searching, Gathering, and Identifying the Remains of Martyrs (Steering Committee 515) held an online conference to review the implementation of the project on searching for and gathering the remains of martyrs in the 2016-2018 period; the project on identifying the remains of martyrs with incomplete information in the 2017-2018 period; and the direction, objectives, tasks, and solutions for the 2019-2020 period.

Attending the conference were Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam - Head of the National Steering Committee 515; and Lieutenant General Le Chiem - Deputy Minister of National Defense.

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, presided over the meeting point in Nghe An.

The scene at the Nghệ An bridgehead. Photo: Tiến Hùng

According to the National Steering Committee 515, during the period 2016-2018, the country's socio-economic situation remained stable and developed; the work of searching for, collecting, and identifying the remains of martyrs continued to receive special attention from the Party and the State. The aspirations of the martyrs' relatives and families have spurred this work to be carried out more effectively.

However, the implementation and organization process has also faced many difficulties due to the decreasing availability of information about martyrs, their relatives, and their graves. Meanwhile, the number of martyrs' remains that need to be searched for and collected, and the number of martyrs' graves lacking information that need to be identified, remains large; the records, lists of martyrs, grave site maps, and records of the collection of martyrs' remains are still managed and stored with many errors and inadequacies. Some local Party committees and authorities have not shown sufficient interest in this work.

The Nghệ An team recovers the remains of fallen soldiers in Laos. Photo: Tiến Hùng.

From 2016 to 2018, the whole country searched for and collected 5,886 remains of martyrs, including 2,670 remains in Vietnam, 854 remains in Laos, and 2,362 remains in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of National Defence and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, completed the investment in upgrading the genetic testing facility. They actively directed the collection of remains with incomplete information from martyrs' cemeteries and biological samples from martyrs' relatives for analysis and comparison. From 2017-2018, using authentication methods, the identities of 284 martyrs' remains were determined; using DNA testing, 475 cases were analyzed, of which 54 cases showed blood relations and 421 cases showed no blood relations.

Meanwhile, in Nghe An province, from 2016 to the present, the provincial repatriation team has searched for, exhumed, and brought back to Vietnam for burial 267 remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos. However, among these, only 6 remains have known names and hometowns, while 10 remains have names but unknown hometowns or units.

The remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos were collected and brought to Nghi Loc Martyrs' Cemetery in 2018. Photo: Tien Hung

During this same period, 10 remains of fallen soldiers were found in the province. Due to the vast area and the long time since the war ended, gathering information about the soldiers' graves has been very difficult, while identifying the graves has also been challenging.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam stated that although the search and collection of martyrs' remains has achieved positive results, many remains remain uncollected, and many graves lack information. Meanwhile, the families of martyrs have been waiting too long for information about their loved ones' graves, highlighting the need to further intensify the search and collection of martyrs' remains in the current situation, with practical policies and solutions.

“The Steering Committee 515 at all levels should promptly strengthen and improve the capacity and effectiveness of searching for, collecting, and identifying the remains of fallen soldiers. All levels and sectors need to continue expanding and strengthening international cooperation to secure the support and assistance of foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in providing information about Vietnamese soldiers who died, went missing, or disappeared during the war,” the Deputy Prime Minister said, directing that from now until 2020, the search and collection of the remains of fallen soldiers within the country should be intensified, and cooperation with friendly countries should continue until there is no longer any information about the graves of fallen soldiers.