Military Region 4 summarizes the work of collecting martyrs' graves

(Baonghean) -This morning (September 15), Military Region 4 held a conference to summarize the work of collecting martyrs in Laos from 1994 to 2011.

Attending the conference were Major General Dao Duy Minh - Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army; representatives of central ministries and branches, representatives of the special working group, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and Veterans Associations of 6 provinces in the Military Region. Major General Nguyen Huu Cuong - Commander of the Military Region chaired the conference.

Overcoming difficulties in terrain conditions, difficult traffic, and limited information about martyrs' graves, over the past 17 years, the work of collecting martyrs' graves has achieved many results. Up to now, units of the military region have collected 23,332 remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in 9 provinces of Laos and brought them back to Vietnam for burial. Of these, 5,067 martyrs' remains have been identified with their full names and hometowns. Since 1994, 12,562 martyrs' remains have been collected.

In general, the teams collecting martyrs' graves of the military region have made great efforts to complete their tasks. In particular, the team collecting martyrs' graves of the Nghe An Provincial Military Command has, in 17 years, exhumed and repatriated 6,249 remains for burial, of which 932 remains have been identified by name and hometown. In addition to doing a good job of searching for and exhuming martyrs' graves, the teams have also done a good job of mass mobilization, helping friends build a strong political base and guiding people in socio-economic development.

The work of collecting the graves of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and Vietnamese experts who died in Laos is a major policy of the Party and State, demonstrating the traditional morality of "When drinking water, remember its source" of our nation, and is the responsibility and sacred sentiment of today's generation towards the heroic martyrs who heroically sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland and for the noble international mission. According to the survey, up to now, there are still nearly 1,200 graves of Vietnamese martyrs and volunteer soldiers who died in Laos that have not been collected. The excavation force strives to basically complete the search, excavation and repatriation of the remaining martyrs' remains by 2015 to bring them back to their homeland for burial.

On this occasion, 16 groups and 13 individuals were awarded certificates of merit by the Military Region Command. 11 groups and 10 individuals were proposed to the President to be awarded the Third Class Military Exploit Medal and the Fatherland Protection Medal. 21 groups and 48 individuals were proposed to be awarded certificates of merit by the Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Defense for their outstanding achievements in searching for and gathering the graves of martyrs who died in Laos and bringing them back to the country in the past time.

Tran Minh