Actively searching for and collecting the remains of martyrs who died in Laos

(Baonghean.vn) - It is estimated that there are currently about 395 graves of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in the three provinces of Xieng Khouang, Vientiane and Xay Xom Bun (Laos), while in Nghe An province there are about 15 graves of martyrs that have not been gathered.

This information was given at the conference to review the implementation of the project to search for and collect martyrs' remains in the period 2013 - 2015 organized by Steering Committee 1237 of Nghe An Province on the morning of November 12, 2015. Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of Steering Committee 1237 chaired the conference.

Attending the conference were Major General Tran Tien Dung, Deputy Political Commissar of Military Region 4; Major General Doan Ngoc Son, Deputy Chief of Politics of Military Region 4; members of Steering Committee 1237, representatives of relevant departments, branches and localities.

The conference conducted assessments, drew lessons, and proposed solutions to better fulfill the task of bringing martyrs' graves back to their hometowns for burial.

After nearly 3 years of implementing the Project to search and collect martyrs' remains in the period 2013 - 2015, Nghe An province has synchronously deployed tasks and solutions to search and collect graves that have not been collected in martyrs' cemeteries in the province and the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in the three provinces of Xieng Khouang, Vientiane, and Xay Xom Bun, Lao PDR.

Colonel Luong Hong Phong, Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command, Deputy Standing Committee of Steering Committee 1237 presented a report on the collection activities and proposed additional equipment for the collection team.

As a result, since 2013, Nghe An province has searched for and collected 352 remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos (31 remains with known names, hometowns, and units; 4 remains with known names, but unknown hometowns) and 13 remains of martyrs in the province.

Comrade Nguyen Dinh Minh, Chairman of the Association of War Veterans of Nghe An province, suggested promoting propaganda and mobilization work to raise people's awareness, thereby providing more accurate information about martyrs' graves.

Currently, according to information from the handover units and information provided by Lao people, in the three provinces of Xieng Khouang, Vientiane and Xay Xom Bun there are about 395 graves of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in the wars. In Nghe An province there are about 15 graves of martyrs who died in the wars that have not been gathered.

The goal of Nghe An province is to collect all 410 martyrs' graves in Laos and the province to martyrs' cemeteries by 2020. Continue to search for 24 martyrs' graves provided by the Engineering Command in Ky Son district (searched many times).

At the conference, delegates focused on evaluating the project implementation results, pointing out limitations, shortcomings and causes, drawing lessons and developing solutions to implement the project in the coming time.

Major General Tran Tien Dung, Deputy Political Commissar of Military Region 4, Head of the Steering Committee of Military Region 4, stated: Information about the martyrs is fading because those who know the graves are getting older and weaker, and the terrain is changing a lot. He requested that forces speed up the search and collection process.

Speaking at the conference, comrade Le Ngoc Hoa praised the efforts to overcome difficulties to excellently complete the assigned tasks of the forces performing the collection task; requested the Party committees, authorities, departments, branches and collection forces to continue to thoroughly grasp the policies of the Party, State and Army on the collection of martyrs' graves.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Provincial Military Command to continue to closely coordinate with the three neighboring provinces to search for and collect all graves and bring them back to the country for burial. Mobilize organizations, individuals and people to provide complete and accurate information about the remaining martyrs' graves in the area. During the collection process, it is necessary to draw a diagram and create a tight profile to serve the archiving work and identify the remains that are missing information to promptly provide information to the martyrs' relatives.

Awarding collectives and individuals who do a good job in collecting and burying martyrs' remains.

At the preliminary conference, comrade Luong Hong Phong awarded certificates of merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to 5 groups and 10 individuals who had many outstanding achievements in implementing the project of searching and collecting martyrs' remains in the period 2013 - 2015./.

Thanh Son