(VOVWORLD) - The war is over, but the pain of war still afflicts many Vietnamese families. Nearly 1.2 million soldiers lost their lives on battlefields across the country. Hundreds of thousands of them have never been found. Paying gratitude to those who sacrificed themselves for national independence and territorial integrity, the Party and State have directed ministries, sectors, and localities to spare no effort to fulfill the wishes of their families.
 The repatriation and reburial ceremony for martyr Nguyen Huu Nhạ in his home village in Hai Cuong commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province. (File photo: VOV) |
It is estimated that the remains of 530,000 fallen soldiers have never been identified and 220,000 fallen soldiers are still lying somewhere on the battlefields of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. As the years have passed, the topography has changed, making it difficult to find traces of hastily dug graves or identify their contents.
Since 2013, the remains of 20,000 soldiers have been recovered. In 12 years since its establishment, the Association to Support the Families of Vietnamese Martyrs has raised 6.8 million USD from businesses and private donors. 800 “gratitude houses” have been built for martyrs’ families. 38,000 families of invalids and martyrs have been given savings books and other gifts. The Association has proposed establishing a gene bank to help identify martyrs' remains.
Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung, Chairman of the Association, said: “For the 530,000 unidentified martyrs, over the past 12 years, the Association has helped families match 1,000 DNA samples. We take veterans to cemeteries to identify their comrades. Through these means we have identified more than 800 martyrs. It’s a very satisfying job to help ease the pain of war. We have repatriated 1,000 martyrs from battlefields across southern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to be reburied in their native home.”
The repatriation of martyrs' remains is an important task and the responsibility of the entire nation. It’s a humane act that embodies the tradition of "drinking water, remember the source."