Nearly 200 items that belonged to Vietnamese soldiers during the war have been returned home as part of the “Operation Wandering souls” project of New South Wales University, Australia.

Major General Tran Van Minh, director of the Policy Department under the Defence Ministry, on July 29 received the items, which included more than 110 letters, 59 sketches and two photographs.

Minh said that the Defence Ministry will study and analyse these items to serve the search and collection of martyrs’ remains.

The ministry will use military unit designation found on the items to discover who the original owners were. Letters with the addresses of martyrs’ families will be returned, Minh said.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State’s point of view on the search and repatriation of martyrs’ remains is to promote the involvement of numerous sources of information, both domestic and international. The information provided by foreign organisations and individuals that fought in Vietnam will be helpful to the work, he added.

The Vietnamese military officer also expressed his thanks to the Australian side, adding that he hoped Australia will provide Vietnam with modern devices to help the country find the remains of soldiers lost during the war.

The “Operation Wandering Souls” project of New South Wales University was established to locate Vietnamese martyrs’ remains and return the found items to their families.-VNA