Tay Ninh (VNA) – The southern province of Tay Ninh has recovered 519 sets of fallen soldiers' remains in Vietnam and Cambodia, with most of the DNA sampling completed after 60 days of a nationwide 500-day campaign to speed up the search, as well as the 2025–2026 dry-season recovery mission.
Speaking at a review conference on August 5, the provincial Steering Committee 515 highlighted the campaign's achievements in searching for, recovering and identifying the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Cambodia during wartime.
The committee described the work as a key political task reflecting Vietnam's tradition of gratitude to those who sacrificed for the nation.
Pham Tan Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Tay Ninh People's Committee and head of the provincial Steering Committee 515, shared that the 500-day campaign has gained widespread public backing and highlighted the humane importance of policies for those who served the country. He called on authorities to keep engaging the entire political system, boost public outreach, and pursue every possible lead on fallen soldiers and burial sites.
During the 2025–2026 dry season, Tay Ninh's recovery teams K70, K71 and K73 conducted searches across eight Cambodian provinces and repatriated 511 sets of remains despite limited information and challenging conditions.
Domestically, local authorities recovered eight additional sets of remains. One was found in Phuoc Vinh Tay commune and has already been reburied, while the remaining seven, recovered by Team K71, are being preserved ahead of memorial and reburial ceremonies.
As of August 4, the province had collected samples from 15,799 of 18,591 graves at martyrs' cemeteries, reaching nearly 85%, including 12,814 graves suitable for DNA testing. Sampling has been completed at 13 of the province's 18 martyrs' cemeteries.
On July 31, Tay Ninh transferred 10,387 samples to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology for DNA analysis. A second batch will be handed over after sampling is completed province-wide, with the remaining work expected to finish by mid-September, almost two months ahead of schedule.
Authorities have also collected 5,751 biological samples from relatives of fallen soldiers, representing more than 95.6% of registered participants, laying the groundwork for future DNA matching and identification.
The province's recovery teams are scheduled to begin the next search mission in Cambodia in late August. Based on preliminary information, around 499 sets of remains are expected to be recovered during the first phase. Tay Ninh is continuing to coordinate with Cambodian authorities to improve information sharing and search effectiveness.
At the conference, a State President’s decision to award the third-class Fatherland Protection Order to Colonel Tran Chi Cong and Team K73 was announced. The Chairman of the Tay Ninh People's Committee also presented certificates of merit to 14 organisations and 51 individuals for outstanding contributions to the recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains./.
VNA
