Phnom Penh (VNA) – The Royal Cambodian Army Command has recently held a ceremony to award 470 Friendship Orders of the Vietnamese State and certificates of merit to Cambodian police and military officers, and officials of localities.
The honorees made important and positive contributions from 2013 to 2020 to coordinating the search, recovery, repatriation and reburial of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who sacrificed in Cambodia’s capital and 25 provinces during the war.
Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang expressed his wish for further support from the Cambodian leaders, local authorities and army for the effort until there is no longer information available about martyrs’ burial locations.
He also affirmed the policy of encouraging citizens from both countries to come forward with any details they might have concerning the remains and graves of fallen Vietnamese soldiers.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army Gen. Mao Sophan stressed that after helping to liberate the Cambodian people from the genocide regime on January 7, 1979, the Vietnamese Party, Government and people continued assisting Cambodia in overcoming the severe consequences left by the Pol Pot regime, as well as in the process of national recovery and reconstruction.
Since 2001, task forces from both sides have collaborated in searching, recovering, repatriating and burying the remains of 20,852 fallen soldiers. However, the search has continued, with over 4,000 sets of remains still unaccounted for./.
