Dak Lak (VNA) – For more than 25 years, members of Team K51 under the Dak Lak provincial Military Command have travelled through remote forests and mountains in Vietnam and Cambodia in search of the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and military experts who died during wartime.
Despite harsh terrain, fading historical records and ever fewer eyewitnesses, the team remains committed to bringing the fallen home.
During the 2025–2026 dry season, Team K51 recovered and repatriated the remains of 27 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Cambodia. The achievement came after nearly seven months of searching through forests, crossing streams and following even the smallest leads.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Tu, head of Team K51, recalled one of the most memorable missions. On May 23, just two days before the team was due to return to Vietnam, local residents reported a possible burial site on Nam Nia Mountain.
Heavy rain, slippery trails and difficult terrain initially hampered the search, but the team decided to stay and continue digging. On May 25, the day they had planned to leave Cambodia, they finally found the remains.
For Lieutenant Colonel La Quoc Khanh, who joined Team K51 for the first time during the latest dry-season campaign, every mission brought unforgettable memories.
On one occasion, six team members became separated for more than two hours while searching deep in the forest. In another search near the Opam Stream, the group had dug more than 1.2 metres without finding anything except a large rock. Just as they were preparing to stop for lunch, they decided to dig a little deeper. Minutes later, personal belongings belonging to a fallen soldier began to emerge from the soil.
"The moment was deeply emotional. It felt like finding a long-lost family member," Khanh said. "Seeing those belongings brought the past back to life. Everyone forgot about hunger and exhaustion."
Major Vi Xuan Thanh, who volunteered to join Team K51 in 2013, said every mission carries special meaning.
He recalled a search during the Lunar New Year holiday in 2025, when his team spent four to five days searching near the Odakang Stream after receiving information from local residents. Refusing to give up, they continued digging and eventually uncovered rubber sandals, an old radio and a military belt before finding the remains.
Thanh said the work requires not only physical strength and experience but also knowledge of the Khmer language and local customs.
While carrying out their missions, team members often help local people harvest crops, repair houses and perform other community work. These efforts have built trust with local communities, encouraging residents to share valuable information about former battlefields and burial sites.
Whenever they arrive in Cambodia's Mondulkiri province, team members also meet village elders and wartime witnesses to gather information about former military camps, battlefields and forest areas where soldiers may have been buried.
Since 2000, Dak Lak province has recovered and repatriated 769 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts from Mondulkiri province for burial at the provincial martyrs' cemetery.
However, the work is becoming increasingly difficult.
Colonel Do Van Thieu, political commissar of Team K51, said the greatest challenge is the lack of reliable information. Most of the soldiers died before 1975, while many eyewitnesses are now elderly or have passed away. Changes to the landscape caused by road construction, farming and natural erosion have also erased many burial sites.
"What we need most now is information," Thieu said. "As long as there is a lead, no matter where it comes from, we are ready to set out immediately."
The team is now taking part in the nationwide 500-day campaign which aims to accelerate the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers ahead of July 27, 2027.
Recently, information provided by a 96-year-old former wartime liaison officer helped Team K51 recover two more sets of remains, giving them fresh encouragement.
According to the Dak Lak Military Command, the province counts around 23,000 martyrs who laid down their lives during different periods of war. More than 10,300 sets of remains have been recovered so far, but over 6,600 are still missing and more than 6,000 have yet to be identified.
Although the war ended decades ago, Team K51's mission continues. Every new lead, every set of remains recovered, and every martyr identified brings solace to bereaved families and reflects the nation's enduring gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives for the country./.
