Great efforts made to repatriate Vietnamese fallen soldiers from Laos

Great efforts made to repatriate Vietnamese fallen soldiers from Laos (Photo: VNA)

Dien Bien (VNA) - A search team fromMilitary Zone 2 of Vietnam has repatriated more than 1,800 volunteer soldiersand experts who laid down their lives while on duty in Laos, since its inceptionin late 1994.

In the 2021-2022 dry season alone, the team broughthome 20 sets of remains of martyrs, of whom eight have been identified.

Lieutenant Sung A Ho, a team member, said Vietnamesesoldiers mainly died in the Lao northern provinces of Luang Prabang, Udom Xay,Luang Namtha during the war.

The search and gathering of martyrs’ remains meet ahost of difficulties due to the mountainous terrain in the Lao localities, andmany witnesses who are Lao veterans dead, he said, adding that he stays in theneighbouring country from eight to nine months each year for the work over thepast more than 10 years.

According to the Steering Committee for Search andRepatriation of Remains of Fallen Soldiers of Military Zone 2 (SteeringCommittee 515), between 2013 and 2020, the northern mountainous province ofDien Bien received 276 sets of remains of martyrs, of whom 13 have been identified.Since 2021, the province reburied 25 martyrs at the local cemetery.

To implement the Government’s project on the searchand gathering of martyrs’ remains, Dien Bien will step up the communicationwork and enhance coordination with the Steering Committee, Military Zone 2 and theLao special task force, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vu ABang said./.

VNA