An Giang (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a memorial and burial ceremony in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on July 21, commemorating 81 Vietnamese soldiers and experts who sacrificed their lives in Cambodia and Vietnam, ahead of the 78th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27).
At the Doc Ba Dac cemetery in Thoi Son ward, Secretary of the provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Tien Hai delivered an eulogy praising the K93 team’s tireless work. Since 2001, the unit has recovered 2,141 martyrs’ remains in Cambodia, with 251 identified. During the 2024–2025 dry-season search, 56 sets of remains were located across 42 sites.
In his speech, PM Chinh hailed the war heroes, who laid down their lives for the Fatherland's independence and freedom, for the noble international mission, and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world. Among the 80 sets of remains reburied at the ceremony, the majority are still unidentified while the other was returned to the family for reburial in the hometown.
He said the event takes place at a time when the country is concretising vision and action adopted at the 13th National Party Congress, and preparing to celebrate the 80th anniversaries of the People’s Public Security Force, the August Revolution, and National Day (September 2).
He called on Party committees, local authorities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organisations, and citizens nationwide to unite for fast and sustainable development and advance Vietnam into a new era of prosperity and civility, deserving the people's aspirations as well as heroes, martyrs, and compatriots' sacrifices.
Meeting and presenting gifts to members of Military Region 9’s search and repatriation team later, the PM reflected on the immense sacrifices of over 1.2 million martyrs during Vietnam’s resistance wars and international missions, noting that more than 300,000 remain unidentified. The nation also bears the scars of 652,000 war invalids, 198,000 sick soldiers, over 132,000 heroic Vietnamese mothers, and more than 300,000 people affected by Agent Orange/dioxin.
The search and repatriation of martyrs’ remains is a task of the entire political system. It reflects the nation’s profound gratitude, he stressed, adding that the Party and State are committed to doing everything possible to support the recovery and identification of martyrs.
The Government leader appreciated the searchers' dedication despite countless hardships. To bolster these efforts, he instructed Party committees, authorities, and Steering Committee 515 at all levels to seriously follow the Party and State’s policies and guidelines, coordinate in a unified and synchronous manner, pool all available resources, and engage the entire political system and public.
He advocated greater communications to raise public awareness, particularly among war veterans and ethnic communities in former resistance areas, to locate burial sites. He also underscored the use of digital tools, data integration, and military unit decoding to identify remains, alongside stronger cooperation with the Cambodian administration and people to support the search and repatriation.
The leader concluded by stressing the importance of supporting the well-being of those involved in this mission, urging timely recognition of their contributions, and robust enforcement of policies to sustain this humanitarian effort./.
