On June 13, authorities in Gia Lai province held a memorial and burial ceremony at Duc Co War Cemetery for 18 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and advisors who died during wartime in Cambodia. The remains were recovered by Team K52 during the 2025-2026 dry season.
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Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung and delegates offer incense to the martyrs. |
The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung, Deputy Minister of National Defense Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Gau, and representatives from Cambodia’s Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, and Preah Vihear provinces.
Supported by Cambodian authorities and locals, Team K52 has successfully repatriated 1,530 remains since 2001.
At the ceremony, Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, Vice Chairwoman of the Gia Lai provincial People’s Committee, emphasized that bringing the fallen soldiers home brings immense comfort to their families and comrades, reaffirming the enduring solidarity between Vietnam and Cambodia.
* On June 12, a ceremony was held in Nguyen Trai ward, Hai Phong city, to receive and bury the remains of martyr Nguyen Xuan Hong.
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Lieutenant General Tran Tan Hung hands over the remains of martyr Nguyen Xuan Hong to local authorities and family members. |
Nguyen Xuan Hong, a reconnaissance squad leader of Division 10, Army Corps 3, was killed by a landmine on December 11, 1978, near the Vietnam-Cambodia shared borderline.
According to veteran Vu Anh Tuan, martyr Nguyen Xuan Hong’s comrade, Hong was initially buried at Ka Tum cemetery before being relocated to Hill 82 cemetery in Tay Ninh province. With assistance from the association, his remains were transported back to Hai Phong via a complimentary train ride.
Lieutenant General Tran Tan Hung, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Support of Families of Martyrs, presented a VND 2 million support gift to Hong’s family at the ceremony.
* Also on June 12, the Steering Committee for the search and identification of martyrs’ remains in Phu Tho province conducted DNA sampling for 34 unidentified graves at Hoang Dan War Cemetery in Hoang An commune.
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The excavation and sampling of the martyrs' remains are carried out according to standard procedures. |
This marks the third locality in the province to implement the task under the “500-day campaign£ to accelerate the search, collection, and identification of martyrs’ remains.
Phu Tho currently has 4,938 martyrs’ graves requiring DNA testing across 131 cemeteries. The province aims to collect 10 to 20 samples daily, striving to complete the monumental task by March 31, 2027, ahead of the schedule set by Military Region 2.
Translated by Minh Anh