War keepsakes handed over to Vietnamese rightful owners

PANO - In a ceremony held on December 11 by the Steering Committee for the Search, Repatriation and Verification of Fallen Soldiers’ Remains of Nghe An province, keepsakes of martyrs Nguyen Quang So and Ho Van Chuong were handed over to their relatives.

U.S. center hands over Vietnamese martyrs’ keepsakes to families

U.S. returns war keepsakes to Vietnamese owners

U.S. hands over war keepsakes to Vietnamese veterans and relatives of martyrs

Diaries of martyrs Nguyen Quang So and Ho Van Chuong

Under the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in searching for and repatriating remains of fallen Vietnamese soldiers signed by the National Steering Committee for the Search, Repatriation and Verification of Fallen Soldiers’ Remains and the U.S. Defense Attaché’s Office in Vietnam, ASH Center at Harvard University has carried out the project “Unseen legacies of the Vietnam war” in order to search for, store, share data and hand over personnel documents of Vietnamese fallen soldiers. The diaries of the two martyrs Nguyen Quang So and Ho Van Chuong were found during the project implementation.

In their diaries, comrades Nguyen Quang So and Ho Van Chuong recorded their private and unit activities.

At the event

Comrade Nguyen Quang So was born in 1941 in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province. He was enlisted to the military in December 1966 and commissioned to Company 7, Battalion 3, Regiment 66, Sub-region 1, the Liberation Army of South Vietnam.

Born in 1939, in Dien Chau district, Nghe An province, comrade Ho Van Chuong, joined the military in April 1963 and was a member of Company 4, Battalion 7, Regiment 90, Division 324.

The U.S. military force seized and kept So’s diary in 1969 at 131 Suoi Loi, Phuoc Vinh An commune, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City while Chuong’s diary was taken by the U.S.’s third Marine Division in 1966 in Gio La commune, Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province.

Children of martyr Nguyen Quang So look at their father's diary.

At the event, Major Daniel Romans, Marine Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam, said that the U.S. will hand over 59 sets of documents related to personnel information of fallen soldiers, including 33 sets of information about fallen troops, 33 sets of files about war keepsakes and other documents. These would help Vietnam in the efforts of search, repatriation of fallen troops’ remains.

According to the officer, war relief is a basic foundation for the two countries’ ties, importantly contributing to healing wounds and keeping the people closer.

Translated by Chung Anh