A young Australian man's 15-year journey to "ease the pain" of war
In recent days, public opinion across the country has been interested in the fact that after nearly a month of actively searching over an area of more than 5,000 square meters, the search force of provincial Steering Committee 515 has collected many remains of martyrs and memorabilia of our soldiers in the fierce battle against the enemy on May 26, 1968 in Binh My commune’s Choi Dung hamlet in North Tan Uyen district. Noticeably, this result has contributed by a young Australian man.
To achieve the above result, in addition to the efforts by provincial Military Command over the past 20 years, there was also a very important information contribution from Australian veterans and their relatives. Among them is Luke Johnston, son of Mr. David Charles Johnston - who fought in Vietnam. As of now, Luke Johnston has experienced a 15-year journey to "ease the pain" of the war in Vietnam.
Mr. Luke Johnston (left) and the soldiers' memorabilia found
“I am truly sad to know that there are hundreds of thousands of martyrs' remains that have not yet been collected and identified. Therefore, I think I should partially contribute my responsibility in carrying out necessary work to bring the remains of martyrs back to their loved ones", Mr. Luke Johnston shared.
And from the information he gathered from his father, from American agencies and veterans who fought in Vietnam to determine the exact location of bomb craters... to determine the exact location of bomb craters...to search for the remains of martyrs, he knocked on the door of the Australian Embassy in Vietnam to ask for help. Based on Mr. Luke Johnston's profile, the Office of Defense Attaché, Australian Embassy in Vietnam contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs under the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for support. And provincial Steering Committee 515 held a groundbreaking ceremony for search of the remains of martyrs on a large scale, with mechanization...
When the martyrs' remains and memorabilia were found, Mr. Luke Johnston shared: "I was moved and felt honored to be able to contribute my very small efforts to the meaningful search process. I hope all the martyrs lying here can be found, so they can return to their families and loved ones".
To hear Luke Johnston’s story about his 15-year journey replacing his father to "ease the pain" of the war in Vietnam, let’s watch the next episode of the "I love Binh Duong" program on Binh Duong Online Newspaper. The program was broadcast on Sunday morning, April 14 at baobinhduong.vn and on Binh Duong Newspaper's digital platforms: Facebook, Zalo...
Reported by Thu Thao-Translated by Kim Tin
