Great efforts made to repatriate Vietnamese fallen soldiers from Laos

A search team from Military Zone 2 of Vietnam has repatriated more than 1,800 volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives while on duty in Laos, since its inception in late 1994.

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

Lieutenant Sung A Ho, a team member, said Vietnamese soldiers 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 a host of difficulties due to the mountainous terrain in the Lao localities, and many witnesses who are Lao veterans dead, he said, adding that he stays in the neighbouring country from eight to nine months each year for the work over the past more than 10 years.

According to the Steering Committee for Search and Repatriation of Remains of Fallen Soldiers of Military Zone 2 (Steering Committee 515), between 2013 and 2020, the northern mountainous province of Dien 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 search and gathering of martyrs’ remains, Dien Bien will step up the communication work and enhance coordination with the Steering Committee, Military Zone 2 and the Lao special task force, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vu A Bang said./.

VNA