DANANG, Vietnam: The remains of five fallen soldiers have been found in the Ba Hii shelter in Danang, according to the Martyrs’ Remains Search and Recovery Team of the Danang City Military Command.
The remains are severely decomposed, with some reduced to small bone fragments and splinters. Only one set of remains yielded a sample suitable for forensic examination.
The search team also discovered numerous personal belongings and artefacts, including two infantry shovels, two cooking pots, one pot lid, one eating ladle, two hammocks, two rain tarpaulins, backpack straps, 20 buttons, parts of oil lamps, one AK rifle, a gray uniform and numerous fragments of parachute fabric and blue clothing.
Of particular note was a gold earring bearing the initials NT.
Que Son Commune resident Nguyen Thai Qua, who was born in 1951, said that while helping camouflage military fortifications in the area in 1967, he saw three soldiers run into the Ba Hoi rock shelter for refuge.
Shortly afterward, enemy artillery shelled the area surrounding the shelter. He suspected that the soldiers had suffocated and died inside.
Based on preliminary investigations and verification, Danang authorities believe that the 31st and 38th Regiments of Division 2 previously fought in this area.
This information provides a basis for further investigations to identify the units involved and establish the identities of the fallen soldiers.
The Martyrs’ Remains Search and Recovery Team is continuing its search deeper inside the Ba Hoi shelter. The team is also collecting information and verifying relevant records to support the identification of the fallen soldiers.
Following the administrative merger, Danang has recorded a total of more than 90,828 fallen soldiers, with the remains of 78,668 recovered to date. Meanwhile, 7,259 have yet to be recovered and 4,901 remain unidentified.
During the first phase of the 500-Day Campaign to Accelerate the Search, Recovery and Identification of Martyrs’ Remains, the city recovered 138 sets of remains in accordance with its targets.
It also completed DNA sample collection at all 144 martyrs’ cemeteries, inspecting and collecting samples from 25,672 graves.
The city has handed over 5,960 samples from martyrs’ remains to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for DNA testing.
These achievements provide an important foundation for Danang to continue searches in areas where relevant information is available, accelerate the identification of fallen soldiers whose identities remain unknown, and help fulfil the hopes and wishes of their relatives and families. - Vietnam News/ANN
