Vietnam Collects 1,488 Remains in War Dead Search Operation - Progress of 500-Day Campaign

The National Steering Committee for the Search, Collection, and Identification of Martyrs' Remains (Committee 515) announced on July 25th that the '500-Day Campaign' has successfully collected a total of 1,488 sets of martyrs' remains. This operation is part of ongoing efforts to collect and identify the remains of fallen soldiers over many years. Of the collected remains, 466 were found and collected within Vietnam. Furthermore, 174 sets of remains were collected from neighboring Laos, and 850 from Cambodia. These remains are believed to belong to soldiers who perished in past conflicts, including the Vietnam War. The '500-Day Campaign' is positioned as an intensive initiative to accelerate the collection and identification of martyrs' remains. The Vietnamese government considers the collection of remains and the accurate identification and return to families of those who died in war as a crucial policy objective. This holds significant importance in strengthening national unity and fostering patriotism among the people. This remains collection activity highlights the government's role in consolidating social cohesion under Vietnam's one-party system and in managing the memory of past wars. It also possesses a diplomatic aspect, maintaining and strengthening cooperative relations with neighboring countries. It is understood that scientific technologies such as DNA testing will be employed for the identification of the collected remains.