Family Photos Found in Soldier's Grave Aid Identification Efforts

In Vietnam's Central Highlands, a team excavating war martyrs' remains has discovered several faded photographs within an old wallet. These images are believed to depict the fallen soldiers' families, likely their spouses and children. The discovery was made by the No. 1 Collection Team, under the Gia Lai Provincial Military Command, on August 8, while exhuming remains at My Hiep Martyrs' Cemetery for DNA testing. One photograph shows a man in military uniform, another a young woman, and a third captures two children sitting side-by-side. Officials involved believe the individuals in the photos could be relatives of the martyrs. The search team plans to publicize these pictures to locate next of kin, aiming to aid in the identification of the fallen soldiers. This excavation effort is part of the "500-Day Campaign" to accelerate the search and identification of war martyrs' remains, in anticipation of the 80th anniversary of the War Invalids and Martyrs' Day on July 27, 2027. Gia Lai province has 119 martyrs' cemeteries containing over 41,000 graves. Among these, nearly 11,600 graves in 113 cemeteries have unidentified information. As of the end of July, 2,860 graves have been exhumed across 19 cemeteries, with 1,566 eligible samples handed over to the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine (Ministry of National Defense) for DNA testing. Source: VnExpress