The Military Region 7 Party Committee and High Command, in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, held a solemn ceremony to pay tribute to and rebury the remains recovered at Le Thi Rieng Park in Hoa Hung Ward.
After the memorial service, the remains of 731 soldiers were transferred for burial at Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs Cemetery.
Turning decades of waiting into action
Delivering the eulogy, Ho Chi Minh City Vice Chairman Nguyen Manh Cuong paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, revolutionary pioneers, and fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives for national liberation, reunification, and the defense and development of the country.
He also expressed gratitude to veteran revolutionaries, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, People's Armed Forces Heroes, war invalids, martyrs' families, and others who had contributed to the struggle for national independence and freedom.
The eulogy recalled the troops who advanced into the city decades ago. They came from different regions and backgrounds, including farmers, workers, artisans, teachers, and students, both religious and non-religious. Many were barely in their twenties, united by revolutionary ideals and the aspiration for an independent, peaceful, and reunified country where people could live in freedom and happiness.
Upholding the traditions of gratitude and remembrance, Military Region 7 and Ho Chi Minh City's authorities, armed forces, and residents pledged to carry forward the aspirations of those who had sacrificed their lives by working to build and defend the country.
“We will join hands to ease the pain of loss and turn the long, agonizing wait of martyrs' families into concrete action. The search for, recovery, and identification of martyrs' remains, as well as the maintenance and restoration of martyrs' cemeteries and memorials, will continue to receive the city's attention and be pursued persistently, actively and effectively,” Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong said.
Nearly 60 years to come home
From June 23 to October 5, Team K74 and other forces recovered the remains of 731 fallen soldiers at Le Thi Rieng Park. The work is continuing under a nationwide campaign known as the “500-day-and-night drive to accelerate the search for, recovery and identification of martyrs' remains.”
Nearly six decades have passed, and the city has undergone sweeping changes. Yet many soldiers remained buried in what was once a military cemetery within the urban area.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong spoke emotionally about the young soldiers and veteran military doctors who painstakingly sifted through the soil, carefully piecing together fragments and reconstructing skeletal remains in an effort to recover traces obscured by war and the passage of time.
“Because of the fierce wartime conditions and the passage of nearly six decades, the identities, ages, and hometowns of most of the martyrs recovered in this operation have yet to be established. Regardless of where they came from, may their spirits regard Ho Chi Minh City as a welcoming home where they can rest in peace,” the eulogy said.
Alongside the remains, search teams recovered personal belongings that offered poignant glimpses into the soldiers' lives, including faded photographs, medicated oil bottles, combs, leaf-shaped hair clips, necklaces, rings, belts, canteens, rubber sandals, hammocks, tarpaulins, and weapons.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong also highlighted efforts to collect biological samples and DNA from relatives of unidentified martyrs nationwide. The samples are being analyzed and stored in the national gene bank to support identification.
Ho Chi Minh City will continue exploring every available opportunity and method to identify the fallen and bring closure to their families, he said.
At the ceremony, the 731 soldiers were honored as people who had given their youth for the country and whose remains had finally returned to their homeland. They would now rest alongside their comrades, surrounded by the gratitude and affection of those who survived them.
“With our deepest reverence and gratitude, we pray that the souls of these martyrs, the immortal sons and daughters of our nation, may rest peacefully in eternity. The Fatherland and its people will forever remember and honor their sacrifices,” Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong said.
