Wartime records, martyrs’ belongings returned to families with fallen heroes
SGGP
The Association for Supporting Martyrs’ Families in Ba Ria–Vung Tau branch, Battalion 445, war veterans and relatives of fallen soldiers received wartime records and martyrs’ belongings from the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive.
On the morning of July 28, the Vietnam Association for Supporting Martyrs’ Families, in coordination with its branch in Ho Chi Minh City, hosted a ceremony to return war evidence records to the Ba Ria–Vung Tau branch, Battalion 445, war veterans and relatives of fallen soldiers.
The ceremony took place in Vung Tau Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
As part of the event, the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive, Texas Tech University handed over a nearly 200-page file containing relic documentation.
One of the relic documentation files was returned on this occasion.
At the ceremony, representatives from Texas Tech University delivered emotional speeches, expressing a spirit of remembrance, gratitude and a commitment to long-term collaboration.
Dr. Ron Milam, a U.S. veteran who served in the war in Vietnam, emotionally shared that he is not here as a soldier revisiting the former battlefield, but as a citizen of a peaceful nation to jointly remember those who have fallen and will never forget them.
Friendly handshakes
Dr. Steve Maxner, Director of the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University expressed deep gratitude to the Vietnamese organizations and individuals who helped organize the event.
Dr. Steve Maxner, Director of the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University, was deeply touched upon receiving a Vietnamese soldier’s pith helmet as a gift.
He also emphasized that this event holds special significance as it marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Vietnam and the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Vietnam–U.S. relations.
At the same time, Dr. Ron Milam emphasized that the handover of these documentary records of the war is not only an act of honoring the fallen soldiers but also a contribution to strengthening the friendship between the two nations.
The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive hopes to continue working with Vietnamese authorities to return more available materials and further promote friendship and cooperation for humanitarian purposes.
The returned documents on this occasion carry deep humanitarian value, helping connect the families of fallen soldiers with their past and offering renewed hope in the ongoing efforts to search for and verify information about those missing in the war.
Colonel Dang Danh Hung, Head of the Organization and Policy Department of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Martyrs’ Families, thanked the center for its contributions in helping the association locate information and return the personal belongings of martyrs to their families.
Colonel Nguyen Quang Nghia, Head of the Liaison Committee of Battalion 445, stated that during a decade of fighting in the Ba Ria – Long Khanh battlefield, 762 officers and soldiers of the battalion lost their lives, with the remains of 58 martyrs still unrecovered.
These valuable documents serve as important sources of information to help the committee strengthen efforts to locate the remains and personal belongings of fallen battalion members during the resistance war.
