22 martyrs' remains return after days of searching
More than half a century has passed, but the journey to find the children who fell for the Fatherland has not stopped.
With the campaign "500 days and nights to promote the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs' remains", Lao Cai is continuing to race against time, searching for each trace, bringing the martyrs back to their comrades, families and homeland.
In the first 7 months of 2026, the work of searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains in Lao Cai province was deployed synchronously, initially achieving many positive results.
This result was recorded during the implementation of phase 1 of the campaign "500 days and nights to promote the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs' remains".
This is a campaign of special significance, aimed at focusing resources on searching for lost martyrs' graves, and at the same time gradually identifying the identities of remains that do not have sufficient information.
According to the Steering Committee for searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains of Lao Cai province, immediately after deploying the campaign, the province consolidated the organization, issued leadership and direction documents, and developed implementation plans suitable to the actual situation.
In the search and repatriation work, functional forces surveyed and verified 35/55 information about martyrs and martyrs' graves; mobilized more than 4,500 working days, organized excavation and search on an area of about 741 hectares.
From March 15, 2026 to now, the whole province has searched and collected 22 sets of remains of martyrs.
Among them, 14 remains have been handed over, memorial services and burials have been organized; 8 remains are continuing to carry out necessary procedures before burial.
Along with searching, the work of identifying martyrs' remains is also being promoted.
The whole province has completed sampling at 16/16 cemeteries with 1,250 graves. To date, 820 samples have been collected, completing 12 months ahead of schedule as assigned by the National Steering Committee.
More than 3,100 gene samples of relatives of martyrs have also been collected. This is an important basis for testing, DNA matching, contributing to identifying martyrs whose information is unclear.
The above figures show the great efforts of the forces participating in the campaign.
However, there is still a huge amount of work ahead, especially in areas where there is information about fallen soldiers but they have not been searched for and gathered.
Finding the traces of those who fell
According to Mr. Giang Quoc Hung - Vice Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee (Head of the Steering Committee), the goal of phase 2 is to continue searching for left-open information, prioritizing key areas with many traces of martyrs, striving to complete 100% of the campaign's targets.
To do that, the search force will be strengthened in inspection and urging, and at the same time coordinate to clear bombs and mines in key areas and core areas before organizing searches.
The province also requests to ensure sufficient means, regimes, and policies for the forces directly performing tasks.
Along with field searches, identity identification through DNA continues to be promoted.
Relevant units will receive and match the appraisal results, continue to take samples of remains and samples of relatives of martyrs, thereby gradually returning names to graves with unclear information.
Mr. Giang Quoc Hung also emphasized the role of veterans and people in providing valuable information about martyrs and martyrs' graves.
The province plans to build a separate information channel for the 500 Days and Nights Campaign, regularly updating search results, thereby connecting with those who still preserve memories, documents and clues related to the martyrs.
This is a sacred, noble and extremely important task," Mr. Giang Quoc Hung affirmed.
Each remains found, each identity identified, the decades-long journey of a family has more opportunities to be closed.
That is also how Lao Cai continues to implement the morality of "When drinking water, remember the source", expressing gratitude to those who sacrificed for the independence and peace of the country.
