57 years of keeping memories of the fallen comrade
After 57 years lying on the old battlefield, female guerrilla Nguyen Thi Ut was finally found by her comrades and taken to the Can Tho City Martyrs' Cemetery. That moment not only closed the long search journey, but also soothed the remorse that haunted former guerrilla Tran Van Quan for almost his entire life.
Since liberation, I have not heard any news about Ut's relatives. When I found my comrades, I felt very sorry for him...", Mr. Quan said choked with emotion.
This year 76 years old, Mr. Quan (Tan Hoa commune, Can Tho city) still remembers vividly one morning in August 1969 - the day his former comrade forever lay in the middle of Truong Long Tay field. At that time, he was the Deputy Commander of the Tan Hoa Commune Guerrilla Team, directly sticking with his comrades to fight in the area.
According to Mr. Quan's account, at about 8 am, the enemy mobilized many aircraft to deploy troops to sweep through the Chet Tho hamlet area. After many rounds of searching, the aircraft dropped low and fired fiercely into the huts in the middle of the fields. In a hut with 3 people sheltering, female guerrilla Nguyen Thi Ut (commonly known as Ut Mom) sacrificed herself.
The plane circled and then circled down and shot straight at the hut. Ut sacrificed herself, everyone cried. I am so pitiful, I no longer have parents, and no brothers or sisters are by my side," Mr. Quan slowly recounted.
The war passed, and comrades dispersed to each other's places. Mr. Quan himself was still concerned about the female guerrilla lying on the battlefield. From the memories of him and witnesses, the search force persistently surveyed and compared documents to determine the burial location. Nearly 60 years later, the wish of the former guerrilla finally came true.
Very happy! Finding you is very happy. I bowed to you and said: Ut! Please bless me so that my brothers can find me to return to the cemetery, lying here like this?", Mr. Quan emotionally shared.
Clues from the people's hearts
Lieutenant Colonel La Phu Huy - Team Leader of Team K90, Political Department, Military Region 9 - said that in the process of surveying, searching, and repatriating martyrs' remains in the area, the unit always receives enthusiastic support and assistance from the people.
When we learned that the Team for searching and repatriating martyrs' remains came to the area to gather information, people provided a lot of clues, helping us have more basis for searching," Lieutenant Colonel La Phu Huy shared.
According to Lieutenant Colonel La Phu Huy, based on information provided by people, the search force has conducted verification, surveys and organized the repatriation of martyrs' remains. From August 2025 to now, in Military Region 9, Team K90 has searched and repatriated 125 martyrs' remains.
Information from Military Region 9, in the 500-day and night peak campaign to promote the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs' remains that lack information, the unit was assigned the target of searching for and repatriating 1,450 martyrs' remains and completing DNA sampling for 40,928 unidentified martyrs' graves at 107 martyrs' cemeteries before April 30, 2027.
To date, Team K of the Military Region has searched and collected 433 sets of martyrs' remains, including 240 sets in Cambodia, 193 sets in the country; at the same time, the identities of 2 domestic martyrs have been identified.
Regarding DNA sampling work, units have excavated at 17 martyrs' cemeteries, sampling at 4,320 graves. Of which 2,342/3,102 eligible samples have been handed over to the Military Forensic Institute and the Institute of Criminal Science, Ministry of Public Security for DNA testing.
