On August 25, Steering Committee 515 of An Giang province organized a workshop to collect information and determine the location of martyrs' graves in the Tram Du area (Tram 800 Forest), Lung Lon hamlet, Hoa Dien commune.
Colonel Cao Minh Tam, Deputy Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command, said that through documents and information from veterans and witnesses, in early March 1970, Special Forces Battalion 3 and artillery forces were mobilized to the Southwest battlefield. During the march and shelter in the melaleuca forest area, the unit was detected by the enemy and attacked by many forces and vehicles. The battle was fierce, causing great losses, and many officers and soldiers sacrificed in conditions where they could not be fully buried.
To clarify information, over the past time, the An Giang Provincial Military Command has coordinated with agencies, units, localities, veterans and witnesses to organize many verification and survey phases. Based on information from US military documents that have been declassified, combined with relevant documents, functional forces surveyed 8 locations suspected of having fallen martyrs in areas belonging to Hoa Dien, Binh Giang and Vinh Dieu communes.
Especially in Lung Lon hamlet, Hoa Dien commune, some suspicious locations are located in the fruit garden area and land belonging to Farm 422. The terrain here has changed a lot compared to the time of the battle. This is one of the major difficulties in accurately determining the burial location of martyrs after more than half a century.
At the conference, veterans, historical witnesses, comrades of martyrs and representatives of agencies and units focused on exchanging and comparing unit codes, marching processes, battle developments, battlefield terrain, locations of sacrifices, burials of officers and soldiers and changes in the Tram Du area over time. Many information, memories and documents were provided directly, contributing to supplementing the basis for verification work.
The conference initially unified the forces suffering losses and sacrifices mainly in the Tram Du area in the battle on March 3, 1970, which were Special Forces Battalion 3, under Special Forces Brigade 429 and Artillery Company 5, under Artillery Regiment 75; the scale of losses was about 300 officers and soldiers.
Based on comparing witness information, historical documents and field survey results, the conference also initially agreed to zone the key area in Lung Lon hamlet, Hoa Dien commune to continue surveying, verifying, mapping and organizing searches and repatriations.
Speaking at the conclusion of the workshop, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Phuoc requested the Provincial Military Command to direct functional agencies to urgently complete the workshop minutes, fully systematize the information of witnesses, update records, decode unit codes, as a basis for the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs. Team K92 urgently develops a field survey plan in the Tram 800 forest area, organizes exploration and excavation suitable to terrain characteristics, especially in flooded areas; ensuring strictness, science, caution, compliance with regulations and not omitting information and traces.
