Following the traces underground in Con Tien
In the last days of August, in the Con Tien base area, the Steering Committee for searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains of Quang Tri province coordinated with Division 968, Military Region 4 to continue surveying locations suspected of having martyrs' graves sacrificed in the battle on May 8, 1967.
Amidst the rubber trees covering the old battlefield, each area is marked, each layer of soil is opened. Besides collecting information from veterans, witnesses and local people, the search force also uses ground-penetrating radar to identify anomalies deep underground.
Survey results in the East and Southeast areas of Con Tien base recorded some areas of land showing signs of disturbance, about 2-3m wide, about 2-2.2m deep, with lengths in some places up to tens of meters. From these signs, Division 968 forces cordoned off the area, mobilized specialized machinery combined with manual excavation for inspection.
Lieutenant Colonel Cao Xuan Cuong - Team Leader of the Repatriation Team, Political Department of Division 968 said that to identify a suspicious location, the unit must summarize and compare many sources of information. Those are the stories of veterans who directly fought in Con Tien; the combat history of the units; dossiers of land handover; information of people who had reclaimed land and produced in this area. The unit also accessed some documents and information from the US and people who had fought to find more bases.
According to some sources, in this area there used to be a mass grave of more than 100 martyrs with a length of about 60m, width 2-2.5m, depth 2.5-3m. However, after more than half a century, the terrain has changed, trees have covered it, and many war traces have been buried by time. Through inspection of some points with unusual signals, functional forces have discovered traces of old trenches and fortifications, but the location of the martyrs' burial has not been determined.
Gifts to support soldiers
Mr. Le Van Hung - Gio Son village - shared that when the locality announced that the army forces would organize a search for martyrs' remains, the people all agreed and were ready to cooperate. For him, the biggest wish is for the soldiers still lying on this land to be found soon and return to their homeland.
In addition to the support of local people in the process of searching for martyrs' remains in places that are cultivating crops, the Team for Repatriating Martyrs' Remnants of Division 968 also received meaningful gifts from people from all over the country. At the end of July 2026, the repatriation team was given by the Ong Cham Group gifts that are not large in value, but are all directly related to the daily work of officers and soldiers including hoes, shovels, pith helmets, raincoats, digging gloves, flashlights, waterproof backpacks...
For soldiers who stick to the forest all year round, it is a special encouragement. Lieutenant Colonel Le Truong Giang - Political Commissar of the Repatriation Team said that this is the first time the unit has received such practical gifts. The team to search for and repatriate martyrs' remains under the Political Department of Division 968 was established in December 2017. Since then, the footprints of officers and soldiers have been imprinted on many forests, hillsides, and old battlefields. There are positions that have to be dug for many days but only meet old trenches. There are signs that seem very close to hope, but when the last layer of soil is opened, the search must start from another location. However, as long as there is still a source of information, a memory of witnesses or an unusual sign underground, the repatriated soldiers continue to set off.
