On the morning of June 8, the National Steering Committee for searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains (National Steering Committee 515) coordinated with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to organize a workshop to verify and conclude information about martyrs and martyrs' graves at Do Thanh Cemetery (Chi Hoa - Saigon, now Le Thi Rieng Park, Hoa Hung ward).
At the conference, experts, researchers and historical witnesses provided many important documents and accounts, contributing to consolidating the basis for identifying the mass grave of martyrs formed after the General Offensive and Uprising of Spring Mau Than 1968.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuoc (70 years old, Xuan Thoi Son commune), who has lived since childhood in Bac Hai area, next to Chi Hoa Cemetery, said that after Tet Mau Than 1968, he witnessed the mass burial at the cemetery.
According to the story, the engineering force dug 3 large tunnels but only used 2 tunnels for burial. The bodies were transported by trucks and fire trucks, then buried in many layers in large-scale tunnels. "Based on the actual scale at that time, I estimate that the two collective burial tunnels had about 600 - 700 people" - Mr. Phuoc said.
He also said that during the clearance of Chi Hoa Cemetery in 1983 to build Le Thi Rieng Park, only graves with steles or clear traces were removed. The mass grave area was leveled but remained unchanged.
Another witness, Mr. Vo Huy Thinh (70 years old, Phu Nhuan ward) recounted that about 10 days after Tet Mau Than, he witnessed many ambulances continuously bringing corpses into the cemetery area.
I saw the bodies being taken down near the morgue and then moved to an empty lot with a lot of reeds and wild plants for mass burial. From the observation position, you can see the Bac Hai apartment complex behind. There are many bodies, mostly men, many people are no longer intact due to bombs and bullets" - Mr. Thinh recalled. The bodies were stacked in layers under a large pit before being leveled by bulldozers.
Colonel Bui Yen Tinh - Deputy Director of the Operations Department, General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army - said that the research group has summarized and compared many different sources of documents, including scene photos, non-photos, military maps, archival documents, information about the process of clearing Chi Hoa Cemetery as well as the results of previous searches.
In addition, the research group also collected testimonies from witnesses, surveyed the field and analyzed information sources related to the collection of martyrs' remains after the Mau Than war in the Saigon - Cho Lon area.
Research results show that there is a basis to determine that this area exists 3 mass grave ditches with a number of martyrs of about 900 people" - Colonel Bui Yen Tinh said.
Speaking at the conclusion of the workshop, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Tra - Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the National Steering Committee 515 - affirmed that through the system of dossiers, historical documents, scientific papers, expert opinions and witness accounts, there is a full historical, scientific and legal basis to determine with high reliability the existence of the collective grave of martyrs at Le Thi Rieng Park.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the necessary conditions are sufficient to deploy in-depth surveys, searches and excavations according to regulations.
The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to urgently develop a master plan, closely coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense, Military Region 7 and relevant agencies to mobilize maximum resources to serve the search and repatriation work.
The implementation must be carried out methodically, scientifically, strictly and cautiously. Areas that have been clearly identified, such as 3 grave trenches at Le Thi Rieng Park, will be prioritized for implementation first; unclear locations will continue to be surveyed and zoned to accurately determine.
At the latest in early July, we must complete the necessary tasks to deploy excavations, towards the 79th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs' Day" - Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra emphasized.
