On July 22, the Team for Searching and Repatriating Martyrs' Remains of the Military Command (CHQS) of Da Nang City said that they continued to discover and exhume 1 more martyr's remains in the Da Sap Cave area (K600), Ha Nha commune, raising the total number of martyrs' remains found here to 8.
Colonel Tran Huu Ich, Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, Commander of the City Military Command, directly inspected the scene, encouraged officers and soldiers on duty; and at the same time directed to continue to expand the search scope, carefully review each area suspected of having traces of martyrs, ensuring that no remains and artifacts left in the cave are missed.
For many days continuously sticking to the scene, officers and soldiers of the Team for Searching and Repatriating Martyrs' Remains have overcome dangerous terrain, cramped space, lack of light and the risk of landslides in the cave.
Each layer of soil and rock is carefully peeled off by hand; each small trace is checked, marked, collected and carefully preserved. It is this persistence, meticulousness and sense of responsibility that has helped the task force find the remains of the 8th martyr, in accordance with information collected from historical witnesses, field survey results and previous verification conferences.
Along with the remains, the search force also discovered many artifacts such as fabric pieces, buttons, rubber sandals, pith helmets, ballpoint pens, medicine bottles and some living and combat items left over from the war.
All remains, artifacts and biological samples are collected and preserved according to the correct procedures to serve DNA testing and identify martyrs.
Da Sap Cave is not a single cave but an entire cave complex with many deep niches connected to each other in the heart of the mountain. The cave entrance was once collapsed by enemy bombs, many locations were filled with soil and rocks, the cave floor was damp, the space was cramped and there was a potential risk of landslides.
Although 8 remains have been found according to initial verification results, the City Military Command continues to direct the expansion of searches, because it is not ruled out that there are still other martyrs who sacrificed and remained in this area.
Directly directing at the scene, Colonel Tran Huu Ich requested agencies and units to continue to drastically implement the Campaign "500 days and nights searching, collecting and identifying martyrs' remains"; strongly shift from passive thinking of receiving information to proactively searching for and exploiting all sources of information.
In addition to meeting with historical witnesses, reviewing records and archived documents, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and screening information in newspapers, social networks and people's reflections; when there is a basis, it is necessary to quickly organize surveys, verify and deploy search forces immediately.
Comrade Commander of the City Military Command emphasized that the search and repatriation work must take advantage of every day, every hour, because the remains have remained in the ground for more than half a century, and biological samples can continue to decompose, directly affecting DNA testing and identifying martyrs.
If delayed, no longer meeting the conditions for taking DNA samples, it is not only a pain for the relatives of the martyrs but also considered a failure of the task force.
Therefore, agencies and units must act urgently, drastically but absolutely cautiously, taking every opportunity to return the names of the martyrs and bring them back to their families, comrades and homeland after more than half a century lying on the battlefield.
