More than half a century searching for you
On July 25, the Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee of Hop Tien commune, Thanh Hoa province, in coordination with the family, solemnly organized a ceremony to receive, commemorate and bury martyr Nguyen Trong Cat - who sacrificed himself on the southern battlefield more than 50 years ago.
Attending the memorial service were representatives of local leaders, comrades, relatives of martyrs and a large number of people.
Martyr Nguyen Trong Cat was born in 1952, from Hop Tien commune, Thanh Hoa province. He sacrificed in 1972 on the Southern battlefield, his remains are buried at Nga Bay - Phung Hiep Martyrs' Cemetery, Can Tho City.
After many years of not being able to identify the specific grave, the identity of martyr Nguyen Trong Cat has been determined by the method of DNA testing and comparison.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Trong Bay, born in 1960, younger brother of martyr Nguyen Trong Cat, said that on July 24, the family brought the martyr's remains back to their homeland, closing the journey of more than half a century of waiting and searching.
According to Mr. Bay, the family has 6 siblings, including 5 sons. Four people in the family once enlisted in the army.
His two older brothers, Nguyen Trong Cat, born in 1952, and Nguyen Trong Khanh, born in 1956, joined the army in 1971. In 1972, both died at a very young age.
“On the day of receiving the death certificate, my mother and family were extremely heartbroken. However, suppressing the pain, my parents still always hoped that one day they would find their children to bring back to their homeland. Unfortunately, my parents could not wait until that day. My mother died in 1981, my father died in 1985” - Mr. Bay recalled.
Before passing away, his parents instructed their children to try their best to find the graves of their two older brothers and bring their remains back to their hometown for incense offerings.
Implementing that advice, for many years, the three brothers in the family regularly searched and asked for information about comrades, units and places where the two martyrs fought. However, the search did not achieve results. Over time, the two remaining brothers also passed away due to old age, only Mr. Bay, the youngest brother, continued to shoulder the responsibility of finding the two brothers.
The grave of martyr Nguyen Trong Khanh was found first because there was still enough information. About 10 years ago, the family brought martyr Khanh's remains from a martyrs' cemetery in Quang Tri province to his hometown cemetery for burial, care and incense offering.
Regarding martyr Nguyen Trong Cat, after many years of searching but no information, about 3 years ago, the family was informed by an old comrade that his remains may be buried at Nga Bay - Phung Hiep Martyrs' Cemetery, Can Tho City.
Immediately after receiving the information, Mr. Bay went to the cemetery to search. However, the old comrade only remembered the burial area, and the specific grave has no name, age, or hometown, so the family cannot identify it yet.
By 2025, when the program to collect DNA samples from relatives of unidentified martyrs was implemented, Mr. Bay's family immediately registered to take samples for testing and comparison.
After a period of waiting, the family received notification that the DNA sample of the relative matched the remains of martyr Nguyen Trong Cat.
After preparing all procedures, the family went to Nga Bay - Phung Hiep Martyrs' Cemetery to bring his remains back to his homeland. After many long years, now I have fulfilled my promise to my parents, found him and brought him back to his motherland" - Mr. Bay said emotionally.
DNA brings martyrs home
Like the family of martyr Nguyen Trong Cat, the family of martyr Le Dong Coi, in Tan Ninh commune, Thanh Hoa province, found the grave of their loved one through DNA testing and comparison.
On July 12, the Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee of Tan Ninh commune coordinated with the family to organize a ceremony to receive, commemorate and bury the remains of martyr Le Dong Coi - who sacrificed himself in the Southern battlefield more than 50 years ago.
Martyr Le Dong Coi was born in 1952, from Tan Ninh commune, Thanh Hoa province. In December 1970, he volunteered to enlist in the army.
On July 20, 1973, in a fierce battle in the Southern battlefield, martyr Le Dong Coi heroically sacrificed himself. The martyr's remains were later buried at Nga Bay - Phung Hiep Martyrs' Cemetery, Can Tho City.
For more than half a century, the family and relatives of the martyr have been constantly searching, hoping to identify the grave to bring his remains back to his homeland, but there has been no result.
Recently, through the program of collecting DNA samples from relatives of unidentified martyrs, with the support of the Liaison Committee of Veterans of Regiment 1, Military Region 9 and functional agencies, the identity of martyr Le Dong Coi's remains has been accurately identified.
After more than 50 years away from home, the martyr's remains were solemnly welcomed back by his family, local authorities and people, and buried in his hometown.
Martyr Nguyen Trong Cat and martyr Le Dong Coi are 2 of the 10 martyrs from Thanh Hoa who have been identified by DNA testing up to the present time.
According to Thanh Hoa Provincial Police, the whole province has completed the collection of 37,808 DNA samples from relatives of martyrs. Thanh Hoa is currently the locality with the largest number of collected DNA samples from relatives of martyrs in the country.
