On August 12, a working delegation led by Major General Le Van Trung, Deputy Political Commissar, Head of the Steering Committee for searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains of Military Region 4, conducted a field inspection of the martyrs' remains search area at Con Tien hill, Con Tien commune, Quang Tri province.
According to information from the Team for Searching and Repatriating Martyrs' Remains (Division 968), Con Tien Hill was once a large stronghold established by the US military. On May 8, 1967, Division 324 coordinated to attack this base and suffered many losses. According to sources provided by the US Veterans Association in Vietnam in 2004, the US buried a mass grave of 173 Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed in this battle in the Con Tien Mountain area (coordinates YD 103703).
In order to accurately determine the location, from August 5 to 6, the Ground-penetrating Radar Task Force of the Institute of Design (General Department of Logistics - Technology) conducted field surveys at 8 suspicious locations. Ground-penetrating radar equipment recorded notable abnormalities.
Specifically, in area N2, 3 disturbance zones appeared located about 30m, 33m and 40m from the base coordinates. These zones have a width of 2 - 3m, a depth of about 2m, and a length of about 50m, 40m and 30m respectively. In area N6, a disturbance zone with a width of 2m, a depth of 2m, extending from the L6 cross-section to the L10 cross-section was detected. In area N7, the disturbance zone was not consistent with higher humidity than the surroundings, about 2m wide and up to 2.2m deep compared to the natural ground.
Based on radar analysis parameters, the Task Force proposed to organize surveying and exploration using trenches (1.5m wide, up to 3m deep) across suspected disturbed areas in areas N2, N3, N6 and N7.
After field trips and listening to reports, Major General Le Van Trung emphasized that the detection of locations showing signs of disturbance is a key basis for continuing to inspect and verify the possibility of the existence of martyrs' remains.
Major General Le Van Trung requested Division 968 to urgently mobilize maximum forces, vehicles, and specialized machinery to organize the search. The search process needs to promote the effectiveness of data from ground-penetrating radar equipment to accurately zone and expand the search for the entire suspected area, absolutely not to miss traces.
Leaders of Military Region 4 also affirmed that they will fully and promptly ensure the conditions on funding, materials, and equipment, creating the most favorable conditions to accelerate the progress of repatriating martyrs' remains in the Con Tien hill area.
