On the morning of December 8, at the Southern National Funeral Home (Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City), the Military Region 7 Command solemnly held a memorial service for 12 soldiers of Battalion 17, Division 5, Military Region 7, who died on December 2 while participating in a drill.
The list of 12 martyrs includes: Senior Sergeant Dang Quoc Binh (20 years old) and Sergeants Bui Truong An (22 years old), Trinh Doan The Anh (19 years old), Hong Chi Tai (19 years old), Truong Van Tien (25 years old), Thong Minh Kiet (20 years old), Vo Thanh Hieu (20 years old), Pham Ngoc Hieu (24 years old), Lam Hoang Nhat (21 years old), Nguyen Ho Gia Huy (19 years old), Bui Hy Lap (20 years old), Nguyen Trong Hoa (19 years old).
At 6:45 a.m., Lieutenant General Nguyen Truong Thang - Commander of Military Region 7 - awarded the Third Class Fatherland Protection Medal posthumously by President Luong Cuong to relatives of 12 martyrs' families.
At the same time, Political Commissar of Military Region 7 Tran Hoai Trung awarded the Certificate of Merit to representatives of the families.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet - Secretary of the Central Youth Union, also awarded the Brave Youth Badge to the martyrs' relatives.
From 7:15 a.m., delegations began to pay their respects to the 12 martyrs. President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent wreaths of condolences.
Many former Party and State leaders came to pay their respects, including: Former President Nguyen Minh Triet, former President Truong Tan Sang, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and former Standing Member of the Secretariat Le Hong Anh.
The memorial service and funeral of the martyrs took place at 11am the same day. The soldiers were buried at the martyrs' cemeteries in Binh Thuan, Binh Duong, Dong Nai provinces and other local cemeteries.
