Emotional day welcoming martyrs who died in Cambodia back to their motherland

Delegates bring the martyrs to the cemetery for burial. (Photo: Nguyen Dung/VNA)

Carrying out the sacred mission of the Fatherland, many generations of young people from all over the country have set out to perform the noble international mission in the friendly land of Cambodia.

Your blood was shed on the battlefield of our friendly land, so that Cambodia can have peace , so that the friendship between the two peoples can last forever.

The war has been over for nearly half a century, bringing you back to your homeland is the burning desire and longing of your family, comrades and today's generation.

A journey of a thousand miles to find martyrs

The war is long gone, but the pain remains, of which the greatest pain is that there are still many martyrs whose information has not been identified and whose graves have not been found.

At the end of 2000, the Agreement between the Governments of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia was signed. The leaders of the two provinces of Dak Lak (Vietnam) and Mondulkiri (Cambodia) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to organize the search and recovery of the remains of Vietnamese martyrs who died on the battlefield in Cambodia and repatriate them to their homeland.

Over the past 23 years since its establishment, the officers and soldiers of the Team for searching and collecting the remains of martyrs, volunteer soldiers and Vietnamese experts who died in Cambodia (K51), Dak Lak Provincial Military Command, have collected 746 remains of martyrs who died during the war.

Despite countless difficulties and hardships, the K51 Team soldiers still continued the journey with the highest will and determination to find and bring their fallen comrades back to their motherland.

After 8 years of working with the Team, Major Vu Hong Hien, Squad Leader of Team K51, has become accustomed to "eating in shacks and sleeping in the forest."

Recalling 2018, the first year participating in the Search and Collection Team, Major Vu Hong Hien said that the area where Team K51 collected the remains of martyrs in Cambodia was often rugged and complicated, mainly by foot, and in some places, only accessible by river.

In addition to hand tools, each soldier in the Team usually carries enough food for 7-10 days. During the journey of thousands of miles to find martyrs, there were many trips that were fruitless, but there were also lucky times when they found not only the graves of their comrades but also many battlefield memorabilia.

“Finding you guys, we were very happy and excited, it was a source of strong motivation to continue searching and repatriating the martyrs as quickly as possible. When digging up, seeing the layers of clothes that you guys were wearing, I had many emotions that are hard to describe in words, I could only happily shout: Here you are, you guys are here! In reality, when digging up your graves, some of you only had a few biological remains, while others had nothing left, just a row of buttons or some relics, it was very painful!,” Major Vu Hong Hien shared.

National Steering Committee 515 and the Military Region's working delegation presented gifts and encouraged officers and soldiers of Team K51 in their mission of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains. (Photo: Nguyen Dung/VNA)

On the journey to search for martyrs' remains, the soldiers in the Team have sacrificed their own health. Doctor Le Quoc Long said that it has been 9 years since he was assigned to Team K51, every year he goes with the team to Cambodia to search for martyrs' remains.

During the search on friendly land, there were many times when soldiers contracted diseases, including malaria. A typical case was that of comrade Vi Duong Thanh, who suffered from thrombocytopenia of unknown cause leading to bleeding.

In an emergency situation, under difficult conditions, the brothers in the Team had a plan to promptly propose to the Commander to bring the comrade back home for treatment. Up to now, the comrade's health has stabilized.

Team K51 is tasked with searching for and collecting martyrs' remains in the area of ​​4 districts: Pech Chenda, Kaev Seima, Kaoh Nheaek, Ou Reang and Saen Monourom city (Kingdom of Cambodia). This is a mountainous area with vast and complex terrain, difficult roads, and extremely harsh weather and climate.

The search is becoming more and more difficult because information about the martyrs is scarce, those who fought together in the past are old, many have passed away; many concentrated graves have almost been discovered, most of the remaining graves are scattered in high mountains, along rivers and streams.

To achieve the best results in the search, before each trip, the Team divided into many survey groups, seeking out Cambodian battlefield veterans to ask for more information.

Lieutenant Colonel Trinh Ngoc Kiem, Captain of Team K51, said that as long as there is a little information, even if it is very fragile and hundreds of kilometers away, the Team will immediately set out to find it.

Emotional return day

The remains of 27 martyrs , Vietnamese volunteers and experts, were found by Team K51 in the dry season of 2023-2024. Returning to their homeland, the motherland of Vietnam, the bright red color of the national flag was covered over the remains of the martyrs.

Before the heroic souls, the Party Committee, government, armed forces and people of 49 ethnic groups in Dak Lak province respectfully offer flowers, incense and show infinite gratitude to you - those who did not hesitate to sacrifice their blood and bones for the peace and independence of the two nations.

“This year’s weather is very harsh, changing erratically, affecting the health of officers and soldiers, as well as water sources, food, provisions… With the spirit of “where there is information, there is presence”, we are determined to overcome all difficulties and hardships to verify, search, collect and process information. In the past five years, this time the Search Team has found the most with 27 martyrs’ remains with full relics and evidence, close to the information provided to organize the collection. When we feel, dig and find traces of martyrs, all fatigue and hardships are compensated,” said Lieutenant Colonel Trinh Ngoc Kiem.

According to Ms. H'Yim Kđoh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dak Lak province, the great efforts of the officers and soldiers of Team K51 have contributed to the noble and profound humanitarian meaning, partly reducing the pain and loss for the relatives of the martyrs' families.

The sacred mission of the officers and soldiers of Team K51 received great attention from the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province, especially the deep sentiments of the ethnic groups in the province.

The remains of 27 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died during the war on the battlefield in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, will be gathered in the 2023-2024 dry season. (Photo: Nguyen Dung/VNA)

Moved and emotional, veteran Pham Xuan Soa (Tan Lap ward, Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak) shared: “Every martyr has a name and age before leaving. War is cruel, requiring sacrifices of blood and bones to gain today’s independence. Every time I come to burn incense for the martyrs, I am very grateful, moved and emotional for their great sacrifices for the Fatherland.”

Ms. Pham Thi Kim Cuc (Tan Lap Ward, Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province) said that she is a relative of a martyr whose mother is currently buried at the Dak Lak Martyrs Cemetery. As soon as she heard the news of the repatriation of 27 martyrs' remains this time, she was very moved and was present to welcome the martyrs as if welcoming her own relatives back to their homeland.

Ms. H'Yim Kđoh, Vice Chairwoman of the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee affirmed that from now on, the martyrs will forever rest in peace at the Dak Lak Provincial Martyrs Cemetery, under the soil of Mother Vietnam, in the boundless love of their compatriots and comrades.

With all our sincere respect and deep gratitude, the Fatherland and the people will forever remember the great contributions of the martyrs. The army and people of all ethnic groups in Dak Lak province vow to unite, join hands and strive to build the homeland to become increasingly rich, civilized and unique, which is what the heroic martyrs and predecessors always wished for before they passed away.

Although knowing that the journey to find and bring the martyrs back to their homeland is still full of hardships and difficulties, the officers and soldiers of Team K51 always overcome, regardless of difficulties, upholding the spirit of responsibility in searching, gathering, and retrieving the martyrs' remains, bringing them back to their homeland, contributing to somewhat easing the pain of loss of the martyrs' families./.

Due to the long time that has passed, the remains have been severely damaged and the martyrs' immediate relatives have gradually passed away, so the old methods of identifying martyrs by DNA in Vietnam are not very effective.

According to vietnamplus.vn

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/xuc-dong-ngay-don-cac-liet-sy-hy-sinh-tai-campuchia-tro-ve-voi-dat-me-post957704.vnp

Source: https://baolongan.vn/xuc-dong-ngay-don-cac-liet-sy-hy-sinh-tai-campuchia-tro-ve-voi-dat-me-a177329.html