A ceremony to place the remains of fallen heroes onto a military aircraft for transport to Hanoi, where they will undergo DNA analysis. Photo: VNA   

This was the 12th transport operation and the second to use military aircraft. It also marked the completion of sample collection by Military Region 9 under the 500-day campaign to intensify the search for, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains nationwide.

At the tribute ceremony, jointly organised by the Military Region 9 Command, the Air Defence – Air Force Service and authorities of Can Tho city and An Giang, Vinh Long and Dong Thap provinces, participants offered flowers and incense to commemorate fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for the independence and freedom of the nation, and in fulfilment of noble international duties.

Lieutenant General Ho Van Thai, Political Commissar of Military Region 9, said that many fallen soldiers remain buried at former battlefields in Vietnam and neighbouring countries, while hundreds of thousands of graves are still unidentified, leaving families without information about their loved ones.

To date, Military Region 9 has recovered 1,104 sets of martyrs’ remains, including 748 in Vietnam and 356 in Cambodia, achieving 122.66% of its 2026 target and 76.13% of the campaign's target.

On October 10, the command completed sample collection at all 107 martyrs’ cemeteries containing unidentified graves, nearly seven months ahead of schedule. Of the 41,231 graves excavated, 31,963 were eligible for sampling.

Before this transport operation, the command had conducted 11 shipments involving 23,557 biological samples.

Thai stressed that Military Region 9 will continue its efforts to fulfil its responsibility towards fallen soldiers, helping ease the pain of war and uphold Vietnam’s tradition of gratitude to previous generations./.