Over 15,000 Samples of Martyrs’ Remains Transported to Hanoi for DNA Identification
Hanoi, The Gulf Observer: More than 15,000 biological samples taken from the remains of fallen soldiers have been transported to Hanoi for DNA testing and other forensic procedures aimed at accurately identifying the martyrs.
The Military Region 9 High Command, in coordination with the Air Defence-Air Force Service and the Party committees and People’s Committees of Can Tho City and the provinces of Ca Mau, An Giang, Vinh Long and Dong Thap, organized a ceremony at Can Tho International Airport on Monday to hand over and transport the samples.
The samples were carried aboard a CASA-C295 military transport aircraft operated by the 918 Air Brigade.
Lieutenant General Ho Van Thai, Secretary of the Military Region 9 Party Committee and Political Commissar, said the operation was conducted in response to the nationwide 500-day campaign aimed at accelerating the search for, collection and identification of the remains of fallen soldiers.
He said the transportation of 15,401 samples was the 11th such operation and the first to be conducted using a military transport aircraft.
According to incomplete statistics, the armed forces of Military Region 9 recorded 182,377 martyrs from provinces and cities across Vietnam who sacrificed their lives on battlefields in the Mekong Delta and neighbouring Cambodia during the war within the region’s operational area.
The biological samples were transported to Hanoi and handed over to the Military Forensic Institute under the Ministry of National Defence, the Institute of Criminal Sciences under the Ministry of Public Security and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.
The institutions will conduct DNA testing and other forensic procedures to establish the identities of the fallen soldiers and facilitate the return of identified remains to their families and local communities.
Lieutenant General Ho Van Thai expressed confidence that advances in science and technology, together with the efforts of the current generation, would help accurately identify the remains and enable more fallen heroes to be returned to their homeland.
The operation reflects Vietnam’s continuing efforts to honour fallen soldiers and assist families in locating and identifying the remains of their loved ones.
