Over the past time, agencies and branches at all levels across Da Nang have made ceaseless efforts to carry out the search for and collection of fallen soldier remains, gradually meeting the aspirations and expectations of martyrs' relatives and families. This has significantly contributed to expressing their deep gratitude to martyrs and their relatives for their great sacrifices and contributions to the cause of national construction and defence.

The Steering Committee 515 held a memorial and burial ceremony for the remains of 14 martyrs of Company 2, Battalion 89 Quang Da, who died during the anti-American resistance war. (Photo taken on April 19, 2021). Photo: LE HUNG

Mapping for searching and collecting martyrs’ remains

The Da Nang Steering Committee for searching and gathering of martyrs’ remains (referred to as the Steering Committee 515) has improved the efficiency of searching, and collecting and identifying information on martyrs' remains, as well as has completed conclusions about search areas and mapped areas for searching and collecting martyrs' remains.

In addition, the Steering Committee 515 has encouraged local residents to provide information on martyrs and martyrs' graves, and organisations and individuals, especially war veterans, former comrades, and elderly people in the locality, to identify martyrs, martyrs' graves and areas that need to be searched and gathered for martyrs' remains.

The unit has drawn up plans, mobilise military forces, and coordinated with all-level authorities to conduct surveys, search and gather martyrs' remains upon receiving information provided from organisations, individuals and war veterans.

As the standing agency of the Steering Committee 515, the municipal Military High Command has received and answered 169 letters to find martyrs' graves, as well as provided financial support in travel and food costs for 16 relatives to find martyrs' graves in a timely and thoughtful manner.

“The city has conducted 54 surveys, and collected and gathered 97 martyrs' remains which were then handed over to the authorities at ward and commune levels. At the same time, the memorial and burial ceremonies have been held at martyr's cemeteries in accordance with regulations" said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen The Duc, Head of the Policy Board of the municipal Military High Command.

Further improve efficiency of search work

Besides the search and gathering of martyrs' remains, the identification and protection of the remains of missing and unknown martyrs has also been prioritised by the Steering Committee 515.

Since 2015, the city’s Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs has digitised all records of people with meritorious services. Up to now, more than 17,831 records of martyrs have been digitised, facilitating for relevant units to manage and for local residents to easily look up.

During the 2016-2018 period, the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs coordinated with the Department of People with Meritorious Services under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs to take 996 biological samples of martyrs' remains with missing information at 6 martyrs cemeteries of Hoa Khuong, Hoa Lien, Hoa Phuoc and Hoa Son, all in Hoa Vang District, Hoa Hai in Ngu Hanh Son District, and Hoa Hiep Nam in Lien Chieu District.

All good biological samples were handed over to the Department of People with Meritorious Services to carry out the DNA testing to identify the remains of martyrs with missing information according to regulations.

In addition, the department collected 18 samples of missing martyrs' remains at cemeteries at the request of martyrs' families for DNA testing.

In 2018, the Da Nang Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs coordinated with the municipal and local-level post offices to implement a project on the electronic portal on martyrs, martyrs' graves and martyrs' cemeteries.

Under the project, the Steering Committee 515 allocated more than VNS70 billion from the city budget and the local Gratitude Fund to embellish martyrs’ graves and cemeteries.

According to the city’s Military High Command, although the search and gathering of martyrs' remains have achieved a number of positive results over recent years, many martyrs’ remains have yet to be collected, and many martyrs' graves have lacked information.

The number of witnesses to graves of martyrs has increasingly decreased. Also, the terrain has changed considerably due to socio-economic development and impacts by weather and climate, thereby causing difficulties for this work.

In order to further improve the efficiency of searching and gathering martyrs’ remains, in the coming time, the Steering Committee 515 will continue to call for organisations and individuals to provide information.

Special attention will be paid to building an integrated database of martyrs and martyrs' graves, adding to the search and gathering map for the remains of martyrs.

“Importance will be attached to promoting the application of information technology in management, connection, exploitation and processing of information sources about martyrs and martyrs' graves to serve the searching and gathering task” emphasised Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen The Duc.

Reporting by LE HUNG - Translating by M.DUNG