During a working visit to the United States, a Vietnamese delegation led by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Gau, Deputy Minister of National Defense and Standing Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for the Search, Recovery and Identification of Fallen Soldiers’ Remains, met with researchers from the Vietnam War Missing Initiative (VWAI) on Monday.
The meeting aimed to accelerate cooperation with the US in sharing data and mobilizing resources for the search and recovery of fallen soldiers’ remains under Vietnam’s “500-Day-and-Night Campaign.”
The Vietnamese delegation and the research team from the Vietnam War Missing Initiative (VWAI). (Photo: Quang Trung/VOV-Washington)
At the meeting, VWAI researchers handed over documents concerning mass graves of Vietnamese soldiers in the Con Tien area of Quang Tri province following a 1967 battle, as well as at Blue Fire Base in 1971.
VWAI has previously provided Vietnam with more than 50 dossiers on battles and wartime artifacts, including records concerning mass graves at K67A Hospital and Tan Son Nhat Airport. Vietnamese search teams are currently analyzing the information and using it to guide field operations.
VWAI representatives urged Vietnam’s National Steering Committee 515 to continue supporting and facilitating a planned visit by a group of US veterans to former battlefields in Vietnam later this year. The veterans are expected to bring valuable information and wartime artifacts.
On behalf of the National Steering Committee 515 and Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Gau called on the US to increase resources for dioxin remediation in Bien Hoa and Phu Cat, expand assistance programs for people with disabilities, strengthen historical data sharing, provide DNA technology support, and continue close cooperation in the search for missing US service members and Vietnamese soldiers.
