During the American War, countless Vietnamese fought and died for their nation, and many of the martyrs’ remains have been lost in Laos for the past 40 years. Now, a new generation of soldiers is bringing them back home.
- Extracted from Tran Bien, Tran Hoai and Ho Linh, “Soldiers bring martyr remains back home”, Vietnam News, 27 July 2008.
One sometimes hears of the ongoing American efforts to account for all of their dead and missing from the war in Southeast Asia. This is, however, the first time I have heard of the efforts of the Vietnamese to recover their war dead in Laos. For anyone with even a passing interest in this period of Southeast Asian history the long and detailed Vietnam News article is certainly worth a look.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Grant Evans // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:43 am
This ‘recovery of martyrs’ has been going on for a long time, and reported on for an equally long time. Indeed, monuments to these ‘martyrs,’ can be found in Xieng Khoang and elsewhere.
It is in contrast to the situation before 1975 when the existence of ‘Vietnamese volunteers’ (approximately 50,000 of them) were categorically denied by Hanoi and by the Pathet Lao. This was the communist sides contribution to the so-called ‘Secret War’ in Laos.
It was Prime Minister Prince Souvanna Phouma’s objection to Vietnamese troops passing through Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail that dragged poor old Laos into the maelstrom of the Vietname War.
2 Laurent // Aug 1, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Vientiane Times newspaper regularly reports on the transfer back home of remains of Vietnamese fighters with official ceremomies and flags.
It reports on the dead American pilots as well.
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