US soldiers’ remains repatriated

A ceremony to send back the remains of four US soldiers was held at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport on Tuesday, the 112th repatriation of its kind since 1973, according to the US Embassy.

The remains and their relics, which were sent in four coffins, were found during a cooperative search conducted between this October and November and were handed in by local people. Initial autopsies by the two countries’ experts showed that the remnants might belong to US soldiers who were lost in the Vietnam War. However, they were sent to Hawaii State for further examination. Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, the US Government’s representative expressed gratitude and appreciation for Vietnam’s human and goodwill policy as well as its effective cooperation in the search during the past years. Also on Tuesday a mass grave together with soldiers’ belongings was discovered during excavation work at the construction site of a drainage system in the central province of Quang Ngai. Nguyen Trong Luyen, head of Quang Ngai Town’s Army Steering Committee, said they are yet to identify the remains as also estimate their number. But local agencies suspect it was the grave of Vietnamese soldiers who died in an attack on Quang Ngai Prison under the US army’s control in 1968, according to Luyen. An excavation was planned on Wednesday to carry out further tests. Reported by Huong Giang – Hien Cu