Vietnam’s nationwide 500-day campaign to accelerate the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains has made steady progress after 111 days, bringing hope to thousands of families still searching for missing loved ones.

A task force collects DNA samples from the remains of fallen soldiers at the Duc Co Martyrs' Cemetery in Duc Co commune, Gia Lai province.

Launched on March 15, 2026, the campaign combines military, police and scientific efforts to locate remains, collect DNA samples and identify previously unknown martyrs.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra, head of the National Steering Committee 515, which oversees the work, described the initiative as both a responsibility to history and a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

Vietnam still has more than 175,000 fallen soldiers whose remains have not been found and over 300,000 graves lacking full identification, making the work increasingly urgent as many close relatives are now elderly.

Racing against time, ministries, sectors, and localities are mobilising maximum resources to avoid missing the final opportunities to restore the identities of martyrs whose remains have yet to be identified.

Colonel Le Van Son, Deputy Director of the Social Policy Department under the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, and Deputy Chief of the Office of the National Steering Committee 515, said that the military currently maintains 32 search and recovery teams comprising around 1,500 officers and soldiers.

For the collection of DNA samples from the remains of unidentified martyrs buried in martyrs' cemeteries, military regions and provincial- and municipal-level authorities have established more than 300 teams, comprising approximately 3,500 personnel.

The Ministry of National Defence has also established 330 demining teams, with more than 5,000 personnel and over 1,300 specialised vehicles and pieces of equipment.

To date, authorities have recovered more than 1,300 sets of remains, including three mass graves, and collected samples from over 27,000 graves, with more than 20,000 transferred for DNA analysis, Son said.

The Ministry of Public Security has also gathered nearly 95,000 DNA samples from martyrs' relatives and integrated more than 50,000 into the national database.

Localities nationwide have accelerated implementation. Ninh Binh has collected more than 2,700 bone samples, Quang Tri is sampling all 1,320 unidentified graves at Ba Doc Martyrs' Cemetery, while Hai Phong has obtained nearly 18,000 DNA samples from relatives. Ho Chi Minh City is preparing to excavate a suspected mass grave at Le Thi Rieng Park.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung has called on ministries and localities to continue mobilising resources to speed up the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers, describing the campaign as a particularly important political and humanitarian mission ahead of the 79th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day on July 27.

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