Searching and gathering martyrs' remains is also a command from the heart.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave a speech of encouragement and assigned tasks to teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

On the afternoon of July 27, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947 - July 27, 2022), in Ho Chi Minh City, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

Attending the meeting were leaders of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Government Office and representatives of Ho Chi Minh City leaders; team leaders and political commissars representing more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of 23 teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

Reporting to the Prime Minister on the situation and results of the search and collection of martyrs' remains, a representative of the Ministry of National Defense said that the search and collection of martyrs' remains were carried out synchronously, comprehensively, in depth, and achieved good results.

The teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains have accumulated a lot of experience over many years of performing their tasks. Equipment and means serving the search and collection of martyrs' remains are fully ensured, managed and used effectively.

Policies and regulations for officers and soldiers on duty searching for and collecting martyrs' remains have been supplemented and completed promptly to meet mission requirements.

Along with carrying out political tasks, the teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains have done a good job in mass mobilization, military diplomacy, and people's diplomacy; actively coordinated to help people eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, socio-economic development programs, and activities to prevent and combat storms, floods, natural disasters, and epidemics, etc.

Thereby, contributing to strengthening trust and deepening the traditional friendship between Vietnam-Laos, Vietnam-Cambodia; contributing to strongly spreading the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" not only domestically but also to international friends.

With outstanding achievements, 4 teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains and one individual were awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces; nearly 3,200 groups and individuals were awarded medals and certificates of merit of various types; nearly 500 groups and individuals were awarded medals and many other noble awards by the Lao and Cambodian governments.

At the meeting, representatives of the teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains reported on the situation; expressed the honor, great responsibility and special affection of the officers and soldiers for the work of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains; experience in searching for and collecting martyrs' remains; at the same time, reflected on the difficulties and hardships, proposed tasks and solutions to make the work of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains more effective.

Opening his speech at the meeting, the Prime Minister recited two verses from the poem “Star of Victory” by Poet Che Lan Vien expressing the revolutionary ideal so that we can feel the sacrifice and dedication of the nation’s heroic martyrs: “Oh Fatherland, if necessary, we die - For every house, mountain, river.”

The Prime Minister was moved, knowing that many people who left for the battlefield knew they would never return. In fact, after two wars, there were more than 1 million farewells with no reunion.

They returned to their motherland, to the mountains and rivers, to their ancestors when they were only eighteen or twenty years old, without relatives by their side, without a stick of incense, without a last word, and even without an intact body due to the ferocity of war.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presents gifts to representatives of teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

Tears, pain, longing, and weary waiting are still present in every house, street corner, and village. How many families still do not know where their loved ones are? When is the anniversary of their death? And they still carry the hope that one day they will find their loved ones and hold an anniversary on July 27 every year.

“For that reason, searching for martyrs' remains is a humane, compassionate and grateful work towards previous generations,” the Prime Minister affirmed.

The Prime Minister said that these days, the entire Party, people and army have organized many meaningful activities to commemorate and pay tribute to revolutionary predecessors, heroic martyrs, wounded and sick soldiers and people with meritorious services to the revolution who have devoted and sacrificed themselves for the independence, freedom and prosperity of the Fatherland.

The Head of Government emphasized that searching for and collecting martyrs' remains is a major policy of our Party and State, and is the responsibility of the entire political system, of all levels, sectors, units and localities.

The Party and State have entrusted the teams with the task of searching for and collecting the remains of martyrs of military units in the three countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

With hundreds of thousands of martyrs whose remains have not been found, this is a very heavy but also glorious and sacred task.

“We have been and will continue this journey with a compassionate heart, enthusiasm and sacrifice. We do this to ease the pain of the martyrs’ relatives… We will act for the mothers who “saw their children go three times, cried silently twice, the soldiers did not return, the mothers were alone in silence,” for the wives waiting for their husbands, the children waiting for their fathers… We act for the comrades of our soldiers who still have: “The graves of those who left their homeland are scattered across the border – The battlefields are not a waste of their youth,” the Prime Minister was moved.

The Prime Minister expressed his emotion when learning that during the implementation of the mission, the search and collection teams encountered many difficulties, some members fell ill, were injured, and even died because the search and collection areas were basically in remote areas, with difficult and dangerous terrain, harsh climates, and some places still had remaining bombs and mines...

However, with determination, sense of responsibility and deep gratitude, from 1994 to present, search teams have overcome all difficulties and hardships, searching for and collecting over 84 thousand martyrs' remains at home and abroad.

From 2013 to present, the teams have searched for and collected nearly 18,000 martyrs' remains, including nearly 9,000 remains in the country, over 6,000 remains in Cambodia and nearly 3,000 remains in Laos; at the same time, repatriation and memorial services were organized, and the martyrs' remains were buried in a dignified and solemn manner.

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, the Prime Minister highly appreciated and acknowledged the achievements and results of units, localities and individuals; warmly commended the officers and soldiers directly performing the task of searching and collecting martyrs' remains; at the same time, respected, understood and shared the great sacrifices and losses of the teams searching and collecting martyrs' remains.

The Prime Minister said that in the coming time, the task of searching for and collecting martyrs’ remains will continue to be a regular, continuous, and long-term task, but will face more difficulties. The number of martyrs’ remains that need to be searched for and collected is still large, while information about martyrs and their graves is increasingly scarce; witnesses are getting older, their memory is decreasing, and the terrain is changing a lot…

To continue to improve the effectiveness of the search and collection of martyrs' remains, the Prime Minister has issued a Plan to search for, collect martyrs' remains and identify the remains of martyrs with missing information until 2030 and the following years.

In particular, the task by 2030 is to search for and collect about 15,000 martyrs' remains; complete the search, collection and conclusion of areas and locations with information on collective martyrs' graves.

From 2031 onwards, continue searching for and collecting martyrs' remains until there is no more information about martyrs' remains or martyrs' graves.

To effectively carry out the above-mentioned goals and tasks, contributing to repaying the great sacrifices of heroic martyrs, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested all levels, sectors, localities, and teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains to carry out a number of contents.

Accordingly, Party committees, ministries, branches, agencies, units, localities, Steering Committees 515 at all levels and forces searching for and collecting martyrs' remains need to thoroughly grasp, strictly implement and effectively deploy Directive 24-CT/TW of the Politburo, Decree No. 131/2021/ND-CP of the Government, Decisions of the Prime Minister; plans and instructions of the National Steering Committee 515, the Ministry of National Defense and relevant ministries and branches on the search for and collection of martyrs' remains.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the meeting with representatives of teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

In addition, further strengthen leadership, direction, coordination, improve the effectiveness of state management; synchronously and drastically deploy solutions to speed up the progress and effectiveness of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains; pay attention to, proactively propose, and ensure timely and complete regimes and policies for the forces performing the task of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains.

The Prime Minister requested the forces searching for and collecting martyrs’ remains to always promote a spirit of initiative and responsibility, overcome difficulties; perform their tasks while also carrying out mass mobilization, propaganda, and mobilizing information about martyrs and their graves; and strictly carry out military diplomacy when performing tasks in neighboring countries.

The functional forces combine to participate in social work to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, prevent and combat natural disasters in the country as well as abroad, making the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" shine; contributing to foreign affairs and promoting the image of the country and people of Vietnam; applying information and communication technology to connect information on searching for martyrs and martyrs' graves to promptly and effectively increase the effectiveness of searching for remains.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that searching for and collecting martyrs' remains is not only a responsibility but also a command from the heart that urges those who are carrying out the task.

As long as the remains of the martyrs have not been found, we will still be troubled, tormented, and our hearts will not be at peace. This is a task of profound political, social, and humane significance, demonstrating the traditional morality of “When drinking water, remember its source,” “When eating fruit, remember the person who planted the tree” of our nation.

The Prime Minister hopes and believes that, with the leadership of the Party, the State, ministries, branches, local Party committees and authorities; with the experience gained over many years, especially the high sense of responsibility, efforts, and proactiveness in overcoming difficulties; the teams will promote the achieved results, excellently complete the tasks assigned by the Party, the State, the army and the people, continue to effectively carry out the work of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains, responding to the trust and expectations of the people and relatives of martyrs.

“Today is the death anniversary of millions of people who died for the independence and freedom of the country. We will continue this journey with the most sincere hearts and minds to be eternally grateful to the heroic martyrs,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister presented meaningful gifts to the collectives and individuals of the teams searching for and collecting martyrs' remains with the best achievements.

According to VNA