More than 50 years after losing his father in the war, one son is hoping modern DNA technology can finally answer a lifelong question.
On the morning of July 3, relatives of fallen soldiers gathered at the Thanh Sen Ward Police Headquarters in Ha Tinh Province to provide DNA samples for the identification of war martyrs whose remains have yet to be identified.
Under the program, from July 3 to July 7, Ha Tinh Provincial Police, working with commune- and ward-level police, will collect more than 16,300 DNA samples from relatives of fallen soldiers at five collection sites across the province.
The samples will be added to Vietnam's national DNA database to support the identification of unidentified remains as part of the 500-day campaign to accelerate the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains.
Police officers in Thanh Sen Ward collect DNA samples from relatives of fallen soldiers.
More than 50 years searching for a father, a lifetime waiting for a brother
Among those waiting patiently for their turn was Truong Quang Chien (born 1967), who carefully assisted his uncle, Truong Quang Tue (born 1937), into the hall to complete the DNA collection procedures.
Fifty-seven years after the death of Truong Quang Ky, both uncle and nephew continue to hope they will one day find the fallen soldier - the father Chien never had the chance to remember and the brother Tue has long wished to bring home.
Truong Quang Chien accompanies his uncle Truong Quang Tue to provide a DNA sample.
According to Chien, his father served as an official with the Thach Ha District Party Committee before volunteering to join the southern battlefield in 1968, leaving behind his wife and three young children.
When he departed, his youngest son, Chien, was only nine months old.
One year later, Chien's mother, Nguyen Thi Huong, then 29 years old, received official notification that her husband had sacrificed.
"When my father sacrificed, I was only about two years old, so I have no memory of him," Chien said. "Other than an old photograph our family has carefully preserved over the years, everything I know about my father comes from my mother and other relatives."
He recalled how his mother carried her children from one evacuation area to another during the war before returning to farming after peace was restored to raise the family alone.
"What troubled my mother most throughout her life was never knowing where my father was buried," he said. "My mother is now 87. Sometimes she remembers things, sometimes she doesn't, but she has never forgotten my father. Her greatest wish is still to find his grave and bring him back to our hometown so she can spend her remaining years in peace."
Truong Quang Tue provides a DNA sample in the hope of finding his older brother, fallen soldier Truong Quang Ky.
For decades, Chien and his mother searched extensively, contacting his father's former military unit, speaking with former comrades and pursuing every available lead, but they have never learned where he was laid to rest.
"Our relatives told us that someone once met my father while he was marching south and later informed the family," Chien said. "That relative later sacrificed as well, and the trail ended there."
Truong Quang Tue said his family had six siblings, with Truong Quang Ky being the second eldest. Tue himself also served on the southern battlefield before later undertaking international duties in Laos. When news of his brother's death reached him, he was still serving with his unit.
"The fighting in Quang Tri was extremely fierce," he said. "After more than half a century, I understand that finding my brother will be very difficult, but our family has never given up hope. We simply want to know where he rests so we can bring him home."
Another family still waiting
Also attending the DNA collection event were relatives of Phan Van Thanh, who was born in 1947 and sacrificed in Quang Tri in 1968.
He was the eldest of nine siblings, although only three remain alive today.
His younger brother, Phan Viet, 74, who has a disability affecting one of his legs and is in poor health, was picked up from his home by officers from Thanh Sen Ward Police and driven to the DNA collection site.
Police officers assist Phan Viet from his home to the DNA collection site.
Nearly six decades after his brother's death, the family has repeatedly searched for information but still has no knowledge of where Phan Van Thanh's remains are buried.
Speaking slowly, Viet said: "If my brother were still alive today, he would have had a family and children. I wouldn't feel so alone. He sacrificed his life when he was still very young, and to this day we still don't know where he rests. I only hope we can find him and bring him home to our hometown. That would be enough for me."
Vietnamnet.vn
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