Maj. Gen. Nguyen Thanh Trung, political commissar of the Ho Chi Minh City Command, visited Le Thi Rieng Park in Hoa Hung Ward on Sept. 16 to oversee the ongoing search and recovery operation.

At the site, Trung said the command was reviewing the first phase of a 500-day campaign to accelerate the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains, including work at Le Thi Rieng Park.

The review will assess what has been achieved and identify areas requiring improvement during the second phase, with the campaign targeted for completion around the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s War Invalids and Martyrs Day.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Steering Committee 515 for the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers will coordinate with its counterpart in Military Region 7 to report to city authorities and the national Steering Committee 515.

The agencies will seek approval for plans to hold ceremonies for people to pay their respects, followed by a memorial and burial for the remains recovered from the park. The ceremonies are tentatively scheduled for early October.

“We are carrying out all the work urgently, actively, meticulously and scientifically, but without rushing,” Trung said. “We will do our best to complete this mission as a tribute to the fallen heroes.”

Search operations at Le Thi Rieng Park began on June 23. By the end of Sept. 14, authorities had recovered 632 sets of remains, 296 of them accompanied by artifacts.

Of the total, 599 were found at separate locations, while 33 were recovered from eight mass-grave sites, including two in Area A and six in Area B.

In Area A, search teams discovered a second burial trench. According to the Ho Chi Minh City Command’s political commissar, the discovery provides an important basis for comparing historical records and determining burial patterns.

That information could help teams locate other burial trenches associated with officers and soldiers who died during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Key milestones in the search at Le Thi Rieng Park

On May 28, the Ho Chi Minh City Command issued a public appeal seeking a witness who appeared in a photograph taken when fallen soldiers were buried on Feb. 12, 1968.

On June 8, the national Steering Committee 515 held a workshop to verify information about a mass grave at the former Chi Hoa-Cho Quan cemetery, an area that is now part of Le Thi Rieng Park.

On June 23, authorities conducted exploratory excavations and discovered multiple sets of remains behind a memorial dedicated to those who died during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

On July 6, the formal search and recovery operation at Le Thi Rieng Park was launched.

By Sept. 14, authorities had recovered 632 sets of remains along with artifacts accompanying 296 of them.

Phuoc Sang