Chainsaws cut through Le Thi Don’s durian orchard in Dong Thap Province after she asked for the trees to be felled so searchers could look for fallen soldiers’ remains. The orchard earned her family about VND300 million (US$11,600) a year.
The 2,700sq.m plot had once been a temporary cemetery for soldiers killed in the resistance wars. It later became an orchard of about 120 durian trees. Don’s father had previously found three sets of remains while digging irrigation ditches, leading her to suspect that others were still buried there.
Ahead of the 80th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day on July 27, 2027, Don asked authorities to search the orchard as part of the nationwide 500 Days and Nights Campaign.
From September 1, the K91 Team under the Dong Thap Military Command searched the site with machinery and manual excavation. By September 23, it had recovered 77 sets of remains.
The remains have not been identified. Some were wrapped in ponchos or clothing. Biological samples were collected for DNA testing, and the remains were preserved according to regulations.
The team said wartime burials were often made at night, without regular rows, and that remains were sometimes buried on top of one another. Searchers remove thin soil layers and switch to hand digging when they find wrapping material.
The K91 Team also recovered 16 sets from a 1,000sq.m sapodilla orchard. About 30 officers and soldiers took part. The orchard owner agreed to the search and did not request compensation.
Local support
Residents help teams identify burial sites by sharing memories. One local resident said the land had once been a temporary martyrs’ cemetery and that remains were found again after the land was auctioned to local people around 1990.
The province collected nearly 5,000 DNA samples during a recent six-day campaign and visited more than 160 people at home. As of October 4, it had completed exhumation and DNA collection from 12,290 unidentified graves across 30 cemeteries.
Dong Thap was assigned to recover 370 sets of remains in Vietnam and Cambodia. By October 3, the provincial committee had recovered 202 sets in Dong Thap and 47 sets of Vietnamese volunteers and military experts in Cambodia. The search will continue.
Don said cutting down the orchard was painful, but the trees could be replanted. “If fallen soldiers’ remains are still underground, they must be found and brought home,” she said.
Sources: Viet Nam News
