Fifty years after the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese veterans and their families are still battling political and logistical obstacles to recovering the remains of their fallen.
A South Vietnam ese commander yells into a pack radio as his unit is encircled by heavy Viet Cong fire on Tan Dinh Island in September 1965.Hung Tran pauses as he recounts a memory that has haunted him for decades, his voice trembling with anger and sorrow.
"It was extremely nasty straight after the war. South Vietnamese military cemeteries were bulldozed by the government," he said. The Vietnamese American Foundation has been working to restore the graves at the Bien Hoa National Military Cemetery, now known as the Binh An Cemetery. Mr Tran, a survivor of one such camp, described it as a "torturous place" for his South Vietnamese comrades.
Organisations such as the Vietnamese American Foundation continue to advocate for the return of South Vietnamese soldiers' remains to their families.The organisation excavated the Lang Da re-education camp cemetery in Yen Bai province in 2010, recovering 12 skeletons — 11 of which yielded viable DNA.
South Vietnam South Vietnamese Soldiers North Vietnam Viet Cong Australian Vietnam Veterans US Vietnam Veterans Military Cemetry 50 Year Vietnam War Anniversary Reconciliation Cemetery Refugees Conflict
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