At the repatriation ceremony held at 11:15am, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam transferred to US custody remains believed to be those of Americans who died during the war in Vietnam.

The 123rd post-war repatriation of US remains from Vietnam was held at 11:15am (local time) in Da Nang - Photo: Dinh Dai Nghia

Along with Consul General Le Thanh An, the Detachment 2 Commander, US Army Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Keane, represented the United States Government in receiving custody of the remains. A US military honor guard from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) transferred the remains to a United States Air Force C-17 aircraft for repatriation to the US.

The remains repatriated were recovered during the 107th Joint Field Activity (JFA) in Vietnam, in which JPAC and Vietnam teams excavated eight sites potentially associated with missing Americans. Joint US-Vietnamese teams have been working together since 1988.

During the 24 years since that first mission, over 3,500 cases have been investigated and over 500 sites excavated.

To date, 982 Americans from the Vietnam War have been identified since 1973, with 689 of them from Vietnam, 257 from Laos, 33 from Cambodia, and 3 from China. There are 1,664 Americans still unaccounted for from the war, including 1,282 in Vietnam.

Seeking the fullest possible accounting of Americans is a matter of the highest national priority for the United States. The US welcomes and appreciates the cooperation and assistance of the Vietnamese government in both past and future investigations and recovery operations.


At the repatriation ceremony in Da Nang (Photo: Dinh Dai Nghia)

Minh Phat

Source: tuoitrenews.vn