The team was established on June 17, 1994 under the directive of the Vietnamese Minister of Defence and the minute signed between the two Governments on the search and repatriation of the remains of the Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Laos during wartime. It has been tasked with surveying, clarifying, searching and repatriating the remains in six northern Lao localities of Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Bokeo, Luang Prabang, Phongsaly and Xayaboury.
At the ceremony, Major General Pham Hong Thai, deputy political commissar and head of the Steering Committee for the search, collection and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains (Steering Committee 515) under Military Region 2 praised the team’s achievements over the past time, and thanked the Lao Government’s special working group, the Vietnamese and Lao people in the six northern provinces of Laos, as well as the authorities of Vietnamese Dien Bien province and Oudomxy for their sincere support for the team’s work.
Vice Chairman of Oudomxay province Onkeo Unnalom expressed his gratitude towards the voluntary Vietnamese soldiers and experts who made sacrifices for the international revolutionary cause, and stood shoulders by shoulders with the Lao people to fight for independence and freedom of the Lao people.
He asked the administrations and peoples of the six Lao provinces to see the search and repatriation of Vietnamese soldiers and experts’ remains as their responsibility to consolidate information and put forth the work.
On the occasion, the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence and the administration of Oudomxay presented a certificate of merit to the team in recognition of its achievements in the past time.
