Gia Lai deploys search team for fallen soldiers’ remains in Cambodia

Members of Gia Lai’s Team K52 bid farewell to military officials at the send-off ceremony on November 19. VNA

Steering Committee 515 of central Gia Lai province, on November 19, held a send-off ceremony for the K52 search team, who will come to Cambodia to locate and repatriate remains of Vietnamese soldiers and experts who fell during wartime, in the 2025–2026 dry season.

Preparations for this year’s dry-season mission have been carried out thoroughly and carefully. The team has strengthened its organisation and personnel, selecting experienced officers and soldiers familiar with the area and fluent in Khmer as core members.

From June to October 2025, Team K52 collaborated with localities in Cambodia to survey 254 villages across 47 communes in 13 districts of Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, and Preah Vihear provinces. They collected 28 leads on war martyrs’ graves, with five of which were verified, resulting in the collection of one set of remains. These initial results provide a crucial foundation for the team to perform the 2025–2026 dry-season mission safely and effectively.

Addressing the event, Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee and head of Steering Committee 515 of Gia Lai, commended Team K52 for their dedication and efforts, stressing that despite challenges from terrain, limited information, and harsh weather, the search for and repatriation of war martyrs’ remains is a sacred duty that must be carried out promtply, seriously, and cautiously.

She asked the team to uphold a strong sense of responsibility, clearly define their mission, and remain determined to overcome difficulties, and concentrate personnel and equipment to verify information and collect remains.

During the 2024–2025 dry season, Team K52 found and sent home remains of 23 Vietnamese martyrs, lifting the total repatriated over the past 24 years to 1,512. These results reflect the tradition of “remembering the source while drinking water”, a tribute of profound respect and gratitude to fallen heroes. VNA