VOV.VN - Nearly six decades after the 1968 Tet Offensive, efforts to locate revolutionary soldiers who died during the battles in Saigon are entering a new phase, as newly declassified military records and historical evidence offer fresh clues pointing to a suspected mass grave beneath a park in Ho Chi Minh City.
The issue was the focus of a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on June 8 to verify and assess information related to fallen soldiers believed to have been buried in the former Do Thanh Cemetery area in Chi Hoa, now Le Thi Rieng Park.
The workshop brought together historians, researchers, wartime witnesses, American veterans and relatives of fallen soldiers who have spent years searching for traces of troops killed during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Saigon.
Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra, who is also head of the National Steering Committee for the Search, Recovery and Identification of Martyrs’ Remains, described the 1968 Tet Offensive as an immortal chapter in the country’s history. During fierce fighting in Saigon-Gia Dinh, revolutionary forces launched coordinated attacks on key targets across the city, where many soldiers and officers lost their lives.
Historical records indicate that after the battles, the former Saigon administration collected the remains of revolutionary fighters and buried them in mass graves at Do Thanh Cemetery.
However, after national reunification, the cemetery was cleared between 1978 and 1983 to make way for the construction of Le Thi Rieng Park. The land leveling process significantly altered the terrain, making it extremely difficult to determine the exact locations of the burial sites.
In 1995, authorities conducted surveys and excavation efforts at the site, but limited technology, insufficient historical records and a lack of specialised equipment prevented the search from achieving the desired results.
“That concern has remained deeply present in the hearts of the Party, authorities and people of Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the entire country,” Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra said.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, recent years have seen the declassification and sharing of military documents, photographs and battlefield records related to the 1968 Tet Offensive by the United States.
Combined with historical archives, military maps, wartime recollections and testimonies from witnesses on multiple sides, including former US serviceman Robert Ambrose Connor and other American veterans, Vietnamese authorities have gradually strengthened the evidence base surrounding the suspected burial area.
Cooperation between Vietnamese agencies, US veterans and joint Vietnam-US research groups has reportedly generated important new information, helping reconstruct battle developments and possible burial locations for soldiers killed during the offensive.
The new findings come as Vietnam is implementing a nationwide 500-day campaign aimed at searching for and identifying missing martyrs’ remains.
“Every verified document, every cross-checked record and every recovered memory today carries profound meaning in the hope of bringing the fallen heroes back to their homeland and comrades,” the Deputy Prime Minister said emotionally.
According to organisers, the workshop’s primary goal was to comprehensively review the historical, scientific, legal and practical evidence linked to the suspected burial area beneath Le Thi Rieng Park.
One of the key questions discussed was whether the currently available data, including declassified records, military files, witness testimonies and historical documents, is reliable enough to confirm the existence and location of a mass grave connected to soldiers killed during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
Participants also examined the possible scale, boundaries and preservation conditions of the burial site after nearly 60 years, while discussing coordination plans for future excavation and recovery operations.
Future search efforts are expected to combine traditional investigative methods with modern technologies such as ground-penetrating radar, geolocation systems, aerial imagery and historical mapping in order to improve accuracy before any excavation begins.
Beyond its scientific significance, the workshop also carried deep emotional and historical meaning. Nearly six decades after the Tet Offensive, newly connected memories and declassified records are reviving hopes that soldiers who fell during the Spring of 1968 may finally be found and brought home to their comrades, families and homeland.
VOV.VN - The border guard station of the Ha Tien International Border Gate and An Giang provincial Border Guard Command on June 4 received 180 Vietnamese citizens handed over by Cambodian authorities for violating the country’s immigration, labour and residency regulations.
VOV.VN - Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended a memorial and reburial ceremony for the remains of 28 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos at the National Martyrs Cemetery on Road 9 in the central province of Quang Tri on May 23.
A total of 358 sets of martyrs’ remains were recovered between March 15 and May 6 as part of the “500-day-and-night campaign to accelerate the search, collection and identification of martyrs’ remains,” heard a conference in Hanoi on May 11.
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