Ta Thu Phong, a representative of the Vietnam War Missing in Action (VWAI) initiative research group at Texas Tech University, submitted these documents to Ho Chi Minh City authorities during a ceremony on the afternoon of 9/7 to receive war artifacts and records of fallen soldiers' burials.

Ta Thu Phong, a representative of the VWAI group, speaks at the working session on the afternoon of 9/7. *Dinh Van*

According to Phong, the 10 compiled images, all taken during the Tet Mau Than 1968 period, offer valuable insights into the mass burial scenes. Phong stated, "The four other videos, recorded by the US military, showing them burying soldiers en masse in pits at the airport, are extremely valuable for search operations."

Starting on 7/7, the Ho Chi Minh City High Command launched search efforts for mass grave trenches of fallen soldiers at Tan Son Nhat airport. This site is where many liberation soldiers died during the battle for this base in the Tet Mau Than 1968 offensive.

Suspected mass grave area at Tan Son Nhat airport. *Khanh Hoang*

In addition to these documents, the VWAI group also presented three dossiers to the city. These included three artifacts: restored commendation certificates for fallen soldiers from Unit 962, Long An Battalion 1, who were comrades of soldier Huynh Van Quen, and a declassified dossier for Unit 962.

The remaining dossier contains a map indicating the burial site of 21 fallen soldiers at K76A Hospital in Ba Ria - Vung Tau. These dossiers were compiled and analyzed by the group from over 2,7 million wartime documents recorded by the US military and currently stored at Texas Tech University.

Nguyen Manh Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, stated that domestic sources currently provide very limited documents and information regarding fallen soldiers' burial sites from old battles. Therefore, every document and dossier provided by the VWAI group is crucial, offering the city more information and a basis for searching for many mass burial sites of fallen soldiers in the coming period.

Photo of a sign indicating the mass sacrifice site of soldiers on the second day of Tet Mau Than 1968 at Tan Son Nhat airport. *Archival photo*

Ho Chi Minh City is intensifying efforts to search for, gather, and identify the remains of fallen soldiers as part of the 500-Day-and-Night Campaign launched by the National Steering Committee, leading up to the 80th anniversary of Invalids and Martyrs' Day (27/7/1947 - 27/7/2027). In Le Thi Rieng Park, Hoa Hung Ward, after over one month of search operations based on data, images, and eyewitness accounts, authorities have collected the remains of 11 fallen soldiers.

Dinh Van