At Can Tho International Airport, the Military Region 9 Command coordinated with the Air Defense-Air Force, the Can Tho City Party Committee, the Can Tho City People's Committee, and the provinces of Ca Mau, An Giang, Vinh Long and Dong Thap to hand over and transport 15,401 biological samples from fallen soldiers’ remains aboard a CASA-C295 aircraft operated by the 918 Air Brigade of the Air Defense-Air Force.

Leaders of Military Region 9 hand over and transport 15,401 biological samples from fallen soldiers’ remains for DNA testing at Can Tho International Airport on October 5. (Photo: Military Region 9)

The ceremony was attended by Lieutenant General Nguyen Xuan Dat, Commander of Military Region 9; Lieutenant General Ho Van Thai, Political Commissar of Military Region 9; representatives of the Air Defense-Air Force; and leaders of the provinces and city.

Following the handover ceremony, the containers holding the biological samples were loaded onto the aircraft for transport to Hanoi, where they were handed over to the Military Forensic Institute under the Ministry of National Defense, the Institute of Criminal Science under the Ministry of Public Security, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology for DNA testing to help identify the fallen soldiers.

Soldiers prepare to load the samples from fallen soldiers’ remains onto a CASA-C295 aircraft. (Photo: Military Region 9)

Speaking at the ceremony, Lieutenant General Ho Van Thai, Political Commissar of Military Region 9, said that under the “500-Day-and-Night Campaign to Accelerate the Search for, Collection and Identification of Fallen Soldiers’ Remains,” officers and soldiers of the Military Region 9 armed forces, together with relevant agencies and units, had made every effort to fulfill their mission with the highest sense of political responsibility before the spirits of the fallen heroes.

According to Lieutenant General Ho Van Thai, the transportation of the 15,401 biological samples from fallen soldiers’ remains marked the 11th transfer and the first to be carried out by a military transport aircraft. The Political Commissar of Military Region 9 emphasized that this was “a flight of compassion and gratitude,” reflecting the sentiments and responsibility of the present generation toward those who sacrificed their lives for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland.

Transporting biological samples from fallen soldiers’ remains by air will facilitate the DNA testing process, thereby contributing to the accurate identification of the fallen soldiers.

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