Vietnam's 500‑day campaign locates 1,312 war‑dead remains

Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng signed Decree No. 45/CĐ‑TTg on 8 July 2026 to accelerate the "500 days‑night" campaign that searches for, collects and identifies the remains of war martyrs. To date the effort has located 1,312 bodies – 396 in Vietnam, 174 in Laos and 742 in Cambodia – and uncovered three collective graves in Tuyên Quang province.

The operation has sampled 35,925 unknown graves, collected 93,464 DNA specimens from relatives, entered more than 53,000 samples into a national database and stored 11,642 remains for DNA testing. A dedicated gene‑bank for relatives’ DNA is being built, and Vietnam Post has been tasked with transporting over 77,700 DNA samples in the first phase. Search activities have been expanded to sites such as Le Thi Rieng Park in Ho Chi Minh City, with plans to complete northern sampling by December 2026 and southern sampling by April 2027.