Ho Chi Minh City honours hundreds of Vietnam war dead found in mass graves

14 Oct 2026 • 7:38 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Ho Chi Minh City honours hundreds of Vietnam war dead found in mass graves

  • The remains of 731 people believed to have been killed during the 1968 Tet Offensive have been laid to rest at the Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs' Cemetery, following their recovery from mass graves at Le Thi Rieng Park.
  • Thousands of mourners carrying white flowers lined the streets of Ho Chi Minh City to pay their respects during the procession, with Vietnamese prime minister Le Minh Hung attending memorial services at the park.
  • The site of the mass graves was pinpointed after an eight-year investigation led by architect Nguyen Xuan Thang, who used a 1968 Associated Press photograph featuring a landmark water tower to help locate the burial trenches.
  • DNA samples from the recovered remains have been sent to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi for testing, as the vast majority of the victims currently remain unidentified.
  • This recovery effort is part of a broader 500-day national campaign aimed at locating and identifying the remains of approximately 7,000 missing Vietnamese soldiers lost during the conflict with a total of about 175,000 yet to be recovered, according to government figures.

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