During the American War, countless Vietnamese fought and died for their nation, and many of the martyrs’ remains have been lost in Laos for the past 40 years. Now, a new generation of soldiers is bringing them back home.

– Extracted from Tran Bien, Tran Hoai and Ho Linh, “Soldiers bring martyr remains back home”, Vietnam News, 27 July 2008.

One sometimes hears of the ongoing American efforts to account for all of their dead and missing from the war in Southeast Asia. This is, however, the first time I have heard of the efforts of the Vietnamese to recover their war dead in Laos. For anyone with even a passing interest in this period of Southeast Asian history the long and detailed Vietnam News article is certainly worth a look.