Da Nang Nearly Completes DNA Sampling at Martyrs’ Graves

Da Nang is close to completing DNA sampling at the graves of fallen soldiers, after months of intensive work in a city that once had the country’s largest number of graves requiring samples.

By the morning of September 5, teams had collected 23,711 of 25,858 samples from grave sites across the city. They had worked at nearly all of the 144 martyrs’ cemeteries in Da Nang’s communes and wards. The proportion of samples meeting testing requirements has risen sharply from the early stages of the campaign.

Authorities have delivered 4,060 samples to the Forensic Institute for DNA testing to help identify the fallen soldiers. However, 7,810 graves still have no sample, according to the city’s Military Command. The remaining work is expected to end several months earlier than originally planned.

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In the 500-Day-and-Night Campaign, excavating graves at martyrs’ cemeteries to collect biological samples and send them for DNA testing is hard work but extremely important. It gives families another chance to bring their sons and relatives home after decades.

The city has also recovered 54 sets of martyrs’ remains since November 2025, against a target of 390 under the 500-Day-and-Night Campaign. Officials have received 75 pieces of information linked to 1,215 remains.

At a September 4 inspection of the Quế Phước Commune Martyrs’ Cemetery, Colonel Đinh Văn Hưng urged teams to seize every possible opportunity to obtain samples, even when the chance appeared small. He said graves where sampling had not succeeded would be considered for a second attempt. Quế Phước has more than 1,612 martyrs’ graves, including 1,412 covered by the campaign.

Authorities are also completing procedures concerning 17 remains believed to belong to martyrs who died in the former Hiệp Đức battlefield in Quảng Nam. Local resident Võ Đình Thế, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, buried and cared for the remains for years. Once city leaders approve the documents, officials plan to recover and rebury them.

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I require the forces to work quickly but also carefully and scientifically, making sure not to miss any opportunity to collect a sample. Graves where the work is unsuccessful will be considered for a second sampling attempt.