Vietnam Veteran Spends Retirement Photographing Fallen Soldiers' Graves

At 75, former soldier Le Huu Trieu dedicates his time to visiting cemeteries across Vietnam, meticulously photographing the gravestones of fallen soldiers. His mission is to help families find closure and connect with the resting places of their relatives lost during the war.

Trieu, a veteran of the Tri-Thien front during the Vietnam War, travels to over 40 cemeteries, capturing images of thousands of gravestones. He then posts these photographs on his personal Facebook page. This initiative has already enabled numerous families to locate the graves of their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and brothers, prompting them to travel to Hue to seek his assistance in finding their final resting places.

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I am going to each grave to photograph the information on the tombstones, then I post it on my personal Facebook page. Through this method, over the past 2 years, many relatives and families of fallen soldiers have learned about the graves, the resting places of their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and brothers, and have arranged to come to Hue to ask me to help them find the graves.

Driven by a deep sense of "nghia tinh" (gratitude and camaraderie) towards his fallen comrades, Trieu began this personal mission in 2024 after his work and family responsibilities eased. As a former reconnaissance soldier, he retains vivid memories of battles, landscapes, and the locations where his comrades fell. He also recalls which cemeteries hold soldiers from specific units or divisions.

Despite the challenges of weather and time, Trieu's greatest concern is the fading inscriptions on the gravestones. He braves the elements, but the erosion of information on the stone tablets is his primary worry. He recounts a particularly memorable trip in July 2025, guiding a family from Thai Nguyen to a high point in Phong Dien district, near the Quảng Trị border, where their relative had fallen, a journey that involved two days of trekking through forests and streams.

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Whether it's hot sun or heavy rain, I don't mind, I only worry about the gravestones where the information is there but has faded over time, making the photos no longer clear.