VIETNAM: The remains of 44 communist soldiers believed killed during the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive have been found in a mass grave, bringing the number of remains recovered at the site to 74, a military official said Saturday.
The soldiers were believed to have been killed during an assault on an American base during what was seen by many as the Vietnam War’s turning point. Thousands of Viet Cong guerrillas attacked major towns across southern Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in January 1968. Quang Tri was the front line, and fierce fighting took place there.
Maj. Col. Tran Trong Trung of the provincial military command said none of the remains had been identified, but the site includes personal effects such as watches, belts and raincoats.
Authorities had searched unsuccessfully for the grave in central Vietnam’s Quang Tri province for three years based on information provided by American veterans who said some 158 soldiers may be buried there, said Trung.
A villager digging holes to plant rubber trees found the mass grave recently and reported it, Trung said.
Earlier excavations turned up the remains of 30 soldiers.
The remains were expected to be reburied at a military cemetery on Sunday, Trung said, adding that the regional military command will decide whether to continue with the excavation.
The Vietnam War ended in 1975 when communist North Vietnamese forces overran Saigon, the former capital of South Vietnam, now known as Ho Chi Minh City. About 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese were killed in the conflict.
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