A ceremony was held in Hanoi on December 12 to mark the 30^th anniversary of bilateral cooperation in searching for U.S. soldiers missing in action (MIA) in the war in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh addresses the ceremony in Hanoi on December 12. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

The event was held by the Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons and the U.S. Department Defence’s Prisoner of War/MIA Accounting Agency.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam Caryn McClelland thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for supporting the search for MIAs over the three decades.

She affirmed that her country wants to continue cooperating with Vietnam in this activity, as well as others addressing war consequences in the Southeast Asian nation.

Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Rear Admiral Jon C. Kreitz look at the photos introducing bilateral cooperation in MIA search cooperation. (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said no other bilateral cooperation fields have achieved the level, scale, scope and duration as the seeking of MIA soldiers.

The search has helped bring peace to many families in the U.S. and enhanced the two peoples’ understanding of each other’s goodwill, he added.

For his part, Deputy Minister of Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh emphasised that searching activities over the last 30 years have helped not only settle war consequences but also opened the door for relations between Vietnam and the U.S.

The officer thanked the governments, people, localities and agencies of the two countries for assisting in this activity. He also noted his respect for the U.S. and Vietnamese people who lost their lives in the MIA search.

Rear Admiral Jon C. Kreitz of the U.S. Navy and deputy director of the DPAA stressed the searching activities was a symbol of the amazing co-operation and friendship developed over the past 30 years between the U.S. and Viet Nam.

At the ceremony, the U.S. Embassy and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented insignias to Vietnamese and American inpiduals, agencies and localities who have greatly contributed to the work.

The U.S. Guard team carry a coffin containing the remains believed to be those of a US service member missing from the Viet Nam War. (VNS Photo Cong Thanh)

Earlier, on November 11, the Vietnamese Government transferred three sets of remains believed to be those of missing U.S. service members at a repatriation ceremony at Da Nang International Airport.

The remains were recovered during the 133^rd Joint Field Activity (JFA) in Vietnam. Seventy-six Americans and over two hundred of their Vietnamese partners worked together on sites in the provinces of Nghe An, Quang Binh and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

Since 2000, the U.S. has worked with Viet Nam to resolve humanitarian and wartime legacy issues. These include the removal of unexploded ordnance, the identification of remains of missing personnel, and the remediation of dioxin./.

VNF/VNA