(VNF)- Delegations of representative offices and expat Vietnamese communities in Laos, Germany, the Czech Republic and Cambodia have paid homage to martyrs in commemoration of the Vietnam War Invalids and Martyrs, July 27.

On July 24 representatives of Czech Republic-based Vietnamese agencies and Vietnamese expats gathered at a ceremony held in Prague to pay homage to Vietnamese martyrs.

During the event, the Vietnamese War Veterans Association in the Czech Republic handed away gifts to eight Vietnamese wounded soldiers back home and a heroic Vietnamese mother who resides in the northern Vietnamese province of Bac Giang.

Vietnamese expats in Germany on Sunday also held a requiem for fallen soldiers back home in Berlin.

The ceremony was attended by a large number of war veterans, war martyrs’ and invalids’ relatives and overseas Vietnamese.

Steles are set up to recognize the massive contributions and sacrifice by over 140 soldiers who were killed in high-profile battles in Hoang Sa in 1974 and Gac Ma Island in 1988.

On Sunday, delegations from the Embassy and other Vietnamese representatives offices in Laos respectfully laid wreaths at a monument to the Laos-Vietnam fallen soldiers in Ban Con village, located in Phonhong district, Vientiane.

The Ban Con monument is erected at the site of a collective tomb of 26 soldiers from the Laos-Vietnam allied troops who were killed during the war against French colonialists in 1946.

This is an annual activity to mark Vietnam’s War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27).

Speaking at the event, Chair of the Laos War Veterans Association Major General Somphone Keominsay demonstrated his gratitude to Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and Lao martyrs who lost their own lives for the nation’s independence and freedom.

Meanwhile, Thach Du, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia, also led a delegation to pay respect to the perished voluntary Vietnamese soldiers at a monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in celebration of the occasion.

Thach Du (right), Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia, is pictured burning joss sticks in homage to Vietnamese war martyrs. Photo: Vietnamplus.

During these wars, tens of thousands of Vietnamese soldiers and officers perished on mission in Cambodia.

The remains of over 4,000 soldiers are yet to be found or recovered.

The two countries are making joint efforts to step up search for and repatriate the remains, with the task expected to be completed by 2020./.

by VNF