Search for the mass grave at Tan Son Nhat Airport
In 1995, the local authorities dug up a mass grave for over 100 soldiers. But the number of soldiers who died at Tan Son Nhat Airport during the Tet Offensive 1968 was already known to far exceed that total.
Battalion 16 had 550 soldiers participate in the battle and only 100 soldiers returned alive. There were several other battalions such as the Battalion 267, 269, special forces and other forces that participating in the fighting at the airport.
Documents from US veterans showed that about 2,400 Vietnamese soldiers had fought at Tan Son Nhat Airport and the majority of them never returned home.
Major General Tran Huu Tai, head of the political department of the 7th Military Region Command, also thought that was highly likely that there was a mass grave at the airport. But the search could be difficult as the terrain had changed a lot in the past 50 years.
Nguyen Viet Hoa, deputy manager of Tan Son Nhat Airport from 1990 to 2003, said he had asked to dig the runways dozens of times to search for the grave in 1995. Hoa said the graves made during the war were simple pits and the bulldozers would fill the grave.
He went on to say that there are many soldiers remains left under Tan Son Nhat Airport but as half of the century has gone by, many bodies have decomposed or may be in a different location now.
Hoa suggested putting up a memorial stone for the soldiers in case they can confirm the location but are unable to find all of the remains.
The authorities are surveying the field and equipment has been sent to the west of Tan Son Nhat Airport.