On the morning of 11 September, a CASA C‑295 transport aircraft (tail number 8901) of the Air Defense‑Air Force (PK‑KQ) landed at Gia Lâm Airport in Hanoi at about 10:15 a.m., carrying 13,563 biological samples recovered from unidentified war dead in the south. The specimens, drawn from unknown graves in Đồng Nai, Tây Ninh and Lâm Đồng provinces, were packed in 144 specially designed containers, each flagged with the national flag, numbered and labeled with the collection site and date. The breakdown of the shipment includes 4,651 samples from Đồng Nai, 5,287 from Tây Ninh and 3,625 from Lâm Đồng.
The handover was overseen by Lieutenant General Vũ Hồng Sơn, Commander of PK‑KQ, and Lieutenant General Trần Ngọc Quyến, Political Commissar of the same branch, alongside senior officers from Military Region 7, including Lieutenant General Lê Xuân Thế, a member of the Party Central Committee, and Lieutenant General Trần Vinh Ngọc, Party Secretary of the region. After a formal ceremony of tribute and incense offering, the sealed containers were transferred to two scientific bodies: the Military Medical Forensic Institute and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, where DNA analysis will be conducted to determine the identities of the fallen soldiers.
The operation, described by officials as a “flight of gratitude,” reflects a coordinated effort to bring closure to thousands of families who have waited decades for recognition of their loved ones. Successful identification will enable the repatriation of remains to hometowns and the issuance of official death certificates, fulfilling a long‑standing national commitment to honor the sacrifices of the country’s heroes.