A heartfelt journey of remembrance for fallen soldiers in Quang Tri

The care provided, ranging from well-arranged accommodations and carefully maintained graves to thoughtful assistance and respectful ceremonies, makes every visit to Quang Tri a meaningful and emotional journey of remembrance for families and people from across Vietnam.

The reception house for families of fallen soldiers at Quang Tri Province’s Truong Son National Cemetery is a familiar destination for Bui Thi Hong and her husband, Nguyen Thanh Nghi.

Whenever they visit the grave of Hong’s father, Bui Thanh Nghi, a martyr from from Nghe An Province who died in 1968, they choose this facility as their place to stay.

A night visitation at the Route 9 National Martyrs' Cemetery. Photo: Thanh Truc

“Every year when we visit my father’s grave, our family is warmly welcomed and provided with comfortable accommodation, which eases the burden of travel expenses,” Nghi said.

“The staff here are always kind and thoughtful. Their care makes us feel deeply touched.”

The couple are among thousands of relatives and veterans who travel to Quang Tri annually to visit the graves of fallen soldiers.

Quang Tri Province, the heroic land of Vietnam’s Central Region, is honored to represent the entire country in tending to more than 74,000 graves at 157 cemeteries across the region, including the national cemeteries of Truong Son and Route 9.

Each July, the Month of Remembrance for Martyrs and War Invalids, Quang Tri makes special efforts to prepare for the influx of visitors.

These include maintaining the graves and cemetery grounds, and ensuring proper accommodation and services for visitors at the Reception House managed by the Quang Tri Center for the Care of People with Meritorious Services and Cemetery Management.

The center, which includes 40 rooms with capacity for up to 120 people at a time, has hosted tens of thousands of relatives over the past 30 years.

During their visits, families are provided with free lodging as they honor their loved ones.

For many families, the reception house feels like a second home, a source of comfort and support during their emotional journeys.

Since the beginning of 2025, the center has welcomed 595 delegations with a total of more than 2,400 visitors.

Beyond providing accommodations, the staff also assist in guiding visitors through procedures related to grave identification, correcting headstone information, and arranging ceremonies or reburials.

Martyrs“graves at the Truong Son National Martyrs” Cemetery being taken care of. Photo: Thanh Truc

The two national cemeteries of Truong Son and Route 9, which together hold some 21,100 martyrs’ graves, have received more than 1,300 delegations and 41,300 visitors so far this year. Among them were 24 official delegations from central government agencies.

According to Nguyen Vu Quang, Director of the Center for the Care of People with Meritorious Services and Cemetery Management, the center has done its utmost to provide respectful, well-organized ceremonies and ensure the best possible conditions for visitors.

The staff manages visitor information, coordinates services, and oversees every detail to ensure solemn and respectful commemorations.

Since the beginning of the year, the center has corrected headstone information for 31 cases, responded to two official requests to locate graves, and processed the return of 33 remains for burial in the soldiers’ home provinces.

Nine biological samples have been submitted for DNA testing, and 12 remains have been reburied at the Route 9 National Cemetery.

At the Route 9 cemetery, which holds the graves of 10,871 soldiers who fought along the Route 9 battlefield and in Laos during the resistance war against the United States, many graves remain unidentified or have no recorded address.

The cemetery’s management board has also applied digital technology to scan and archive original records to assist families in locating their relatives.

To maintain the beauty and cleanliness of the cemeteries, staff are assigned to regularly tend to the graves.

They weed, replace flowers and incense holders, repaint faded gravestones, and clean memorial tablets built by various localities and organizations.

“On average, each staff member is responsible for maintaining about 1,000 graves,” said Dinh Thi Minh Ly, a staff member at the cemetery.

“During the peak month of July, we are assigned extra duties on weekends to welcome and assist visitors,” she said.

“From July 1 to 30, three staff members are on duty each evening from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to support night-time ceremonies and visits.”

At the Truong Son National Cemetery, which holds the remains of nearly 10,300 martyrs from across the country, deputy director Hoang Van Minh said that although there is no overtime allowance, staff still take turns working nights to organize and support ceremonies for visitors and delegations.

The care provided, ranging from well-arranged accommodations and carefully maintained graves to thoughtful assistance and respectful ceremonies, makes every visit to Quang Tri a meaningful and emotional journey of remembrance for families and people from across Vietnam.

This is not just a responsibility but also a heartfelt expression of gratitude from today’s generation to those who gave their lives for the nation’s independence and freedom.

Each act of remembrance reaffirms the Vietnamese tradition of honoring the past and preserving the spirit of gratitude that defines the nation’s cultural identity.

Thanh Truc – Huy Anh