The U.S. government will continue to fulfill its commitments to helping Vietnam cope with the impacts of war, according to Kelly K. McKeague, director of the U.S. Defense Prisoners of War/Missing In Action (POW/MIA) Accounting Agency.

McKeague made the statement during his meeting with Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defense of Vietnam, in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Speaking at a reception in Hanoi, Chien said McKeague's visit to Vietnam coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP) and 35 years of joint operations to search for American personnel missing in action (MIA).

Chien also hailed the U.S. agency’s efforts in promoting the Vietnam-U.S. relations over the years, especially in overcoming the impacts of war in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese military official affirmed that cooperation in searching for American soldiers who went missing during the war serves as a bridge and first contact channel between leaders of the two countries, enabling the people of both countries to better understand each other’s goodwill and humanitarian policies.

Chien also revealed that both sides are carrying out several cooperative initaitives. So far, a combined 150 unilateral MIA search operations have been conducted, and the 151st search campaign is currently underway.

As for cooperating on carrying out searches for and collecting the remains of Vietnamese martyrs, the two sides have actively worked together to achieve remarkable results.

So far, the U.S has provided Vietnam with 30 sets of documents relating to Vietnamese soldiers who lost their lives or went missing during the war, as well as a significant amount of war memorabilia.

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense seeks further support from the U.S. in locating the additional 180,000 Vietnamese martyrs who remain missing, Chien said.

Chien expressed his hope that both sides will continue to facilitate MIA search cooperation activities.

For his part, McKeague affirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to addressing the consequences of the war in Vietnam.

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