A ceremony took place in Hanoi on Thursday to mark the 50th establishment anniversary of the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP) and the 35th anniversary of the joint operation to search for U.S. soldiers who were reported missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War.

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc said VNOSMP has been fulfilling its assigned political missions, contributing to the healing of the wounds of war as well as to the normalization and promotion of the Vietnam - U.S. relations over the past decades.

With the relentless efforts of the two sides, the Vietnam - U.S. MIA cooperation will continue to achieve positive outcomes and fulfill its humanitarian mission, helping to lift the Vietnam - U.S. comprehensive partnership to a new height, Ngoc stated.

Vietnam established the VNOSMP in March 1973, not long after the signing of the Paris Agreement, with the goal of searching for Americans missing during the Vietnam War that ended in April 1975.

Speaking at the event, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said the MIA cooperation, which was set up before the two nations normalized their diplomatic relations in 1995, has created a firm foundation to promote the U.S. - Vietnam relationship.

Knapper, son of an American veteran in the war in Vietnam, Colonel Roger Knapper, added that the U.S. supports a strong, prosperous, independent and self-reliant Vietnam.

Attending the commemoration ceremony, Kelly McKeague, director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, offered souvenirs to individuals and organizations that have contributed to the search for U.S. servicemen missing in Vietnam.

A touching video clip was played at the celebration, giving out the words of thanks from the bottom of the hearts of a number of Americans whose relatives died as soldiers during the Vietnam War. 

A total of 160 remains repatriation missions have been carried out over the past 35 years, with the remains of 734 out of a total of 1,973 American servicemen reported missing in the war having been handed over to the U.S. 

That means more than 1,200 MIA cases have yet to be resolved and need continuous search efforts.

The latest repatriation of MIA remains took place on April 10, 2023, with two remains handed over to the U.S., which was the outcome of the 150th joint search mission between the two sides in the north-central provinces of Nghe An and Quang Binh.    

All participants of the ceremony took a moment to pay tribute to 16 Vietnamese and American officers who died while on MIA duty 22 years ago.

These officials, including nine Vietnamese and seven Americans, were killed when a helicopter carrying them on a MIA search mission crashed in Quang Binh on April 7, 2001.

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