Two American veterans have raised a fund worth more than US$28,000 to assist residents affected by recent natural disasters in the central Vietnamese provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Ngai.

Ron Harberle and Chuck Searcy, two U.S. veterans, have called on over 110 U.S. citizens to contribute more than $28,000 to their fund.

The financial assistance will be handed over to Project RENEW in Quang Tri Province and the Red Cross Society in Quang Ngai Province on January 25, a representative of Project RENEW confirmed on Thursday.

Project RENEW and the Quang Ngai Red Cross Society will select and give the support to local residents who suffered serious consequences left by last year’s storms and floods.

Harberle said he had been touched by images of the destruction caused by the natural disasters and decided to do something to help the victims.

Harberle is also a photographer best known for the photographs he took of the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968.

Meanwhile, Searcy is cofounder of Project RENEW, which was established to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by cluster bombs and other munitions remaining in Quang Tri Province.

Vietnam was hit by a total of 14 storms in 2020. Among them, seven consecutive storms hit Vietnam’s central region in October and November.

The natural phenomena unleashed massive amounts of rainfall, which triggered devastating landslides, flash floods, and inundation.

As of November 22, 249 people had been killed and/or missing due to the natural disasters, while financial damage mounted to over VND30 trillion (US$1.3 billion).

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!