Vietnamese Ambassador to US Ha Kim Ngoc (left) and Ann Mills-Griffiths, Chairwoman of the Board and CEO of the National League of POW/MIA Families (Photo: VNA)Washington DC (VNA) – TheVietnamese Embassy in Washington DC on March presented a documentary on thesearch of remains of US naval officer James B. Mills, who died during the warin Vietnam, to his sister Ann Mills-Griffiths.
The handover took place when Vietnam’s National Steering Committee on theSettlement of Post-war Unexploded Ordnance and Toxic Chemical Consequences andthe US Institute of Peace (USIP) are preparing for a seminar on the settlementof war consequences and the path towards reconciliation and cooperation betweenVietnam and the US.
The 12-minute documentary tells about the search for Mills, who died in thecentral coastal province of Nghe An. His remains were found after many yearsthanks to tireless efforts of both Vietnam and the US.
In his remarks, Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc said the successful excavation manifestsclose cooperation between Vietnamese and US competent forces in healing warwounds and overcoming post-war consequences, contributing to building mutualtrust.
This is also a highlight of the path toward a comprehensive partnership of thetwo countries, he said.
The diplomat stressed that the film signals the Vietnamese Government’sacknowledgement of efforts of Griffiths, who is also Chairwoman of the Board and CEO of the NationalLeague of POW/MIA Families and the league itself in addressing war consequencesand building friendship between the two countries.
For her part, Griffiths said the event is meaningful to her family and otherfamilies searching for US servicemen missing in action in Vietnam.
She said the remains of her brother were found after many failures and herfamily had lost hope. Therefore, the event has given hope to prisoners ofwar/missing in action families for the possibility to find the remains of theirloved ones.
Griffiths described the gift as a symbol offriendship between the two countries, bringing them closer to continue withcooperation in post-war consequence settlement.
Over the years, Vietnam has suggested the US side seek new methods to improve searchoperations. Thanks to joint efforts, hundreds of sets of remains of US soldiershave been repatriated.
The war left millions of Vietnamese dead and wounded, including more than300,000 soldiers missing in action. The remains of some 200,000 Vietnamese martyrshave yet to be found.
On the US side, more than 58,000 solders were killed, 2,000 went missing andhundreds of thousands of others were injured during the war.-VNA
VNA
