Finding names and peace for Vietnam's war dead

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/finding-names-and-peace-for-vietnams-war-dead/a-19122541

With German support, the Vietnamese government has begun an effort to identify the remains of 500,000 war dead. But the effects of decades-long contamination will make this a tough task.

Finding names and peace for Vietnam's war dead
Rodion Ebbighausen
18.03.2016

As part of the Vietnamese lunar calendar, some locals believe that ghosts emerge during the celebration of Tet Trung Nguyen. The spirits of the dead rise from the underworld to look over the realm of the living. In order to properly receive their ancestors - and to avoid being punished with bad luck - those taking part in the celebration prepare ritual dishes, burn votive paper money and light lanterns.

Honoring the dead and remembering forbears is a central component of Vietnamese culture, a practice which is represented ancestral shrines placed in nearly every home. This has made it all the more difficult to bear for the families of hundreds of thousands of victims of the Vietnam War, who have been buried in mass graves without identification. To this day, many families hope to track down where their dead have been laid, in order to give them a proper burial so that their souls may finally rest in peace.

German support

In recent years, the Vietnamese government has worked to separate and identify bodies placed in mass graves. But now they have decided to systematically deal with the entirety of graves in the country once and for all.

"The identification project represents a decisive step towards overcoming our painful past," said Tran Dong, counselor for science and technology at the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin. Doing so will also help families find a greater level of peace, he said.

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Did you know that we dropped TWICE the amount of bombs on Vietnam than we did during WW II?