US soldiers perform a ceremony to bring home the remains of an American serviceman in Hanoi, Dec. 13, 2025. Photo by Read/Giang Huy
The 171st repatriation ceremony for the remains of U.S. servicemen missing in action (MIA) from the war in Vietnam took place at Gia Lam airport in Hanoi, following a recent unilateral search in the northern province of Lao Cai.
The remains, jointly examined by Vietnamese and U.S. forensic experts on Dec. 5, were preliminarily deemed as potentially linked to U.S. personnel lost during the war. They will be sent to a laboratory in Hawaii for additional testing and identification.
At the ceremony on Saturday, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper thanked the Vietnamese Government for its strong and sustained commitment to this humanitarian effort, calling it a proof of deepening people-to-people cooperation that has underpinned the normalization and advancement of bilateral ties.
Kelly McKeague, Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), also conveyed his gratitude to the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Personnel for its dedication. He hailed Vietnam as one of the two countries among the 46 nations where DPAA operates that can independently conduct searches in challenging terrains.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defense Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien voiced his confidence that sustained goodwill and joint action would allow both sides to tackle lingering war consequences while broadening cooperation across other domains, which, he described as the best way to heal physical, emotional, and societal scars and fostering the stronger Vietnam – U.S. relationship.
Vietnam will maintain close coordination and full support for ongoing searches, which have been carried out for nearly half a century, Chien said, urging the U.S. to increase resources for projects addressing unexploded ordnance, dioxin remediation, aid for the disabled and war victims, and assistance in locating and identifying missing Vietnamese soldiers.
Humanitarian efforts to seek U.S. MIA servicemen in Vietnam began shortly after the 1973 Paris Peace Accords and have led to the identification and repatriation of remains belonging to about 740 US servicemen.
The 171st ceremony served as a poignant capstone to 2025, a year marking the 30th anniversary of Vietnam – U.S. diplomatic ties, the 40th anniversary of joint MIA search operations and the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Vietnam.
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