A Team K91 officer tests the "Martyrs' Records Management" software in Đồng Tháp Province to streamline archival data matching for locating fallen soldiers. — VNA/VNS Photos Nhựt An

ĐỒNG THÁP — By leveraging social media and dedicated archival software, Team K91 under the Military Command of the Mekong Delta province of Đồng Tháp is helping bring missing martyrs home faster.

For over two decades, officers and soldiers of Team K91 have braved arduous terrain across the province and also Cambodia to locate and bring home fallen Vietnamese heroes.

In line with the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on driving breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, the unit has actively modernised its operations.

By leveraging information technology, particularly social media, Team K91 has built a vital bridge to collect crucial leads, accelerating the sacred mission to reunite fallen heroes with their families.

Over the past year, the team established an official Facebook Fanpage, which has garnered around 4,000 active members and serves as a direct communication channel for relatives seeking missing martyrs, historical witnesses, veterans and individuals possessing clues regarding battlefield burial sites from decades ago.

Through the page, the unit receives numerous search requests as well as invaluable information provided by wartime comrades and local citizens who personally participated in battles, conducted burials, or know the exact locations of original gravesites.

To facilitate seamless verification, Team K91’s leadership has publicly listed official contact numbers on the page.

The user interface of the "Martyrs' Records Management" software developed by Team K91 in Đồng Tháp Province to digitalise and centralise fallen soldiers' profiles.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Võ Thành Dẫn, commander of Team K91, said since launching the page, the team had received a steady stream of messages, comments, and phone calls with vital leads.

When citizens or veterans share coordinates or express suspicions regarding buried remains, the team publishes these updates on the Fanpage to broaden outreach, inviting further public interaction and peer verification.

Once all necessary details are gathered, cross-checked and confirmed, Team K91 conducts field surveys and undertakes excavations.

“Digital technology has rendered our search operations far more efficient, significantly reducing time, manual labour and physical strain on our officers," Dẫn said.

Alongside social outreach, the team has researched, developed and launched trial runs of a dedicated application called Quản lý hồ sơ liệt sĩ (Martyrs’ Records Management).

In wartime conditions, multiple officers and soldiers were often buried together in field locations or local cemeteries.

Over subsequent decades, various authorities exhumed and relocated remains to designated state cemeteries.

However, due to historical interruptions, incomplete records, and terrain changes, several sites were only partially excavated, creating severe hurdles for modern recovery units trying to cross-reference missing personnel.

The specialised software solves these historical gaps by digitalising and centralising complex archival data.

The database logs all personal and service information, including full name, birth date, casualty date, hometown, rank, position, unit, place of sacrifice, initial burial site and repatriation history, along with details of surviving family members, designated worshippers, and source contacts who provided site intelligence.

This structured archive makes searching, reviewing and cross-referencing information immeasurably faster and more accurate.

Team K91 personnel perform field surveys and excavations as they look for fallen soldiers' remains in Đồng Tháp Province based on digital leads.

Sacred duty across borders

Team K91 recently completed its search and repatriation mission for the 2025-26 dry season across Pursat and Prey Veng provinces in Cambodia besides locations in Đồng Tháp Province.

Their painstaking efforts yielded the recovery of 68 sets of remains.

A solemn memorial and reburial service was subsequently conducted at Tam Nông Martyrs' Cemetery in the province’s Phú Thọ Commune.

Following the ceremony, the team gathered and handed over bone samples for DNA testing to establish legal identities.

Simultaneously, officers resumed ground research and active excavations in the province’s Tân Hồng Commune.

Captain Huỳnh Tấn Ngàn, a radio operator with Team K91 currently working alongside more than 30 comrades in Gò Da Hamlet, a border area of Tân Hồng Commune, said he has been participating in search and recovery operations since 2015, braving harsh weather and remote terrain.

“Whenever we locate the remains of a fallen soldier, every officer and soldier feels an overwhelming surge of joy. All physical fatigue instantly vanishes."

The journey to locate fallen martyrs today is bolstered by cutting-edge digital technology and widespread community solidarity.

From social media interactions and digital messaging to structured database cross-matching, every piece of testimony provided by historical witnesses becomes an invaluable clue.

Digital technology has effectively bridged the divide of time and space, widening the path that brings national heroes back to their homeland and grieving families.

For the team’s officers and soldiers, every set of remains recovered and every identity restored represents not only deep gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but also a sacred command from the heart, inspiring them on their journey of remembrance. — VNS