Following night-long rain, red soil on the hill slope turned mushy as mud spilled from Pha Đin peak down to Highway 6. At merely 6 AM, the vehicle carrying officers and soldiers of the Điện Biên provincial Military Command pulled over, as the position of 2 martyrs’ graves sat merely 50 meters from the road edge, yet the path up was buried under mud and rocks, slippery. Soldiers drove stakes and stretched ropes for support, with lead climbers holding ropes for those behind, as boots sank deep in mud under soaked raincoats, taking silent steps.

The area holding 2 graves comprised a small plot beside the microwave station campus atop Pha Đin pass, where the field was cordoned off carefully with ropes and covered fully with tarpaulins to guarantee excavation conditions.

Arriving very early at the field was Lieutenant Colonel Đào Xuân Trường, Policy Assistant of the provincial Military Command. Drizzling rain soaked his shoulder sleeves, and his boots were coated in red mud after standing hours atop the pass, yet his eyes never strayed from the excavation team’s actions. Working in policy for years, he and his comrades traversed countless forests, streams, and hill peaks across Điện Biên, with week-long trips returning empty-handed or months spent verifying leads that proved to be mistaken memories after decades, yet never allowing themselves to ignore even a tiny clue.

Lieutenant Colonel Trường paused silently for seconds, noting in a low voice that behind each information source lies a family’s hope and today’s soldiers’ responsibility toward those who fell, before leaning over the field to follow the excavation team’s tasks.

Initial soil layers were peeled away, with cadres and soldiers gently turning thin soil layers as if afraid of awakening a sleep lasting over seven decades. Suddenly, a green cloth piece emerged from moist soil, causing the entire team to hold their breath. Lieutenant Colonel Trường gently cleaned the artifact, placed it cautiously in a preservation bag, and recorded details carefully, sharing that even a tiny item can serve as a basis to identify martyrs later, adding that finding the soldiers represents merely half the task, as what they long for most is seeing them return under correct names and native lands.

The gathering of 2 martyrs’ remains atop Pha Đin peak forms part of the 500-day-and-night Campaign with involvement from the entire political system and the people. Across Điện Biên land, war traces endure in forests, mountains, and witness memories, becoming precious clues on the journey seeking comrades’ return.

Finding the 2 graves atop Pha Đin peak also originated from such a memory, preserved for over two decades by Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Ngọc Toan, Battalion 97, Military Region 2 Staff Headquarters. Upon learning Điện Biên province launched the 500-day-and-night Campaign, he phoned the Provincial Military Command, stating briefly yet firmly that 2 martyrs remained atop Pha Đin, providing sufficient information to initiate a journey seeking the truth.

In 2005, while serving as a young officer at the microwave station atop Pha Đin pass, the sapper team unexpectedly discovered 2 graves during mine clearance serving Highway 6 expansion.

Upon discovering the 2 graves, Nguyễn Ngọc Toan reported to local authorities hoping for early gathering into cemeteries, yet lacking legal grounds at the time and unable to leave them amidst the construction site, he and his comrades carefully exhumed the remains and artifacts to reinter on land beside the microwave station, silently burning incense and tending the 2 graves for years alongside communication duty.

In 2008, receiving transfer orders, his greatest lingering regret concerned the 2 graves atop Pha Đin, leading him to hold a comrade’s hand before handover and request help burning incense for the two elders. When the 500-day-and-night Campaign launched, his phone call reconnected past memories, bringing soldiers lying atop Pha Đin back to comrades after over seven decades.

Toward noon, rain atop Pha Đin abated as white cloud bands drifted slowly over mountain slopes, revealing a pale sunny sky after hours covered in mist and drizzle, yet the gathering team continued its work.

Soldiers patiently sifted handfuls of soil, meticulously searching for remaining bone fragments, treasuring each discovered artifact as a testimony of time, with every button, cloth piece, and metal fragment cleaned gently, numbered, photographed, recorded with discovery positions, and sealed under workflows. Following meticulous efforts, 2 martyrs’ remains were placed solemnly inside small coffins draped in red flags with gold stars, welcomed back by today’s comrades in reverence and gratitude after over 70 years lying in the vast wilderness.

The vehicle carrying remains rolled slowly off Pha Đin peak as everyone present stood at attention and saluted. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Ngọc Toan quietly watched the vehicle disappear behind the pass bend, softly saying with red eyes as if sending off comrades who waited over seven decades for this return that from now on they would no longer be lonely atop the high pass.

Across Điện Biên mountains and forests, the 500-day-and-night Campaign continues as today’s soldiers set out silently, tracing memories, witness accounts, and remaining war traces, with some trips finding comrades and others returning with unfinished clues, yet never stopping because they understand that somewhere under Điện Biên soil soldiers still await their return.

Over 70 years following the Điện Biên Phủ victory, war has receded and bomb craters are covered in foliage green, yet the journey of gratitude never closes, because each gathered remains and identified name not only brings a soldier home to family and native land, but also fulfills today’s generation’s sacred promise to those who offered their youth to the Fatherland.