The World : Vietnam Returns Remains

Twenty-five sets of remains tentatively identified as those of American military personnel missing in Vietnam were turned over to U.S. officials in a simple ceremony at Hanoi’s airport. One official, who asked not to be named, said that further identification of the remains--the second-largest such return made by the Vietnamese--would be made by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. A total of 1,763 Americans are still listed as missing in action in Vietnam 13 years after the end of the war. “The U.S. government appreciates the initiative taken by Vietnam to repatriate these remains and hopes it represents just one of many continued steps to resolve this longstanding humanitarian problem,” the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, said.