Phnom Penh (FN), Mar. 28 – The remains of two more American soldiers, who perished in the crash of a US aircraft during the Cambodian-Vietnamese border conflict 55 years ago in Ratanakiri province, have been discovered and are being prepared for repatriation to their families in the United States.

A ceremony was held on 27 March 2025, attended by Chargé d’Affaires Bridgette Walker and Cambodia’s POW/MIA Committee Vice Chair Sieng Lapresse.

The remains were excavated by an archaeological team from the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), in collaboration with Ohio Valley Archaeology Inc. and Golden West HF, with strong support from Cambodia’s POW/MIA Committee.

The US Embassy in Cambodia described the recovery and return of the remains as a significant step towards providing answers to the families of the missing soldiers.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, US aircraft conducted bombing campaigns to disrupt North Vietnamese operations that utilised Cambodian territory to attack South Viet Nam, a US ally.

According to a report by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, between early 1963 and early 1975, the US dropped 2.8 million tonnes of bombs and chemical weapons on Cambodia, resulting in the deaths of more than 500,000 Cambodians and the destruction of tens of thousands of villages and homes.

Many US soldiers were also killed in the conflict. Cambodia and the US have signed an agreement to jointly recover the remains of US soldiers who died during the war.

According to US reports, approximately 90 American soldiers remain missing in Cambodia, of whom 42 have been recovered. Across Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, and China, a total of 2,646 U.S. soldiers went missing during the Viet Nam War. More than 1,600 remain unaccounted for, including over 1,200 in Viet Nam.

Since 1980, Cambodia has conducted operations to locate the remains of US soldiers who died during the Viet Nam War. In mid-September 2018, Samdech Techo Hun Sen announced a suspension of these searches in response to US sanctions restricting the issuance of non-immigrant visas to senior Cambodian Foreign Ministry officials. However, in October 2018, Samdech Techo authorised the resumption of cooperation in recovering US soldiers’ remains on Cambodian soil.

The discovery and repatriation of these American soldiers' remains on 27 March 2025 marks the first such event since the two countries resumed cooperation in 2018.
=FRESH NEWS