These soldiers laid down their lives on battlefields in Da Nang City and Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

The visiting veterans also gave the soldiers’ memorabilia they have kept to Vu Xuan Hong, president of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations.

Mr Hong thanked the American veterans for their goodwill and said Vietnam is working closely with the US to search for US personnel missing in action (MIA).

“Your work has made a direct contribution to healing war wounds between the two countries,” said Mr Hong.

VVA Vice President Jack Gerald Devine and Mr Hong exchanged views on areas of cooperation to solve post-war issues.

The American veterans said that the US administration should take strong action to support Vietnamese victims who were exposed to defoliants, including dioxin, sprayed by the US army during the war.

Established in 1978, VVA aims to serve the interests of war veterans and their families. In 1999, it sent the first delegation to Vietnam under the Veteran Initiative Programme in response to Vietnam’s goodwill towards MIA issues.

Twenty-two such delegations have since visited Vietnam and provided information relating to 9,700 Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed or remain missing during the war. Nearly 1,000 remains of the bodies have been found and reburied.