By Nadya Williams
Featured image above: All-Women Clearance Team
All veterans and civilians against war agonize over the current killing of children in the Middle East by Israeli and American forces. They know that wars do not end with a cessation of conflict — unexploded ordnance (UXOs) being just one of the deadly legacies of war, with children being especially vulnerable to the (easily) 10% of UXOs still active in the ground. Viet Nam’s Quang Tri Province alone is estimated to be 40% contaminated. However, 50 years later, several programs are in full force to spare the populace of Viet Nam from further harm.
Unexploded Ordnance (UXOs) are safely removed and destroyed.
Of the more successful UXO clearance efforts is the Viet Namese-government run ProjectRENEW (Restoring the Environment to Neutralize the Effects of War), initiated in Quang Tri Province in 2001 by American veteran Chuck Searcy along with Mr. Hoàng Nam, who is today the Standing Deputy Chairman of the Quang Tri People’s Committee. Searcy, who lives full time in Ha Noi, continues his involvement as an international advisor. ProjectRENEW:www.landmines.org.vn
Global NGOs, notably Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), one of the world’s leading organizations in humanitarian disarmament, partnered with Project RENEW in 2007 to dramatically increase Explosive Ordnance Disposal capacity. Currently, the NPA/RENEW UXO clearance program is funded by the US Department of State. Project RENEW also receives direct funds from the Government of Ireland through the Embassy of Ireland in Viet Nam to sustain the other two pillars of humanitarian mine action: risk education and victim assistance.
Focusing on the former Quang Tri Province, hard up against the 17th parallel’s DMZ, an area literally saturated with bombs, cluster munitions, landmines and other explosives, RENEW and its international partners including NPA, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), and PeaceTrees Vietnam (PTVN), reached, for the first time ever, “Zero-Accident” in 2019 – an historic milestone for the whole region! However, that record was sustained for only three years. From 2022 to 2024, five adult males fell victim to UXOs. Quang Tri Province recorded NO accidents in 2025. According to the Quang Tri Mine Action Center (QTMAC), a total of 844,149 deadly munitions have already been safely destroyed by the teams managed by NPA/RENEW, MAG, and PTVN as of December 2025. There is even an All-Women clearance team in the field.
QTMAC statistics show that children under the age of 16 have historically accounted for 31% of total post-war casualties in Quang Tri Province. While the province has made significant strides in UXO clearance during the past two decades, education remains the first line of defense. This is why, very early on, ProjectRENEW began aggressive Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) programs in all local schools, with a third of a million school children having already been reached. The principal trainer is a young man who was severely injured as a 10-year-old, providing the children with a powerful example of the deadly consequences of interacting out of curiosity with an exposed remnant of war. These life-saving educational programs “dovetail” perfectly with the work of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), which has already built four, soon to be five, school libraries, complete with computer labs.
“It is impossible to rid Viet Nam of all UXOs,” states Searcy, “but avoidance through education can go a long way in reducing deaths and injuries.”
Expansion Into Quang Ngai Province
ProjectRENEW raised $100,000 in 2022, via its linked organization, Friends of ProjectRENEW: www.renewvn.org, to expand south into Quang Ngai Province, where VVAW just completed their fourth Library and Learning Center at the Hanh Minh Secondary School. A driving force is Chuck Searcy (U.S. Army military intelligence three years late 1960s, one year in Saigon), who is also the president of the Veterans For Peace Hoa Binh (Peace) Chapter 160 in Vietnam. “Quang Ngai is where the My Lai Massacre took place 58 years ago,” he says. “It is unconscionable that farmers and children there remain at risk of being maimed and killed by tens of thousands of bombs and landmines that still litter the countryside.”
Chuck Searcy, President, Veterans For Peace Hoa Binh (Peace) Chapter 160 in Viet Nam.
He was US Army military intelligence for three years, late 1960s, with one year in Saigon.
With support from the Government of Ireland and Friends of ProjectRENEW, victim assistance programs are in full swing. Activities include providing prosthetic limbs, orthotics services, mobile outreach clinics, rehabilitation services and follow-up care for more than 3,000 persons with disabilities. Additionally, livelihood support through vocational training and other income-generation initiatives is provided, plus home modifications to improve accessibility for severely disabled persons, and support to rehabilitation and care centers in coordination with local health and social service departments.
Mobile Clinic for Amputees
In addition, since 2022, RENEW has participated in a broader effort to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in provinces heavily affected by Agent Orange/Dioxin. This initiative is funded by the U.S. Government through the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. Lastly, Disability Law dissemination, to raise awareness and promote inclusion and rights of persons with disabilities, completes RENEW’s mission.
As of 1 July 2025, the former provinces of Quảng Trị (immediately south of the 17th parallel) and Quảng Bình (just north) were officially merged into a new Quảng Trị Province, as part of Viet Nam’s national administrative reform. The expanded province includes regions that were among the most heavily bombed and sprayed during the war. Since 2020, a consortium that includes NPA, MAG and PeaceTrees, has worked to map, identify and neutralize remaining UXOs in the former Quang Binh Province.
Poverty remains a challenge, and is concentrated in remote areas, with rates exceeding 30% in some ethnic minority communes. There are often thousands of persons with disabilities, including Agent Orange victims, of whom many are children. Additionally, many communities lack adequate access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.
However, province by province, American veterans and ordinary citizens, hand in hand with Vietnamese agencies, can contribute to educating the children and helping vulnerable groups receive the support they need to improve their living conditions, as well as creating an environment in which communities can at last live safely, peacefully and happily.
Mine Education Class for Cam Thuy Primary School Children
To donate, please go to https://renewvn.org/donate All contributions to Friends of ProjectRENEW are tax-deductible as provided by US law, as a charitable organization as defined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. Donors receive a tax substantiation letter or email upon receipt of their contributions.
Nadya Williams is Director of Communications, and an active associate member of Veterans For Peace, San Francisco Chapter 69 since 2003.
