NBC News — The Vietnamese government handed over the remains of three missing U.S. servicemen from the Vietnam War friday. In a solemn repatriation ceremony three boxes containing the remains of the soldiers were each placed in a casket and covered with an American flag. The caskets were then escorted by a U.S. military honor guard to a waiting Air Force C-130.

The remains will be flown from Hanoi to the United States Central Identification Lab in Hawaii to help find the soldiers identity. A total of 985 Americans missing from the Vietnam War have been identified since 1973. There are still 1,661 Americans unaccounted for from the war.