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p In the evening of September 1, 1969, the residents of Hanoi filled the Palace of Congresses to mark Independence Day. However, none of them looked festive. For the first time, the central scat of the presiding committee, usually filled by Ho Chi Minh, was vacant.

p Although no official word had come from the presidential chancellery, the city knew that the President was gravely ill. Two days later, Ho Chi Minh died.

p It is said that when he opened his eyes for the last time shortly before his death, he asked: "How are things in the South? Will there be holiday fireworks in Hanoi on September 2?"

p Ho Chi Minh had a will and testament to the Party and the people. It was full of revolutionary optimism, and with faith in the prosperous future of Vietnam.

p “The war of resistance against the U.S. aggression may drag on. Our people may yet have to face new sacrifices of life and property. Whatever happens, we must keep firm our resolve to fight the U.S. aggressors till total victory.

p Our mountains will always be, our rivers
will always be, our
people will always be;
The American invaders defeated, we will rebuild
our land ten Limes more beautiful.

p “No matter what difficulties and hardships lie ahead, our people are sure of total victory. The U.S. imperialists will have to go. The South and North will be reunified."

p Ho Chi Minh wanted to he sure that after his death the Vietnam Workers’ Party would continue to be the vanguard of the people.

p He wrote in his testament:

p “Unity is an extremely precious tradition of our Party and people. All comrades, from the Central Committee down to the cell, must cherish the Party’s unity and singleness of mind like the apple of their eye.

p “Ours is a Party in power. Each Party member, each cadre must be deeply imbued with revolutionary morality, and show industry, thrift, integrity, uprightness, total dedication to the public interest and complete selflessness. Our Party should preserve absolute purity and prove worthy of its role as the leader and most loyal servant of the people."

p All progressives in the world mourned Ho Chi Minh’s death. More than 22,000 telegrams and letters of condolence poured in from 121 countries—from heads of government and state, from leaders of Communist and Workers’ Parties and the national liberation movements, from democratic public organisations, from veterans of the world revolutionary movement, and from well-known public figures.

p The message, sent jointly by the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and the Council of Ministers of the USSR to the leaders of the Vietnam Workers’ Party and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, reads: "The great son of the heroic Vietnamese people, the outstanding leader of the international Communist and national liberation movement, and a great friend of the Soviet Union has died.

p “Comrade Ho Chi Minh has given all his remarkable life, and all his talent of a revolutionary to the cause of the struggle for a happy future of his people, for the triumph of Marxism-Leninism. It is hard to overestimate his contribution to the creation on the principles of MarxismLeninism of the Vietnam Workers’ Party. The Party is the acknowledged leader of the Vietnamese people in their struggle for liberation and socialism. He stood at the helm of the August Revolution, in the crucible of which the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first socialist state in Southeast Asia, was born. Inspired by Comrade Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese people have dealt a shattering blow to the imperialist aggressors and have initiated a determined struggle against the U.S. invaders and their allies, for the liberation of South Vietnam.

p “The seething energy of Comrade Ho Chi Minh, his iron will, his indomitable courage, coupled with simplicity and humaneness, have earned him profound love and respect in Vietnam, in the Soviet Union, 237 with the Communists and progressive men and women all over tinworld.

p “The Communists of the Soviet Union, all Soviet people, value the tireless efforts of Comrade Ho Chi Minh to promote fraternal friendship between the Vietnam Workers’ Party and the CPSU, between the peoples of the Soviet Union and Vietnam. We in the Soviet Union will forever cherish his memory as a staunch Marxist-Leninist, a loyal friend of our Party and our country."

p The funeral ceremony in Hanoi on September 9, 1969, grew into a demonstration of the love and respect of the Vietnamese for their leader and teacher, and of loyalty to the ideals of communism.

p “Our people, our party lost their great leader and teacher,” said Le Duan, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Workers’ Party. "The international Communist movement, the national liberation movement and all progressive mankind have lost an outstanding fighter, a staunch and dear comrade-in-arms... As we say good-bye to Comrade Ho Chi Minh, we swear: to hold aloft the banner of national independence, the banner of our struggle for victory over the U.S. aggressor, to free the South, to protect the North, to reunite the country and in this way translate his dream into reality. As we say good-bye to Comrade Ho Chi Minh, we swear: to give all of our strength to the struggle for the realisation of the noble socialist and Communist ideals which he has bequeathed to the working class and to our people so as to make our country prosperous and our people happy."

p At its special meeting on November 29, 1969, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Workers’ Party adopted a decision to embalm Ho Chi Minh’s body and build a mausoleum in historical Badinh Square.

p That was a truly national building project. People came here from far-off provinces, from cities and rural communities, from factories, government offices and from the armed forces. Those were the best workers from all over the land. A few years later, a mausoleum rose over the spot where, one morning in September 1945, Ho Chi Minh had read out the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the birth of a free and independent Vietnam.

p Vietnam is very rich in multi-coloured decorative rock marble and granite, and the semi-precious stone jasper. The architects made wide use of the marble from Danang. The gold stars, hammer and sickle on the banner in the mausoleum’s hall of mourning were made of the orange marble of Thanhhoa province. The banner itself was decorated with the very rare bright-red jasper, also from Thanhhoa. The crimson inscription on the front-piece and the red stripes on either side of the entrance were inlaid with the famous Thungkhanh jasper from the 238 province of Caolang where Ho Chi Minh had spent many years of his life with the guerillas fighting against foreign invaders.

p Flanking the mausoleum are the brightest plants that grow in Vietnam. The rare tree called te was brought here from a place where, according to legend, the Hung Vuong kings reigned four thousand years ago. The tree’s tall trunk, straight as an arrow, is thrust upwards, towards the blue of the sky. The le tree symbolises the straight and glorious path that Ho Chi Minh traversed. The square is bisected by an alley of fan palms with long shapely feathery leaves. These palms are mostly known by their popular name van tue or "ten thousand years”, because of their very long life, and also because their leaves are always bright green in any weather. Growing next to the mausoleum is a shady banyan tree. The peach tree with rosy petals was brought from the province of Songla, the oil-bearing tree from Nam-bo, the licorice tree I’rom Trung-bo.

The opening ceremony at the mausoleum was held on August 29, 1975, with a Soviet Party and Government delegation taking part.

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p Ho Chi Minh did not live to see South Vietnam completely liberated and reunited with the rest of the country on socialist principles. But he had always believed that this would come. He ended his testament with the words: "My ultimate wish is that our entire Party and people, closely joining their efforts, will build a peaceful, reunified, independent, democratic and prosperous Vietnam and make a worthy contribution to the world revolution."

p These words of Ho Chi Minh’s are a guide to action for his Party comrades, and also for the South Vietnamese, for the whole heroic nation. On April 30, 1975, the Red Flag with a gold star was hoisted over Saigon, which had for so many years been the capital of the neocolonialism anti-popular regime. This act concluded the long struggle for the liberation of the southern part of Vietnam. The national liberation revolution had finally won throughout the country.

p Ho Chi Minh’s immortal image inspired the People’s Army in its last attack on Saigon. Van Tien Dung, who took part in that operation recalls:

p “The command headquarters was at the Lokninh base deep inside the forest. We did not sleep all night and heard the incessant rumble of tanks and heavy guns as they moved through the jungle, the loud ’hellos’ of numerous army telephone operators, telephone conversations of army staffers, political commanders, service corps officials. Baq Ho’s whole life, dedicated as it was to the revolutionary cause, was passing right in 239 front of our eyes. \Vc also recalled that Saigon had long since been named after him. And (his is when all the members of our command unanimously decided to send a telegram to the Political Bureau requesting that the last attack on Saigon be codenamed ’Operation Ho Chi Minh’.

p “At 7 p.m. on April 14, 1975, we received a telegram from the Political Bureau. It contained the following message: ’We agree with your proposal to call the operation to free Saigon after Ho Chi Minh’.

p “On July 2. 1976, the National Assembly of United Vietnam met for the iirst session after the general elections, and proclaimed the creation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The great cause to which Comrade Ho Chi Minh dedicated all his life the creation of a single socialist Vietnam had finally been achieved."

p The Vietnamese people, the peoples of the countries of the socialist community, the world Communist and national liberation movement hold sacred the memory of Ho Chi Minh. His name has been given to one of the largest cities in Southeast Asia, former Saigon. His name has been given, loo, to the Young Communist League and the Young Pioneers’ Organisation in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Memorial museums were set up in places where Ho Chi Minh had lived and worked. 1 lis name was given to one of the squares in Moscow and to an institute of higher learning in Irkutsk, to the streets in the capitals of the German Democratic Republic. Mo/ambique and some other countries. A Soviet ship that makes frequent calls at Vietnamese ports also bears his name.

p But the most majestic monument to Ho Chi Minh are the historic victories scored by the peoples of Indochina: the reunification of Vietnam on socialist principles, the victory of the national-democratic revolution in Laos which embarked upon the socialist road, and the victory of the people’s revolution in Kampuchea which put an end to the brutal Pol Pot regime.

p These victories have consolidated the revolutionary alliance, and traditional ties between the peoples of the three fraternal countries of Indochina. Enemies have tried at dilferent times to wreck the alliance, but in vain.

p Millions of Vietnamese cherish the memory of Uncle Ho and carry in their thoughts his behest: "There is nothing more precious than independence and freedom!"

The feelings of the Vietnamese Communists and all people of Vietnam were summed up in the Political Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam to the 4lh Parly Congress held in Hanoi on December 1 1-20, 197(i. It reads in part: "At this glorious moment we are thinking with great emotion about our very dear Baq Ho whom we sadly miss at this historic congress. All of our Party, all of our people, and the army arc proud that they have honourably carried out Ho Chi 240 Minh’s testament. His most cherished thoughts have become a reality. The American imperialists have been driven from our country never to return. Our country has become independent and united, and is moving on towards socialism. The people of the South and the North have united into one family. As a token of the deep respect and affection in which the people of our country hold President Ho Chi Minh, the Congress salutes him in their name and voices their boundless gratitude for devoting all his life to the cause of the country’s national liberation and reunification, to the cause of the Party and the nation, for glorifying our country and leaving us and the future generations his immortal legacy."