1924
Nguyen Ai Quoc (an alias of Ho Chi Minh) and his classmates from Vostok State University attended V.I. Lenin’s funeral. Finally, the young revolutionary from distant Vietnam, who wished to come to the native land of the October Revolution to meet Lenin, just had the opportunity to stand in front of the coffin of this great leader.
After the funeral, he went back in the cold to the Lux Hotel late evening. There, in room 176, he wrote an article titled “Lenin and colonial nations,” ending it by saying “Lenin will live forever in our revolutionary career.”
1947
Uncle Ho wrote to Bishop Le Huu Tu in Phat Diem in Ha Noi’s Kim Son District seeking his continued support to the resistance government and prayers to bless the Fatherland.
Later he wrote many letters to explain about religious freedoms enshrined in the country’s constitution.
At that time the French colonialists used whatever tricks they could to drive a wedge between religions and entice bishop Tu.
Bishop Tu finally left the ranks of the resistance for France and fiercely fought the revolutionists.
However, Uncle Ho’s trust in the Catholic clergy and followers remained undiminished.
In the last days of the month he wrote to Dr. Vu Dinh Tung, a Catholic intellectual, to offer his sympathies after hearing the doctor’s son had just died at the front.
The letter said, “Dear Sir, I came to know that your son committed the ultimate sacrifice for the Fatherland. I don’t have a family or children. Vietnam is my family. All young Vietnamese people are my children. I am deeply pained by the death of a young person.”
“You dedicated your most precious son to the Fatherland. You ought to assist the resistance further to protect the nation so that your son in Heaven will be happy and satisfied.”
By Duong Trung Quoc* and co-writers
*The author is a historian and member of the National Assembly
