In sunny, summer weather people waited patiently in line despite the heat and hour long wait to pay homage to the President. Mrs. Pham Thi Phat, 82 years old from the northern province of Hai Duong, got up at 4a.m to go to Ha Noi with her children to visit Uncle Ho in his mausoleum. She said she was a wife of a fallen soldier and lived in a family with revolutionary tradition. So when she was at the mausoleum, memories about the war and Uncle Ho came back.

Mrs. Phat said “We remember the great contributions made by Uncle Ho on the occasion of his birthday. We cannot visit his homeland so we go to his mausoleum to see him and offer incense to him. He devoted all his life for the country and people.”

In the line of people to the mausoleum, there are many ethnic people traditionally dressed. Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong from the Muong ethnic group of Hoa Binh Province went to Ha Noi in the early morning and brought a photo on Uncle Ho with her. She said Vietnamese people despite their ethnicity respect Uncle Ho and think of him as a friend, a close relative in the family and volunteer to study and follow his example.

Traveling hundreds of kilometers from the central province of Quang Binh to Ha Noi, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam was moved to see the line of people visiting Uncle Ho growing longer and longer. All the old, the young, teenagers, children and foreign tourists showed their respect and admiration to Uncle Ho.

May 19th – Uncle Ho’s birthday has a great significance to each Vietnamese person. Visiting Uncle Ho’s mausoleum, every one goes lightly, softly and shows their respect each moment seeing Uncle Ho. For them, Uncle Ho did not go away. He still lies there in a peaceful sleep, in love and respect of all people.