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LAST TRIBUTE OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF THE VIETNAM WORKERS' PARTY

Fellow-citizens and combatants throughout the country,
Comrades and friends,

Our venerated and beloved president HO CHI MINH is no more!
This is a tremendous loss! Boundless is our grief!
Our people and Party have lost a leader of genius and a great teacher.
The international communist movement, the national-liberation movement and all progressive mankind have lost an illustrious fighter, a staunch comrade-in-arms and a dear friend.
Our people and combatants in the whole country mourn for him in boundless grief! Our brothers and friends all over the world share our deep sorrow.

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For over sixty years, from his youth to his last moment, President HO CHI MINH dedicated his life to the revolutionary cause of our people and of the world's peoples. His was an exalted life, full of hardships and sacrifices, most noble and rich, immeasurably pure and beautiful.
With his ardent patriotism, President HO CHI MINH soon embraced Marxism - Leninism, in which he found the light that would show the path to salvation for the people and the country. He was the first Vietnamese to creatively apply Marxism - Leninism to the conditions of our country and to chart the course for the Vietnamese revolution so that it could advance step by step, from victory to victory.

President HO CHI MINH was the founder, leader and educator, of our Party, the builder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National United Front, the beloved father of the Vietnamese people's armed forces. He was the very soul, the shining banner that led our entire Party, our entire people, our entire army to unite as one man and struggle gallantly, thus writing the most glorious pages in the history of our Homeland.
Our nation, our people and our land gave birth to President HO CHI MINH, the great national hero, and he, in turn has covered them with glory.

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He personifies the essential character of our nation, he symbolizes the indomitable will shown by the Vietnamese people over four thousand years of history. "Nothing is more precious than independence any freedom". "We would rather endure and sacrifice than lose independence and be slaves". Such is the pressing patriotic summons of the Homeland at this moment, the call of our forefathers from time immemorial our sacred duty to all future generations. He said, "Vietnam is one country, the Vietnameses are one nation." "The South is the blood of Vietnamese blood, the flest of Vietnamese flest." During his lifetime, he always followed closely every step of the revolution for the liberation of the South; day and night he thought of our countrymen and fighters in the South with immense love.

Parting from him, we vow:
For ever to carry aloft the banner of national independence, to fight and defeat the U.S. aggressors, to liberate the South, defend the North, and reunify the country in fulfilment of his wish.

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The most cherished desire of President HO CHI MINH was to see the Homeland liberated and the people happy. He said, "I have only one desire, a most earnest desire - to achieve complete independence for our country, complete freedom for our people, and opportunities for all our countrymen to have adequate food and clothing and education". He also said "The North must advance to socialism".
During his lifetime, he gave his warm affection to his people, young and old, men and women and children, in the North and in the South, in the plains and in the mountains. Departing form this world, he left "boundless love" for the whole people, the whole Party, the whole army, and to his nephews and nieces, the youth and children.

Parting from him, we vow:
To go on devoting all our strength to the realization of the lofty ideal of socialism and communism that he set for our working class and people, so as to achieve prosperity for our land and happiness for our countrymen.

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President HO CHI MINH devoted constant attention and efforts to the building of our Party into a firmly-welded structure. He said, "The strength of the Party lies in its unity and oneness of mind". He was the incarnation of national unity, of North - South brotherhood. He said, "Unity, unity, great unity. Success, success, great success." He always advised us to preserve and enhance our traditions of unity and our love for our countrymen and comrades.

Parting from him, we vow:
With all our heart and strength to preserve the unity of the Party as we would the apple of our eye, to increase the fighting strength of the Party, the nucleus of national unity, and to ensure total victory for the revolutionary cause of the Vietnamese working class and nation.

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President HO CHI MINH is a lofty symbol of genuine patriotism closely combined with proletarian internationalism. His heart and mind was dedicated both to the Vietnamese nation and to the proletariat and the oppressed peoples in the whole world. As a faithful disciple of Karl. Marx and V. I.Lenin, President HO CHI MINH was not only a great patriot, but also an outstanding fighter in the international communist movement and the national-liberation movement of the 20th century. President HO CHI MINH constantly taught us to devote our care and attention to the preservation of international solidarity, for the sake of the great cause of the Vietnamese revolution and for the sake of our high duty to the world revolution.

Parting from him, we vow:
To constantly enhance the pure internationalist sentiments shown by President HO CHI MINH, do our utmost to contribute to the restoration and development of solidarity and unity in the socialist camp and among the fraternal parties on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism; to strengthen solidarity and friendship among the lndochinese peoples to extend whole-hearted support to the revolutionary movement of other peoples, to make an active contribution to the struggle of the world's peoples for peace, national independence, democracy and socialism.

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President HO CHI MINH's great life is an ever-shinging example of staunch revolutionary courage, the spirit of independence and sovereignty, deep love for the people, total dedication to the public interest and complete selflessness, modesty and simplicity. President HO CHI MINH taught us, "Our Party should preserve absolute purity and prove worthy of its role as the leader and very loyal servant of the people." Parting from him, we vow: All our life to learn from his virtues and style of work, to foster revolutionary virtues, fearlessly face hardships and sacrifices, to temper ourselves into fighters loyal to the Party and the people, worthy of being his comrades, his disciples. Following his example, our entire people and youth pledge to do their best to steel themselves into new men, masters of their country, masters of the new society, and to carry his invincible banner to the final goal.

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President HO CHI MINH is no more! But he left us an extremely precious legacy. This is the HO CHI MINH epoch, the most brilliant one in our nation's glorious history. This is the era of independence and freedom for the Homeland,the era of socialism in our country.
The whole nation and each of us individually feels eternal gratitude to him for the immense services he rendered to us.
In the presence of his spirit, we vow to remain faithful to him all our life, to struggle with all our heart and energy, to weld ourselves into an iron-like unity, struggle with self abnegation to fulfil our noble duty to the independence and freedom of the Homeland and the happiness of the people, and to make a worthy contribution to the revolutionary cause of the world's peoples.
President HO CHI MINH is no more! But he is always here to guide us. We still feel his constant presence by our side. For we continue to follow the path charted by him, and carry on his great work. For he will live for ever with our mountains and rivers, and his name and image will be ever more deeply engraved in the heart and mind of each of us.

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Dear comrades and fellow - countrymen,
Parting from us, Uncle Ho left a historic testament for our Party, for all countrymen and combatants in both South and North. These are his ultimate recommendations, his sentiments towards, and his confidence in the present and future generations.
Let us prove ourselves more worthy of him! Let us contain our grief, struggle valiantly, ardently march forward, overcome all obstacles and difficulties and be resolved to defeat the U.S,aggressors completely, build socialism successfully and fulfil the pledge of honour we are making in this sacred farewell to him!

PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH, THE GREAT LEADER. THE VENERATED AND BELOVED TEACHER OF OUR PARTY AND PEOPLE WILL LIVE FOR EVER!