50 years of keeping sleep for Him

In the blink of an eye, it has been 50 years since President Ho Chi Minh passed away and 44 years since the inauguration of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Day after day, at Ba Dinh Square, tens of thousands of people from all over the country and international visitors come here to admire the image of Uncle Ho, leisurely and simple as if he had just fallen asleep after a day of work.

President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum has welcomed 57 million people and international visitors after 44 years of opening.

Institute 69, under the Command of the Protection of President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - Ministry of National Defense, is assigned the medical task of preserving Uncle Ho's body for long-term visits. Over the past 50 years, the staff of Institute 69 have strived to excellently fulfill the sacred mission assigned by the Party, State and people.

On September 2, 1969, President Ho Chi Minh, the outstanding leader, national liberation hero, outstanding international communist soldier, and cultural celebrity of humanity, entered eternity, leaving behind infinite sorrow for all the Vietnamese people and international friends.

In response to the earnest wishes of the entire Party, people and army, the Politburo of the Central Party has decided to carry out to the best of its ability the task of preserving President Ho's body for a long time.

Thanks to that, up to now, people across the country not only have the opportunity to learn from Uncle Ho through pictures and documents, but also have the opportunity to see Uncle Ho in person, in the flesh, his face, his appearance, his simple clothes, so that learning from Uncle Ho becomes more practical and effective.

The special medical team was established as the predecessor of Institute 69, under the Command of the Protection of President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. This is a specialized unit with special political tasks, directly carrying out the medical task of preserving and protecting the body of President Ho Chi Minh in the long term, and organizing scientific research to serve this sacred task.

Officers and staff of Institute 69 test some chemicals to preserve corpses.

Doctor of Medicine, Lieutenant Colonel Tuong Phi Vuong, Deputy Head of the Morphology Department, Institute 69, said that the credit for preserving Uncle Ho's body as it was during his lifetime goes to the most outstanding medical experts of the Soviet Union and Vietnam in the years 1969 - 1970.

“In particular, preserving the body for special visits is much more difficult than conventional preservation technology because it is necessary to preserve the characteristics of the person as they were during his lifetime. Not only preserving, but also ensuring that those characteristics stand out to serve visitors.Soviet experts and Vietnamese medical experts in the early days made great contributions. The most difficult stage was the initial embalming stage and the most important stage was the plastic surgery to make the body resemble Uncle Ho's image when he was alive," said Lieutenant Colonel Tuong Phi Vuong.

Talking about the first days of carrying out the mission, Major General Cao Dinh Kiem, Political Commissar of the Command for the Protection of President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, said that in the context of fierce war and natural disasters, in just 6 years (1969-1975), Uncle Ho's body had to be moved 6 times to many places, but overcoming all difficulties, the force preserving Uncle Ho's body coordinated with Soviet experts to always ensure the best preservation, fulfilling the determination of the entire Party, the entire army and the entire people.

Major General Cao Dinh Kiem shared: “The medical mission is a backbone in the mission of preserving President Ho Chi Minh's body - a technology that only the former Soviet Union and Russia currently possess.Currently, the technical staff at the mausoleum have completely mastered their duties. The greatest success of the medical mission is that over the past 50 years, under any circumstances, we have always excellently completed the task of preserving President Ho Chi Minh's body."

In the 50-year history of Institute 69, the most difficult period was in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and experts withdrew from the country. At that time, in the world, the technology to preserve corpses for visiting was the only invention of the Soviet Union.

Faced with that situation, we proposed to negotiate with you to help train a team of highly qualified medical staff. Along with the self-study and research of the staff of Institute 69, by 2005 you agreed to prepare the solution in Vietnam.

Colonel, Doctor, PhD Nguyen Van Van, Director of Institute 69, said that the Institute has mastered the technology to preserve Uncle Ho's body with 15 successful solutions and by the beginning of this year we had produced a "special suit" using technology transferred from the Moscow Biomedical Center.

“We, the professional staff, were able to perform medical duties, see Uncle Ho, and directly care for every hair and beard of Uncle Ho, even his outfit. We consider it an honor, urging us to have a sense of responsibility in carrying out our duties. By educating the Institute’s traditions, following the example of previous generations to wholeheartedly devote ourselves to our work and with the current technology of preserving the body, we have complete confidence that Uncle Ho’s body will be preserved for a long time.”

Colonel Nguyen Van Van

Each passing day, the task of preserving Uncle Ho's body becomes more and more difficult, but the more difficult it is, the more the officers, doctors and staff of Institute 69 promote the spirit of overcoming difficulties to conquer scientific achievements. Having the opportunity to be attached to and take care of Uncle Ho every day is the pride of the officers, soldiers and doctors of Institute 69.

Generations of the 69 Heroes Institute always work responsibly and actively research expertise to best meet the needs of caring for and preserving Uncle Ho. Currently, over 70% of the institute's doctors have professional qualifications of Masters and PhDs.

Major Nguyen Danh Khanh, PhD, physician - Deputy Head of the Department of Biochemistry said: "Up to now, I have only heard about Uncle Ho, heard stories about him, and seen his image through documentary films. But when I got to approach him and directly do the work of preserving his body, the meaning was very different. I feel very honored and proud. I am willing to contribute my part to the cause of preserving and protecting the absolute safety of President Ho Chi Minh's body, and to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party and the State."

From the wise decision of the Politburo, the Party Central Committee and the efforts of each individual carrying out the task, after 44 years of opening the Mausoleum to visitors, up to now, 57 million people and international visitors have come to visit Uncle Ho.

For every Vietnamese person, visiting Uncle Ho's Mausoleum is an emotional need, a new custom, expressing respect and eternal gratitude for his great contributions to the nation.

Preserving the body and relic site of President Ho Chi Minh for a long time is to contribute to preserving the existence, sacredness, and liveliness in practice of his ideology, morality, and revolutionary career, and also to preserve a priceless heritage of the nation and all of humanity./.