Uncle Ho's letters are forever a source of light for thought and action.

Several hundred delegates, representing 80,000 party members, suppressed their heart-wrenching pain, listening as if swallowing every word; Uncle Ho's Testament and the Central Executive Committee's Eulogy, the Action Resolution Letter of Nghe An Party Committee sent to all people, cadres, party members, armed forces and the full text of Uncle Ho's letter to Nghe An Party Committee on July 21, 1969.

Homeland is a heavy burden

The letter sent to the homeland 2 months before Uncle Ho peacefully passed away to the world of the wise, leaving behind his homeland an inexhaustible memory. The letter was filled with affection and the last words of Uncle Ho: “…Make Nghe An quickly become the most prosperous province in the North”, becoming the second Testament for the Party Committee and People of Nghe An to act in the resistance war against the US to save the country, unify the country, gradually overcome the consequences of war, build infrastructure, build a strong and clean Party and political system as a premise for socio-economic development, security and defense in the present and future.

Uncle Ho working at House 54, 1957. Photo archive

During his lifetime, for more than 60 years, “…wholeheartedly serving the Fatherland, serving the revolution, serving the People…” no matter where he was, what he did, or what position he held, President Ho Chi Minh always reserved his thoughts and warm, sacred feelings for his beloved homeland, includingNghe An countryside, the place of birth, attached to him since his childhood years, as Uncle Ho's poem said "homeland with heavy love and affection".

After taking power in 1945, despite being busy with many things, at the time of running the first people's democratic state in Southeast Asia, dealing with internal and external enemies, saving people from hunger, and eliminating ignorance, he did not forget to send his first letter in October 1945 to the Nghe An Party Committee. He used the name of an old comrade to share some experiences. He pointed out a number of practical issues regarding the work of organizing cadres such as "... strengthening solidarity, correcting shortcomings, overcoming narrow-mindedness, excuses, and lax discipline".

Uncle Ho's letterComing on the occasion of Nghe An holding a conference to establish the Party Committee after 2 months of gaining power (August 21, 1945), it was a great source of encouragement and motivation, providing practical guidance on directions and solutions to strengthen the great national unity bloc, stabilize the Party organization, build a young government system, especially the Party and mass organization cadres to meet the revolutionary tasks of the new period. The instructions and suggestions in Uncle Ho's letter became the theoretical and practical basis for the 3rd Party Congress on November 3, 1945. At that time, there were only 23 delegates attending the Congress, representing 200 Party members. The Congress Presidium read the full text of Uncle Ho's letter to the Nghe An Party Committee, the letter was titled "To the comrades of the province".

The second letter, Uncle Ho sent on July 1, 1947, at this time the whole country began a long-term resistance war against French colonialism. Nghe An and Zone 4 became the direct rear of the battlefields of Binh - Tri - Thien, Laos, Tay Nguyen, and Upper Laos.

Nghe An people welcomed Uncle Ho to visit his hometown for the second time on December 9, 1961. Photo courtesy

Uncle Ho's letter "to the comrades in the Central region" including Nghe An directly provided human resources and material support to Binh - Tri - Thien and the battlefield in Laos. Uncle Ho reminded cadres and party members in the letter to eradicate shortcomings such as: "localism, factionalism, loneliness, narrow-mindedness, formalism, selfishness, arrogance. And he hoped that comrades would use all their revolutionary spirit to overcome shortcomings, promote advantages, unite, unite internally, expand ranks, enthusiastically rectify work to lead the entire people enthusiastically into the resistance war, leading to glorious victory".

Following Uncle Ho's instructions on "expanding the ranks...", from 1947 to 1949, Nghe An Party Committee trained, practiced, and tested positive factors in the "resistance war for national construction", admitted 15,000 new party members, bringing the total number of party members of the provincial Party Committee to 42,890, of which female party members and ethnic minorities accounted for 6,439 party members.

A corner of Vinh City today. Photo: Thanh Cuong

During the period from 1945 to July 1969, paying attention to the emulation movement of resistance, production and building a new human foundation, Uncle Ho continuously sent letters of encouragement to Kim Lien's relatives such as Mr. Hoang Phan Kinh and Tran Le Huu in April 1949. On December 1, 1953, Uncle Ho sent a letter praising the achievements and encouraging Mr. Vi Van Dang in Kim Da commune, Tuong Duong district.

Uncle Ho praised Mr. Vi Van Dang for his achievements in studying the national language, the core of mobilizing his children and grandchildren to participate in the "Popular Education" movement. Uncle Ho sent a letter to the "Elderly people who eradicate ignorance" of Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district on December 19, 1958. And on March 10, 1966, Uncle Ho sent a letter praising the cadres, soldiers and people of Nghe An for their outstanding achievements in production and fighting, shooting down 150 American planes.

Mobilizing victory in the people's war, April 12, 1966,Uncle Ho sent a letter of praise to the cadres and militia of all ethnic groups in Que Phong district.cleverly shot down American enemy planes

Uncle Ho watched the VNTX news on April 7, 1966, discovered that Que Phong militia shot down an American plane with infantry guns, and then on April 12 of the same year, he sent a timely letter of encouragement. And on January 27, 1969, despite his declining health, Uncle Ho still had affection for the Youth Volunteer Force of Company 333 who were fighting, serving in the fight to protect the vital traffic route at the key point of Cam Bridge, where the American enemy had fiercely attacked from 1965 to the end of 1968 in more than 5,000 battles.

Photo of Uncle Ho's letter to the people and cadres of all ethnic groups in Que Phong district on April 12, 1966. Documentary photo

Uncle Ho's testament became a revolutionary action

Remember at the time of "great loss, infinite sorrow", the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department advised the Provincial Party Committee's Standing Committee to launch a movement for the entire Party, ethnic people, armed forces, and mass organizations to study and follow Uncle Ho's Letter, Uncle Ho's Testament, and the Central Executive Committee's call to turn sorrow into revolutionary action. Never before, never before, have the will and actions of Party members, union members, youth, workers, civil servants, members of handicraft and agricultural cooperatives, intellectuals, and soldiers risen so high. The "projects named 79", manifested in the Agriculture sector, 79 high-yield food production fields, aiming to reach the target of 790,000 tons of rice and other crops, building 79 lakes and irrigation dams. The Forestry sector planted 7,900 hectares of new industrial crops and trees to cover bare land and hills. The Industrial Sector mobilized workers and civil servants to improve techniques and produce agricultural tools, each product bearing the mark of gratitude to Uncle Ho. From May 1970 to June 1971, Nghe An Party Committee trained and admitted 1,790 Ho Chi Minh Party members.

View of Cam Bridge (Nghi Loc). Photo: Nguyen Thanh Hai

In the Party Committee structure from the province down to the grassroots level, the proportion of young cadres increased from 36% to 50%, female cadres and Thai, Mong, and Khmu ethnic people increased from 18% to 30%. From 1973 to 1975, with the will and sentiment of "Uncle is marching with us", 11,073 Nghe An youths joined the army, among them were many students from Vinh University and College, teachers, medical staff, doctors, engineers... Carrying Soviet blood and Uncle Ho's call, they fought bravely on all fierce battlefields, made outstanding achievements, contributing blood and sweat to liberate the South, and reunite the country.

The light of Uncle Ho's letter shines again, showing the way for the Party Committee and People of Nghe An in the period of integration and development, firmly believing in "overcoming challenges, seizing opportunities", renewing economic thinking, and arousing the desire to enrich oneself, one's homeland, and the whole country.

With each step, each stage of development, even each Congress term, Nghe An Party Committee feels as if Uncle Ho is by its side, still warm and caring in his teachings as when he was alive, when he had great love for Nghe An.

Uncle Ho took a photo with cadres and employees of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee in 1961. Photo archive

And is that why, from a poor province with a low starting point, the consequences of a long-term destructive war, and continuous and fierce natural disasters, the Party Committee has led the people, all levels and sectors to get rich on each unit of land and resources with the mindset of fully implementing Uncle Ho's advice "... must make Nghe An quickly become a well-off province...". Up to this point, Nghe An has 281/411 communes recognized as meeting new rural standards. Budget revenue in 2020 reached more than 17,128 billion VND, in the first 6 months of 2021 more than 10,042.46 billion VND, an increase of 37.8% over the same period in 2020. GRDP growth rate is estimated at 7.58%, an increase of 2.97% over the same period (growth rate ranked 2nd/6 provinces in the North Central region, 14th/63 provinces and cities nationwide).

52 years have passed since the day Uncle Ho sent his last letter to the Nghe An Party Committee.thoughtful, specific adviceUncle Ho's works are still fresh in both ideological and theoretical values, illuminating and guiding each step of development to new heights for the Party and people of Uncle Ho's homeland. The movement to study and follow the moral example of Ho Chi Minh is a revolutionary driving force in his homeland. Because "Uncle Ho is the homeland like the Lam River that never dries up". Because "Uncle Ho is the belief in certain victory".