Military general tells about 50 years of preserving and conserving Uncle Ho's body

At the first quarter 2019 press conference held by the Ministry of National Defense on April 3, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Protection Command informed about the activities to commemorate and summarize "50 years of long-term preservation and absolute safety protection of President Ho Chi Minh's body 1969-2019".

Major General Cao Dinh Kiem - Political Commissar of the Command for the Protection of President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum affirmed that the greatest and consistent success of the Command over the past 50 years is that regardless of any conditions or circumstances, the task of preserving President Ho Chi Minh's body for a long time has always been excellently completed.

6 times moving Uncle Ho's body

On September 2, 1969, President Ho Chi Minh passed away. In accordance with the wishes of the entire Party, the entire army, and the entire people, on November 29, 1969, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee resolved: "We must carry out to the best extent the task of preserving President Ho's body for a long time and building his Mausoleum."

From 1969 to 1991, especially in the 6 years (1969-1975), the task of protecting Uncle Ho's body was carried out in very difficult circumstances, unprecedented in Vietnam. The weather conditions, the tropical climate were harsh, hot and humid, the country's economy was poor, and there was a resistance war against the American invaders, so the difficulties were even greater.

President Ho Chi Minh's body was moved six times and was brought to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum for preservation in 1975 after the mausoleum was inaugurated.

Major General Cao Dinh Kiem (middle)

The first move took place at midnight on December 23, 1969, when Uncle Ho's body was moved from 75A to K84 (now K9). Here, in 1970, a delegation of leading Soviet scientists came to examine and evaluate Uncle Ho's body.

In November 1970, American planes suddenly attacked Son Tay town. Uncle Ho's body was transferred from K84 back to 75A in Hanoi.

In the fall of 1971, there was a heavy rain in the North, the river water rose, the capital Hanoi was threatened with flooding. On August 19, 1971, the convoy carrying Uncle Ho's body overcame the rain and floods, spending more than 6 hours moving to area K84.

On April 30, 1972, the US imperialists escalated their attacks on the North. K84, although far away, was on the US air force's flight path. Uncle Ho's body was secretly moved from K84 to a new location, H21. At the end of January 1973, the Paris Peace Agreement was signed, and Uncle Ho's body was moved back to K84.

On September 2, 1973, the construction of Uncle Ho's Mausoleum began and was completed after 2 years. On July 18, 1975, a convoy of vehicles transported Uncle Ho's body from K84 to Ba Dinh Square. During all 6 trips, the officers and soldiers successfully completed the task of preserving Uncle Ho's body.

Research on medicine to protect Uncle Ho's body

The preparation of medicine for Uncle Ho's body was kept secret by Soviet experts, especially the solution, and we were not allowed to come into contact with it. Major General Kiem said: "After you finished, the cleaning was handed over to Vietnam. We used the remaining solution on the cotton swabs for research.

In 1992, after the Soviet Union handed it over, Vietnam openly took those solutions for research so that if they were no longer supplied, they could produce them themselves.

The negotiation process was carried out step by step, from persuading the handover of the solution, then continuing to negotiate for the Soviet Union to agree to mix it in Vietnam.

Major General Kiem also shared: "At first, you requested that after mixing, it must be brought back to Russia to check if it met the standards. It was not until 2004 that you agreed to mix it in Vietnam. At this time, Vietnam officially accepted the technology to mix the solution to preserve the body."

According to Major General Kiem, the technology of preserving corpses is a new field that only the former Soviet Union and currently Russia have. Applying this technology, only Vietnam has preserved the body of President Ho Chi Minh and North Korea has preserved the bodies of leader Kim Il Sung and his son, leader Kim Jong-il.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Photo: VGP

Up to now, there have been 15 successful preparations of a special solution used directly to preserve President Ho Chi Minh's body.

From that success, in 2018, the unit continued to cooperate in building technical facilities and successfully produced special clothes for Uncle Ho and handed them over to the General Department of Defense Industry for management and operation to serve the task of preserving Uncle Ho's body.

According to Major General Cao Dinh Kiem, currently, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Protection Command can only serve people visiting Uncle Ho for 3-4 hours in the morning each day, only 5 days a week, and 2-3 months a year for periodic maintenance to ensure absolute safety, preserve the solemnity of Uncle Ho's body, and avoid negative impacts of the environment and weather...

The number of people visiting Uncle Ho is increasing, each year is higher than the previous year and some days it reaches over 32,000 people. The Management Board of the Mausoleum and the Ba Dinh Historical and Cultural Relic Complex is constantly innovating and improving in all aspects to better serve the people of the whole country and international visitors who come to visit Uncle Ho.