Memories of an article

Right from the first days of becoming a reporter for Quang Binh Newspaper, I was lucky and honored to write about the day Uncle Ho visited Quang Binh-Vinh Linh. One advantage for us journalists when exploiting documents on this special topic is that the witnesses - those who directly met and welcomed Uncle Ho - were very enthusiastic in sharing with the writer. They told coherently about this important event with all the respect and admiration for the genius leader Ho Chi Minh . They were a great inspiration for the writer.

Uncle Ho's statue with the people of Quang Binh. Photo: DOCUMENT — Uncle Ho's statue with the people of Quang Binh . *Photo:* **DOCUMENT**

I remember my first article on this topic was in 1997 with the title: "Organizing the protection to welcome Uncle Ho to visit". The person who provided the information was Mr. Lai Van Ly, the late Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Binh province.

On June 16, 1957, he was Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Member of the Military and Political Committee of Dong Hoi City, and member of the Organizing Committee to welcome Uncle Ho. I was lucky because at that time, the headquarters of Quang Binh Newspaper was near Mr. Lai Van Ly's private home.

In the story, Mr. Ly explained the special importance of protecting the leader at a time when the country was not yet completely unified, and Dong Hoi City had just been liberated for 3 years. The Politburo raised the issue of protecting Uncle Ho's trip to ensure absolute safety.

In addition to sending General Nguyen Chi Thanh to assist the Standing Committee of the Quang Binh Provincial Party Committee in directing the preparation work, the Central Committee also sent Comrade Tran Quoc Hoan, Minister of Public Security, three days in advance to deploy the work of protecting the leader. The Standing Committee of the Quang Binh Provincial Party Committee established an Organizing Committee to welcome Uncle Ho, headed by Comrade Pham Thanh Dam, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Public Security Department.

Comrade Tran Quoc Hoan's directive was to ensure absolute safety. When communicating to all levels and sectors, they were only allowed to say that they were welcoming the Central delegation. The Organizing Committee had to use code words when arranging Uncle Ho's resting place, working place, and route back and forth.

According to the schedule, at 8:00 a.m. on June 16, 1957, at Dong Hoi airport, the plane with registration number LIZ-203 slowly landed. Mr. Pham Xuan Tuynh, who was then the liaison officer of the new international advisory group, officially announced that the plane that appeared was President Ho Chi Minh's. At that moment, the international group stationed in Dong Hoi was very excited to meet President Ho Chi Minh.

As soon as we entered the gate of Dong Hoi citadel, Uncle Ho immediately asked: "Why don't you see the people?". Comrade Nguyen Tu Thoan told Uncle Ho: "There is a road for the people to go outside the citadel." Uncle Ho instructed: "Open the citadel gate for the people to travel normally." After this article, we continued to meet Mr. Phi Van Luu's family to write about the photographer who took pictures of Uncle Ho; met Mr. Nguyen Van Linh to write about the person who had the honor of cooking for Uncle Ho; I also wrote the article "The dream of having a statue of Uncle Ho in Quang Binh land" and a number of other articles.

However, we still found that there was not enough necessary information to better understand the event of Uncle Ho's visit to Quang Binh-Vinh Linh. With the support of the Quang Binh Newspaper Editorial Board, in May 2002, we made a business trip to Hanoi to listen to Mr. Vu Ky - Uncle Ho's devoted secretary tell the story of Uncle Ho's historic visit to Quang Binh-Vinh Linh.

Knowing that we came from Quang Binh to the capital, although his health was still weak, Mr. Vu Ky still created all favorable conditions to provide necessary information. Also listening to the story were journalist Huy Chuong, an officer of Bac Ninh Radio and Television Station, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang Nga, an officer of the Hanoi Academy of Finance and Accounting...

Even though decades have passed, we still remember Mr. Vu Ky's words: "During that historic visit (June 16, 1957), Uncle Ho devoted all his love to the people of Quang Binh-Vinh Linh, because this was the place that suffered the most hardships of the war. In his conversations with the cadres and people of Quang Binh-Vinh Linh, Uncle pointed out: Quang Binh, along with Vinh Linh, is the front line of the North. All good and bad things in the ladies and gentlemen of Quang Binh and Vinh Linh have an impact on the South. If the enemy takes any reckless action, Quang Binh and Vinh Linh must confront them first, ensuring victory over them first..."

... There is a detail related to culinary culture that Uncle Ho mentioned quite humorously: During dinner, Uncle Ho talked to General Nguyen Chi Thanh: "Do you remember the mussel rice in Hue, the porridge at Dong Ba market? The mussel rice in Hue is made from broken rice cooked with mussels mixed with very spicy chili." Uncle Ho turned to the leaders of the Quang Binh Provincial Party Committee and said jokingly: "And in my Quang Binh, there is the specialty of shrimp paste, Dong Hoi shrimp paste. Why does the Central region always bring out specialties with lots of chili to entertain guests?", everyone laughed happily after Uncle Ho's jokes.

Mr. Vu Ky also told many valuable stories. Before publishing them in the newspaper, I carefully showed them to Mr. Vu Ky. Mr. Vu Ky's letter to me was very touching: I would like to quote this letter instead of a conclusion, expressing my gratitude to the person who provided valuable documents for me to have the honor of writing an article about the day Uncle Ho visited Quang Binh-Vinh Linh: "Ho Chi Minh Museum, May 23, 2002, Dear Comrade Phan Hoa, I am still being treated in the room you met. Because you believed me and sent me the article for certification, I had to put my illness aside to edit the article. Honestly, don't be angry if I edit a lot. Try to arrange to publish in Quang Binh Newspaper on June 16, 2002. Print it clearly, brightly and solemnly, if the newspaper agrees to publish it. Whether or not to publish it is the newspaper's right. You still have to type it nicely and send it to me as a document about Uncle Ho. I was in the hospital so I couldn't check the diary properly, so the date, time and location are not specific. That's it. If the newspaper publishes it, you and the people in charge of the newspaper can edit it to make it better. right to have a good effect on the readers. Greetings and best wishes to all brothers and sisters related to this article. Best regards.”

Phan Hoa

Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202506/ky-niem-ve-mot-bai-bao-2227206/