Editing Ho Chi Minh (section)

==Death==
With the outcome of the Vietnam war still in question, Hồ Chí Minh died of heart failure at his home in Hanoi at 9:47 on the morning of 2 September 1969; he was 79 years old.<ref name="moj"/>{{sfn|Duiker|2000|p=[https://archive.org/details/hochiminh00duik/page/561/mode/2up 561]}} His embalmed body is currently on display in the [[Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum|President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum]] in [[Ba Đình Square]] in Hanoi, despite his will which stated that he wanted to be cremated.<ref name=Duiker/>{{rp|565}}

Due to the sensitivity of 2 September being [[National Day (Vietnam)|Independence Day]], the North Vietnamese government originally delayed announcing Hồ's death until 3 September. A week of mourning for his death was decreed nationwide in North Vietnam from 4 to 11 September 1969.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ho Chi Minh dies of heart attack|date=4 September 1969|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|page=1}}</ref> His funeral was attended by about 250,000 people and 5,000 official guests, which included many international mourners.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Representatives from 40 countries and regions were also presented. During the mourning period, North Vietnam received more than 22,000 condolences letters from 20 organizations and 110 countries across the world, such as France, [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[Cuba]], [[Zambia]], China, the Soviet Union and many others, mostly socialist countries.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

He was not initially replaced as president; instead, a "collective leadership" composed of several ministers and military leaders took over, known as the Politburo. During [[Ho Chi Minh Campaign|North Vietnam's final campaign]] in 1975, a famous song written by composer {{ill|Huy Thuc|vi|Huy Thục}} was often sung by PAVN soldiers: "{{lang|vi|Bác vẫn cùng chúng cháu hành quân}}" ("You are still marching with us, Uncle Hồ").{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

During the [[Fall of Saigon]] on 30 April 1975, several PAVN tanks displayed a poster with those same words on it. The day after the battle ended, on 1 May, veteran Australian journalist [[Denis Warner]] reported that "When the North Vietnamese marched into Saigon yesterday, they were led by a man who wasn't there".<ref>''[[The Sun News-Pictorial]]'', 1 May 1975, p. 1.</ref>