Hồ Chí Minh (/ˈhoʊ ˈtʃiː ˈmɪn/; Northern Vietnamese pronunciation: [ho̞˧˩ t͡ɕi˧˥ mɪŋ˧], Southern Vietnamese pronunciation: [ho̞˧˩ t͡ɕɪj˧ mɪ̈n˧]; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969; Chữ nôm: 胡志明), born Nguyễn Sinh Cung, also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945–55) and president (1945–69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Việt Cộng (NLF or VC) during the Vietnam War.
He led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at the battle of Điện Biên Phủ. He officially stepped down from power in 1965 due to health problems, but remained a highly visible figurehead and inspiration for those Vietnamese fighting for his cause—a united, communist Vietnam—until his death. After the war, Saigon, the former capital of the Republic of Vietnam, was renamed Hồ Chí Minh City.
Hồ Chí Minh was a Vietnamese communist leader.
Hồ Chí Minh may also refer to:
Vietnamese i/ˌviɛtnəˈmiːz/ (tiếng Việt) is an Austroasiatic language that originated in the north of Vietnam and is the national and official language of the country. It is the native language of the Vietnamese (Kinh) people, as well as a first or second language for the many ethnic minorities of Vietnam. As the result of Vietnamese emigration and cultural influence, Vietnamese speakers are found throughout the world, notably in East and Southeast Asia, North America, Australia and Western Europe. Vietnamese has also been officially recognized as a minority language in the Czech Republic.
It is part of the Austroasiatic language family of which it has by far the most speakers (several times as many as the other Austroasiatic languages combined). Vietnamese vocabulary has borrowings from Chinese, and it formerly used a modified set of Chinese characters called chữ nôm given vernacular pronunciation. The Vietnamese alphabet (quốc ngữ) in use today is a Latin alphabet with additional diacritics for tones, and certain letters.
Ho Chi Minh Road or Ho Chi Minh Highway (Vietnamese: Đường Hồ Chí Minh) is a highway in Vietnam. It runs from the north to the south of Vietnam, west of National Route 1A. The highway was named after Hồ Chí Minh.
The route roughly coincides with the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam War. It is a two-lane highway and is planned to become an 8-lane highway and it will connect Cao Bằng Province by the Sino-Vietnamese border to Cà Mau Province with the total length of 3,167 km. As of 2007, this road runs from Hoa Lac in Hanoi to Ngoc Hoi in Kon Tum Province with a total length of 1,234.5 km.
In the provinces of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quảng Nam, the road divides into two separate roads: Đường Hồ Chí Minh Đông (Ho Chi Minh Highway East) and Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây (Ho Chi Minh Highway West). Đường Hồ Chí Minh Đông is a well-traveled road with many trucks, towns and restaurants along it. There are few steep hills on the Đường Hồ Chí Minh Đông, with the exception of the portion of the highway in Quảng Nam just before it merges with Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây. Conversely, Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây cuts through extremely mountainous areas with steep hills and few gas stations. Consequently, all heavy traffic avoids these portion of Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây. At times heavy-rain washes out small segments of Đường Hồ Chí Minh Tây, making it impassable to trucks and cars. Many farmers allow their goats, buffalo and cows to graze along the roadside, and they frequently wander onto the road, so drivers must be careful on this stretch of the road.
He stood
and looked upon the earth
his weapons in his hand
His eyesight came to rest
upon an ancient little man
Tilling the soil and casting nets
his flock and herds to tend
yet ready at a moment's call
his homeland to defend
He walked into the other's land
an uninvited guest
He said I'm here to rid you of
a menace and a pest
He said I'll build an army base
right here upon your shores
And I'll protect you from your sons
and from the guy next door
The old man answered with a snap
I need no help from you
Why, you're the same one that I fought
at Diem Bien Phu
My sons are out upon the fields
their country to regain
So why don't you just go back home
and save us both some pain?
He said Old man, are you insane?
Do you know who I am?
Why, I'm the policeman of the world
and they call me Uncle Sam
The old nun took his weapon up
and with a real defiant stand
he said Yes, I know you and what you'II do
But you see, I just don't give a damn
He said Where did this little man
get the audacity
to take a weapon in his hand
and speak like that to me?
I'll send my helicopters out
to hunt the peasant down
I'll send my jets and my tanks
to burn his villages to the ground
The old man looked up at this fool
and did not even bat an eye
He said Before we would submit
you see, we all would rather die
But I feel it fair
that I should warn you for your sake
This here will be the biggest blunder
that you'll ever make
The bully, now blushing red
let out a battle cry
The old man just seemed to fade away
into the countryside
He smiled and said with confidence
I've got him on the run
But poonji sticks and booby traps
set fire to his buns
The old man fought so hard and well
that so the story goes
he trapped him, a paper tiger
and filled his hide with holes
And as the pain intensified
he cried out loud and clear
If I could just get untangled, y'all
I'm gettin' on out of here
You see, I just could not win
against Ho Chi Minh
No, I just could not win