ho chi minh

went to see uncle 'ho' today - seriously - he has been embalmed and is resident in his own mausaleum - it was quite interesting to see him and his musuem

basically he lead the uprising and revolution to form a unified communist vietnam, and seized power after the japanese had surrendered after the end of world war II -

the french soon controlled the south again though, but needed assistance from the americans (to no avail) to resist the communist pressure from the north -

but the north where making secret inroads into the south along the ho chi minh trail which was used for transporting supplies and soldiers

finally america withdrew and the south was taken in 1973 (i think) - they renamed Saigon as ho chi minh city in 1973

he had died in 1969


(PS - history was my worst subject (after English, and RE, and electronics), but this is what i remember from today)