US leftist Merle Ratner finds eternal rest in Viet Nam

Prof. Ngo Thanh Nhan, Merle Ratner’s husband, speaks at the ceremony in Hai Phong city on August 10. (Photo: VNA)

Representatives of Vietnamese agencies and organisations offered their deep condolences to the bereaved family over the sudden passing of Ratner in a traffic accident in the US on February 5, 2024.

The ceremony demonstrated Viet Nam’s respect for her devotion to the country’s struggle for national liberation and the fight for Agent Orange/dioxin victims of Viet Nam, along with her support for Viet Nam to contribute to peace and enhance the friendship and solidarity with left-wing friends and political parties around the world.

Her legacy is considered an impulse and a fire kindling the confidence in the friendship, based on mutual understanding and respect, for peace, cooperation, and development between Viet Nam and the US, as well as between Viet Nam and left-wing friends worldwide.

On behalf of the family, Prof. Ngo Thanh Nhan, Ratner’s husband, appreciated the Vietnamese Party, State, and people’s sentiment towards the deceased and their fulfillment of the family’s wish to help Ratner rest in peace in the country beloved by her.

Merle Evelyn Ratner was born in New York in 1956. She was awarded many noble accolades by the Party, State, and organisations of Viet Nam, including the Friendship Order, the “For the development of Vietnamese women” insignia, and the “For Agent Orange/dioxin victims of Viet Nam” insignia.

Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang at the ceremony (Photo: VNA)

The cremated ashes of Merle Ratner, a left-wing and anti-war US activist and a friend of Vietnam, left New York for Vietnam at a ceremony held by the Permanent Mission of Vietnam in New York, her relatives and friends on August 7.

At the event, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, head of the mission, affirmed that Vietnamese leaders and people always bear in their mind Ratner’s love for the country – her second homeland, and her devotion to the struggle for the nation’s independence, reunification, development and international integration.

The Vietnamese Party and State are waiting to welcome Ratner home, he said, adding her cremated ashes will be scattered on Do Son sea in the northern city of Hai Phong in a ceremony held by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, in coordination with relevant organisations and the authorities of Hai Phong on August 10.

Source: VNA