(VOVworld) - A high-level funeral service for Vo Thi Thang took place in Ho Chi Minh City. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Ho Chi Minh City Party Organization Secretary Le Thanh Hai led the delegation to pay tribute at the funeral.

Vo Thi Thang was born in 1945 in Long An province. She was an iconic patriotic student in Gia Long school in Sai Gon. She was arrested during the 1968 uprising and sentenced by Sai Gon court 20 years in prison. Though she upheld an optimistic spirit in the fight for national independence and freedom. Her glorious smile was photographed by a foreign journalist and became a source of pride for Vietnam.

Vo Thi Thang was a former member of the Party Central Committee, deputy to the National Assembly, Chief of the Vietnam Tourism Administration, chairwoman of Vietnam Cuba Friendship Association and Deputy Chairwoman of Vietnam Women’s Union. She died on August 22 in Ho Chi Minh City, aged 69. Burial service will take place on August 25 before she was laid to rest in her home place.