Vietnam celebrates 50 years since war’s end with focus on peace and unity

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
Associated Press

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Vietnam on Wednesday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with the United States and the formation of its modern nation with a military parade and a focus on a peaceful future.

The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 marked the end of a Vietnam divided into the communist North and U.S.-allied South, and the country's top official told crowds the past decades had led to ever increasing unity.

“All the Vietnamese are the descendants of Vietnam. They have the rights to live and work, to have freedom to pursue happiness and love in this country," said To Lam, the Vietnam Communist Party's general secretary.

"In a spirit of closing the past, respecting differences, aiming for the future, the whole party, the people and the army vow to make Vietnam become a country of peace, unity, prosperity and development,” he added.

Thousands camped overnight on the streets of the former South Vietnamese capital, which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after it fell to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, to get the best vantage point for the parade. Many lingered on the streets later in the afternoon and had picnics while waiting for drone and fireworks shows in the evening.

The red and yellow of Vietnam's national flag was everywhere in the city — fluttering from buildings, painted on the faces of eager teenagers and on the T-shirts of those who had traveled to the city from all over the country.

“Now it’s time for peace," said spectator Nguyen Thi Hue, a city resident. "Peace is the dream that everyone in the world wants.”

One float carried the mythical Lac bird, Vietnam’s emblem, another a portrait of Ho Chi Minh.

Chinese, Laotian and Cambodian troops marched behind Vietnamese army formations, including some wearing uniforms similar to what was worn by northern Vietnamese troops during the war. Helicopters carrying the national flag and jets flew over the parade near Independence Palace, where a North Vietnamese tank smashed through the gates on the final day of the war.

Crowds soaked in the spectacle as they gathered outside the barricades and at some street corners where giant screens had been set up. Phones raised and eyes wide, people waved and cheered at the marching soldiers. Those at home huddled over their television sets.

Sitting next to Vietnam's leader were Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen and Laotian Communist Party General Secretary Thongloun Sisoulith.

To Lam said beyond a victory over the U.S. and South Vietnam, the fall of Saigon was a “glorious landmark" that ended a 30-year fight for independence that began with the fight to oust French colonial troops.

He said Vietnam owes its position in the world today to support from the Soviet Union, China and solidarity from Laos and Cambodia, as well as “progressive” people all over the world including the U.S., he said.