Fall of Saigon celebrated in Vietnam

Vietnam celebrated the communist victory over a US-backed government today, parading troops on the same boulevard used by tanks on their way to smashing the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam 30 years ago.

Watched by the country’s top leaders and legendary figures such as war hero Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, soldiers, government workers and performers marched with red flags waving toward the palace gates. Hundreds of aging veterans, their chests decked with medals, watched from the sidelines.

Giant billboards of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s revolutionary leader, dominated the parade ground and adjoining streets which had been blocked off to the public due to security concerns.

On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks barrelled through the gates of the palace, the heart of the US-backed Saigon government. The fall of Saigon marked the official end to the Vietnam War, and America’s more than decade-long attempt to halt the spread of communism in the region.

The war claimed 58,000 American lives and an estimated three million Vietnamese.

The atmosphere in the country three decades later has been mostly festive, focusing on Vietnam’s recent economic rejuvenation. Memories of the war and its aftermath are little more than anecdotes in history books for most Vietnamese who were born after it ended.

Down the grand boulevard where communist tanks once rolled, capitalism has taken solid root.

Many of the parade floats were sponsored by American companies. One float featured women pushing shopping carts loaded with supermarket goods.

With the president on the giant reviewing platform was a guest of honour, Raul Castro, the brother and successor to Cuba’s long-time leader Fidel Castro who stood by Vietnam’s communist regime for decades. Also flanking the leader was Giap, the military mastermind who defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu and ousted the Americans.

On Friday, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent out a message reaching out to Vietnam’s former enemies, as well as to those who fought on the side of the former South Vietnam, urging all sides to “close the past, look to the future”.