Vietnam celebrates 50th anniversary of victory against US imperialism

Thousands of Vietnamese have waved red flags and sang patriotic songs as a grand military parade held in Ho Chi Minh City concluded Vietnam’s 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of war with the United States. Wednesday’s event commemorated the first act of the country’s reunification on April 30, 1975, when communist-run North Vietnam seized Saigon, the capital of the US-backed South, renamed Ho Chi Minh City shortly after the war in honour of the North’s founding leader.

Soldiers march during a parade marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City, on April 30, 2025 [Nhac Nguyen/AFP]

A lotus-shaped float carrying a portrait of Ho Chi Minh was near the front of the parade as fighter jets and helicopters carrying red flags flew overhead. Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from the city, said thousands of people stayed in the streets overnight to get the best vantage point for the parade, which was “a day of sombre reflection but also a day of celebration”.

“I am proud of having contributed to liberating the south,” said 75-year-old veteran Tran Van Truong who had travelled – dressed in full military uniform – from the capital, Hanoi, to see the parade. “But what’s gone is gone, I have no hatred for those from the other side of the battle,” Truong told the AFP news agency. “We should join hands to celebrate the end of the war.”…

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/30/vietnam-marks-50-years-since-fall-of-saigon-with-parade-focusing-on-peace

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