- Title: VIETNAM: CELEBRATIONS MARK 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF END OF VIETNAM WAR.
- Date: 30th April 2000
- Summary: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 30, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. GV: PEOPLE IN GROUNDS OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE 0.05 2. CU: BILLBOARD OF LATE REVOLUTIONARY LEADER HO CHI MINH 0.10 3. MV: VIETNAM'S TOP LEADERS, GENERAL VO NGUYEN GIAP (RIGHT) WHO WAS ONE OF ARCHITECTS OF DEFEAT OF U.S.-BACKED SOUTH VIETNAM 0.14 4. GV: WIDE EXTERIOR OF FORMER PRESIDE
- Embargoed: 15th May 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
- Country: Vietnam
- Reuters ID: LVA5JKZZLLYZUV5NRAZQ9HXEP1H8
- Story Text: Celebrations have begun in the former Saigon,
marking 25 years since the end of the Vietnam War.
Thousands of Vietnamese troops marched through the
grounds of the former presidential palace where communist
troops took the surrender of U.S.-backed South Vietnam on
April 30, 1975.
Shortly after dawn broke over the former Saigon,
thousands of Vietnamese soldiers marched through the grounds
of the former presidential palace where 25 years ago communist
tanks smashed through its gates ending the decade-long Vietnam
War.
Some three million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians
died in the conflict as well as more than 58,000 Americans.
Several hundred thousand South Vietnamese troops also died.
Today, Vietnam is at peace.And the young soldiers
marching in tight formation around the palace grounds are the
first in several generations never to have to fight on the
battlefield.
Amid tight security and barricaded streets, Vietnam's
top leaders presided over the celebrations under a large
placard of former revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
After the military show of strength, thousands of
civilians also paraded through the grounds of the palace, now
renamed the Reunification Palace.
Veterans wore chests of medals, and young children
danced and sang songs of victory alongside women in black
pyjamas and checked Viet Cong scarves.
Although exuberant and colourful, the celebrations come
at a time of nagging disquiet over the reunified country's
future.
The freshly-painted propaganda billboards and red
banners strung along the streets fail to hide the fact that
Vietnam remains poverty stricken 25 years after the war ended.
During recent days, Vietnam has heightened its rhetoric
about U.S.brutality and aggression during the conflict.
U.S.Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in
Hanoi and a key figure behind the normalisation of ties
between the former foes in 1995, turned leading critic last
week when he said during a visit to Vietnam that the wrong
side had won the
war.
Police clamped tight security over the venue, and kept
it hidden from general view by barricading all roads to the
palace.
Entry to the early morning event, presided over by top
Communist Party leaders, was by invitation only.
Officials have denied they decided to shift Sunday's
military parades off the streets out of fear that
anti-communist overseas Vietnamese might try to disrupt the
celebrations.
Political dissidents and outspoken Buddhist monks have
complained of police harassment leading up to the anniversary.
Attending Sunday's ceremonies were four special guests,
the soldiers who were on the tank that crashed through the
gates of the presidential palace on the morning of April 30,
1975.
For Ngo Si Nguyen, it was his first time back here since
that day."Exactly, 25 years ago at this very moment, history
gave us the honour to be here on behalf of millions of
soldiers who died in the war."
Tank commander Vu Dan Toan described the moment.
But old veteran Nguyen Tu Cuong who commanded the Viet
Cong's special forces in Saigon was looking forward to the
future.
Separate festivities are scheduled for Sunday night in
this bustling city of nearly six million people.
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