- Title: VIETNAM/FILE: CEREMONIES TO MARK 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF FALL OF SAIGON.
- Date: 28th April 2005
- Summary: (W2) SAIGON, VIETNAM (FILE - APRIL 30, 1975) (REUTERS) 1. GV/MV: TANK 390 SMASHES THE GATE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE; TANKS PARKED ON GROUND OF PALACE; SOLDIER RUNNING WITH FLAG; MORE OF SOLDIERS RUNNING (7 SHOTS) 0.34 (W2) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 28, 2005) (REUTERS) 2. GV/PAN: CREW OF TANK 390 AND THEIR WIVES WALKING THROUGH PALACE GATES 0.47 3. MCU: CREW MEMBERS STANDING IN FRONT OF TANK 390 0.53 4. GV: INDEPENDENCE PALACE 0.59 5. CU: POSTER OF HO CHI MINH 1.04 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) TANK 390 DRIVER NGUYEN VAN TAP SAYING: "My family, my wife and I are here to re-visit the place we and our brothers in arms joined our last fierce battle in the Great Spring Victory." 1.14 7. CU: MEDALS 1.18 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) TAP'S WIFE NGUYEN THI TIEN SAYING: "It is the first time I follow him to visit the place of his last battle, I like it very much, am very happy as people and young students welcome us." 1.39 9. GV: TANK 390 1.45 (W2) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 27, 2005) (REUTERS) 10. GV/CU: PALACE GATES, FLAGS BEING PLACED ON PALACE GATES; STATUE OF HO CHI MINH WITH FLAG IN BACKGROUND (3 SHOTS) 2.00 11. GV: COMMUNIST PARTY HEADQUARTERS 2.06 12. CU: POSTER COMMEMORATING ANNIVERSARY 2.11 13. MV: WORKERS PREPARING FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS ALONG CITY STREETS 2.17 14. GV: CENTRAL CITY STREET 2.23 (W2) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 28, 2005) (REUTERS) 15. (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) HONG THU, SCHOOLGIRL IN THE 11TH GRADE, SAYING: "The people's life now is stable unlike the hard times before, during the war. Now we are focusing on our studies to build the country in the future." 2.35 16. MV: STREET VENDORS 2.42 17. (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) 64 YEAR OLD TRAN THI MY, LOTTERY TICKET VENDOR, SAYING: "I am sitting here selling lottery tickets and I am not thinking of any fun. As my situation is very hard I have to earn money to pay for housing, for daily purchases so I have no time to bother about other stuff." 3.03 18. MV: STREET VENDOR 3.08 (W2) HO CHIN MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 27, 2005) (REUTERS) 19. CU: POSTER COMMEMORATING ANNIVERSARY NEAR BRIDGE WHERE SOUTH VIETNAMESE ARMY MADE ITS LAST STAND 3.14 20. GV: TRAFFIC ON BRIDGE 3.20 (W2) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 28, 2005) (REUTERS) 21. GV: TRAFFIC IN CITY CENTRE 3.26 22. (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) 51 YEAR OLD HO VAN THANH, MOTORBIKE DRIVER, SAYING: "There is one issue - there are less customers than before. Working this job is getting more difficult each day, I may not survive. Now I don't know which direction to take to change my job." 3.42 (W2) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 27, 2005) (REUTERS) 23. GV/PAN/CU: PAN OF CITY SKYLINE; FLAG WAVING, CITY SKYLINE IN BACKGROUND (2 SHOTS) 4.04 (W2) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM (APRIL 28, 2005) (REUTERS) 24. GV: BANNERS COMMEMORATING ANNIVERSARY, TRAFFIC 4.10 25. CU: FEMALE STREET VENDOR 4.16 26. GV: SHIPS ON SAIGON RIVER 4.23 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 13th May 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SAIGON/HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
- Country: Vietnam
- Reuters ID: LVAD6UKOR202KMVB0TFUIP2EL67Z
- Story Text: Bedecked in flags and flowers, Ho Chi Minh City
prepares to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the end
of the 'American War'.
The national flag flutters from taxis and hotel
windows and flower arrangements adorn city sidewalks as
this bustling city of eight million people prepares to
celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the end of what the
Vietnamese call the 'American War'.
Saturday's (April 30) celebrations will go beyond the
traditional military parade with open air concerts and
fireworks planned to make it a citywide event.
And in a testament to the city's growing economy, many
shops are advertising '30 percent off on the 30th' to
coincide with the anniversary.
Unlike past years, there is scant military presence on
the streets of what many local residents still refer to as
Saigon.
Veterans of the war are arriving to walk down memory
lane, some starting with tours of the then-Presidential and
now-Independence Palace, symbol of the defeated Saigon
regime.
The crew of tank 390, the stars of the North Vietnamese
assault on Saigon, who broke through the gates of the
Presidential Palace to clinch the final victory, on
Thursday (April 28) came in full uniform to the palace
grounds to view the Chinese-built tank they drove that day.
"My family, my wife and I are here to re-visit the
place we and our brothers in arms joined our last fierce
battle in the Great Spring Victory," said tank 390 driver
Nguyen Van Tap.
His wife, Nguyen Thi Tien, looks forward to her
reserved place on the reviewing stand to watch Saturday's
parade.
"It is the first time I follow him to visit the place
of his last battle, I like it very much, am very happy as
people and young students welcome us," she said.
For some of the younger generation, the war is a
distant memory with little relevance to today's realities.
"The people's life now is stable unlike the hard times
before, during the war. Now we are focusing on our studies
to build the country in the future,"
said schoolgirl Hong Thu.
But some of the older generation, many of whom have
lost out in the economic boom, care little for the upcoming
celebrations and more for what they consider an uncertain
livelihood.
"I am sitting here selling lottery tickets and I am
not thinking of any fun. As my situation is very hard I
have to earn money to pay for housing, for daily purchases
so I have no time to bother about other stuff," said 64
year old lottery ticket vendor Tran Thi My.
"There is one issue - there are less customers than
before. Working this job is getting more difficult each
day, I may not survive. Now I don't know which direction to
take to change my job," said 51 year old Ho Van Thanh, a
motorbike driver.
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