Hundreds of thousands thronged the tightly packed streets of Ho Chi Minh city, roaring approval as helicopters swooped overhead, festooned with Vietnam’s national flag. Celebrating peace, independence and reunification, the huge gathering on 30 April marked 50 years since the defeat of the US super-power in 1975.
Once divided by war – partitioned into the communist North and the US-backed Saigon administration in the South – Vietnamese in 2025 celebrated together as one nation, proud of their unity after a long and brutal war, but not unscarred.
