HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, April 30 (UPI) -- Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to revel in a massive military parade marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War.
Some 13,000 marchers, including troops from Cold War allies China, Cambodia and Laos, made their way past cheering throngs toward Reunification Palace -- the site where a North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gates of the then-presidential residence on April 30, 1975, ending nearly two decades of fighting.
And while scars remain from a conflict that left more than 3 million Vietnamese and nearly 60,000 American troops dead, the mood was euphoric, the official message one of peace and unity.
"It is necessary to strongly implement the policy of national harmony and reconciliation," Communist Party General Secretary To Lam said in an address at the celebration.
"With the policy of closing the past, respecting differences, looking towards the future, our entire Party, people and Vietnam together strive to build a peaceful, unified, happy, prosperous and developed Vietnam," he said.
A festive spirit swept through the city formerly known as Saigon during the lead-up to the parade, driven in part by social media and heavy youth turnout at nightly events such as fireworks shows.
On Wednesday, parade-goers -- thousands of whom slept out on the streets lining the route overnight -- clapped, whistled and chanted as columns of marching soldiers passed by, in a scene more evocative of a pop concert than a show of military might.
Uniformed veterans who fought in the war against U.S. troops and South Vietnamese forces, now in their 70s and 80s, were treated like celebrities by younger Vietnamese who surrounded them to pose for photos.
"I wanted to meet the people who sacrificed so much to save our country," Tran Le Van Ly, who stayed up all night for the parade, said.
The 32-year-old Ho Chi Minh City native echoed the message of unity that has surrounded much of the anniversary.
"There is a division in terms of geography but no division among people," Ly said. "All Vietnamese around the world share a family bond."
Overhead, helicopters carrying Vietnamese and Communist Party hammer-and-sickle flags flew by in formation, while Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets conducted aerial maneuvers and set off flares.
The unprecedented scale of the parade served to showcase how far Vietnam has come in the decades since the war -- especially Ho Chi Minh City, where high-rise towers, luxury shops and a new subway line have transformed the urban landscape in recent years. While the North's Communists may have won the war, it is capitalism and entrepreneurial energy that course through this cosmopolitan city of nearly 10 million people.
In his address, Lam celebrated Vietnam's remarkable economic turnaround.
"From a poor, backward nation devastated by the war and subjected to blockade and embargo, Vietnam has transformed into a developing country with near upper-middle income status," he said.
Lam highlighted science, technology and digital innovation as Vietnam's next economic pillars as it looks to move beyond its low-cost manufacturing and export-driven economy. He also called the shift from lumbering state-owned enterprises toward the private sector as "the most important driving force of the national economy."
"We are now standing at a new historical starting point to help the country to rise up, take off, and stand shoulder to shoulder with powers across the five continents," Lam said. "We must liberate all productive forces, unleash all resources and leverage all potential and strengths to strongly promote socio-economic development."
Vietnam's economy faces daunting challenges, however, including the possible impact of a China-U.S. trade war and President Donald Trump's proposed 46% tariff on Vietnamese imports. The World Bank in April cut its 2025 growth forecast for Vietnam from 6.8% to 5.8%, even as Lam pointed to an 8% growth target for the year and double-digit growth from 2026-2030 in his address.
The nation of 100 million also faces internal hurdles such as an aging population, environmental concerns and a human rights record that Human Rights Watch calls "dire in virtually all areas."
On this day, however, the mood for most at the parade was one of unbridled optimism.
"We are all very proud of our country," Hong Nguyen, who attended with her family, said. "We have made it so far already and I believe we will keep finding solutions. I feel good about the future."
