Vietnam celebrates the 40th anniversary of Saigon’s Fall

With a huge military parade and jubilations, Vietnam celebrated the 40th anniversary of Saigon’s fall – Vietnam’s victory over American military that ended a decades-long conflict.

On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops poured into Saigon for the final day of a two-decade conflict that ultimately had Americans might and prestige blown away. The world too was amazed of a tiny country like Vietnam winning over America in a war that stretched for two decades.

To celebrate elaborate floats, including one bearing a giant portrait of founding president Ho Chi Minh, made their way slowly through the city streets, celebrating the moment 40 years ago when tanks smashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace in the then southern capital of Saigon – now named Ho Chi Minh City.

“The April 30 victory was a golden turning point for the Vietnamese people,” Army Lieutenant-General Nguyen Quoc Khanh told the crowds at the event, which was being broadcast live nationwide.