Vietnam's leaders met in HCM City this morning (April 30) ahead of military parades and fireworks and festivals to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of 10,000-day war of liberation and national Reunification Day.
Vietnam's leaders met in HCM City this morning (April 30) ahead of military parades and fireworks and festivals to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of 10,000-day war of liberation and national Reunification Day.
 |
| State party and leaders at the ceremony |
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, President Truong Tan Sang, Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, many state and party leaders, as well as officials from 64 cities and provinces and officials from Laos and Cambodia, joined to mark the national holiday.
A parade, comprising some 6,000 members of the armed forces, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, workers, farmers, intellectuals and students, marched and walked from Thao Cam Vien Park to Le Duan Street and then Reunification Palace before splitting into groups on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street.
It was the largest parade ever held in HCM City. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets.
 |
| Around 6,000 people joined the parade |
Among military vehicles and armaments displayed in the parade was Tank 390, which crashed through the gates of what was the Presidential Palace in Saigon on April 30, 1975, marking the fall of the regime in Saigon and the end of a war that had been waged against the former colonial rulers France, leading to independence in the north in 1954, and then anti-Communist forces led by the United States.
The parade took an hour to pass the reviewing stand in Thong Nhat Square in front of the Independence Palace.
The yellow star on red background flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was raised at 7am as a military band played the national anthem Tien Quan Ca, or Song of the Advancing Soldiers.
 |
| Tank 390, which crashed through the gates of what was the Presidential Palace in Saigon on April 30, 1975 |
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said it was a great historic event for Vietnam, and had begun a new era of independence for building a country based on wealth, democracy, fairness and civilisation.
He said the challenged faced by Vietnam was now one of strong economic development for the country’s industrialisation and modernisation.
A student from HCM Law University, Nguyen Dao Phuong Thuy, spoke for the youth of Vietnam, saying Reunification Day is day of pride, and Vietnam's young people would try their best for the country’s development.
 |
| Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the meeting |
Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, took the salute from the military.
The day will be celebrated throughout the country of 90 million people, with festivals and commemorations for the more than three million Vietnamese who died during the war.
Fireworks will light the sky over the capital, Hanoi, from 9pm.
Some photos at the meeting this morning:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
