~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

Year :      [2005]      [2004]      [2003]      [2002]      [2001]      [2000]      [1999]      [1998]      [1997]

Vietnam begins 30th anniversary of Saigon's fall

BUON MA THUOT- Vietnam kicked off celebrations marking 30 years since winning the war against the United States, the anniversary of the fall of central highland city Buon Ma Thuot. The Vietcong's assault on the strategically important town on March 10, 1975, began a series of military reverses culminating in the fall of Saigon on April 30. The attack "was a clear decision and decisive for the victory of the historic campaign of Ho Chi Minh", said Y Luyen Nie Kdam, secretary of the Communist Party committee in Dak Lak province.

About 5,000 police, soldiers, workmen, schoolchildren and women in traditional dress took part in a ceremony also involving elephants in the town square on Thursday morning, under the close guard of riot police. According to the authorities, "tens of thousands" of residents will take part in the day-long rallies, joined by two members of the communist party's Politburo including Police Minister Le Hong Anh. Local tensions are running high in the region among ethnic minorities who have taken to the streets twice within three years to demand greater religious freedom and the return of ancestral lands handed over to coffee-growers. Officials used the occasion in the city of 300,000 people to denounce the "subversive activities".

"Buon Ma Thuot has made great economic achievements these last years despite the fact that hostile forces keep carry on subversive activities," Y Luyen Nie Kdam said. Vietnam's official press gave heavy coverage to the event, hailing the city which "has changed from a battlefield into a fast growing economy in the past three decades", according to the English-language Vietnam News.

On March 10, 1975, communist forces launched their first attack on the town controlled by troops of the pro-American Saigon government. "That day, we all thought it was one of the communist forces' normal attacks and that they would retreat straight away," remembered resident Nguyen Thanh Anh, 54. "But the attack led to the liberation of the town after the Vietcong tanks drove in. The rich families ran away," he said. Former soldier Dinh Gia Quan, 52, who was wounded in the war, said: "Our soldiers spent five days just getting close to the town. "The infantry opened fire at 1:00 am and our tanks were supposed to enter the town at around 7:00 am. Because of bad coordination, they only got there at 9:30 am, which meant the communist troops suffered heavy loss of life." "The first clashes were really tough, and it took us up to seven days to control the airport," said another veteran, Tran Ngoc Manh, 52. "The following day (the 18th), the only people I saw in the streets were northern Vietnamese soldiers." Victory in the town proved to be a crucial victory for the Vietcong.

South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu quickly ordered the "strategic withdrawal" of his army from the highlands to the coast, turning the defeat into a rout after fighting which had only lasted several weeks. The communist forces then pressed on to take the two most important cities in central Vietnam: Hue, the former imperial seat of power, and port city Danang, on March 26 and 29. After withdrawing from the centre of the country, the Saigon government's forces were unable to retake the territory from the communists, armed with Soviet tanks and artillery. The Vietcong penetrated Saigon on April 30, just hours after the last American soldiers had been evacuated by helicopter from the roof of the US embassy.

Agence France Presse - March 10, 2005.