No tanks as Vietnam fetes war's end with B'day cake
HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam celebrated the 30th anniversary of the end of "The American War" on Saturday, baking a four-toncake for Liberation Day babies and staging a military parade without a real tank in sight.
The communist nation's top leaders, as well as retired General Vo Nguyen Giap, the 94-year-old military chief whose tactics subdued first the French then the Americans, attended the key celebrations in the city known in war years as Saigon.
Breaking with the military ceremonies of past anniversaries, Vietnam -- which once boasted one of the world's most feared armies -- this time mustered only a single fake wooden tank and no missiles as hundreds of soldiers made a march past.
Concerned that too visible a show of "triumphalism" could harm crucial economic ties with the United States, now Vietnam's biggest trading partner, Hanoi made sure that this year's celebrations were as much about the future as the past.
On the eve of the anniversary, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai urged all sides involved in a conflict that killed two million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans to close the past and look forward.
U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam two years before the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 but Washington supported the South Vietnamese administration until the end and established diplomatic relations with united Vietnam only 10 years ago.
"The young people of today must now shoulder the task of developing the country," Khai said.
Still a dream
In a testament to a surging economy, many shops advertised anniversary sales offering "30 percent off on the 30th."
"The people's life now is stable unlike the hard times before, during the war. Now we are focusing on our studies to build the country in the future," said schoolgirl Hong Thu.
But for some older people who have lost out on Vietnam's economic boom, there was little fervor about the anniversary.
"I am sitting here selling lottery tickets and I am not thinking of any fun," said vendor Tran Thi My, 64.
"I have to earn money to pay for housing, for daily purchases so I have no time to bother about other stuff."
Primary school teacher Lu Thi Bach Yen, 67, said that watching the ceremonies reminded her of the "glorious" day when North Vietnamese soldiers marched into the city, unifying a nation long divided between communist north and capitalist south.
"It is still like a dream for me," she said.
The only high-profile foreign visitor was Cuban First Vice-President Raul Castro, the Caribbean communist nation's defense minister and Fidel Castro's younger brother.
Cuba, along with the Soviet Union and China, were Hanoi's key allies in the war with the United States.
The crew of Tank 390, which at 11:00 a.m. that April day smashed down the gates of the palace where the U.S.-backed administration had spent their last hours, were among guests at the outdoor ceremonies which were held in sweltering heat.
The four veterans watched a wooden tank re-enact the dramatic breakthrough which signaled the end of the war.
Celebrating their 30th birthdays, more than 1,000 babies born on Liberation Day were among those who tucked into the gigantic cake baked in their honor.
By Brian Williams & Ho Binh Minh - Reuters - April 30, 2005.
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