Vietnam celebrates 50 years of reunification, end of war with huge parade

Vietnam mounted its biggest-ever celebration of the fall of Saigon on its 50th anniversary on Wednesday, including Chinese troops for the first time after Xi Jinping visited to portray Beijing as a more reliable partner than Washington.

A lotus-shaped float carrying a portrait of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh was near the front of the parade in the city renamed after him, as fighter jets and helicopters carrying flags flew overhead.

Thousands of people – many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Vietnamese flag – including families with young children and the elderly stayed out overnight in the streets, sharing food and waiting for the display.

The celebrations come half a century after tanks of communist North Vietnam crashed through the gates of the city’s presidential palace, defeating US-backed South Vietnam and delivering a painful blow to American moral and military prestige.

“I am proud of having contributed to liberating the south,” said 75-year-old veteran Tran Van Truong who had travelled – dressed in full military uniform – from the capital Hanoi to see the parade.