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, AFP journalists saw, and fighter jets and helicopters carry flags flew overhead.
The celebrations come half a century after tanks of communist North Vietnam crashed through the gates of the city’s presidential palace, defeating the US-backed South and delivering a painful blow to American moral and military prestige.
“But what’s gone is gone, I have no hatred for those from the other side of the battle,“ Truong told AFP. “We should join hands to celebrate the end of the war.”
For the first time, more than 300 soldiers from China, Laos and Cambodia took part in the spectacle.
But this year is the first time Chinese soldiers have ever been part of large-scale commemorations.
“I think Hanoi is signalling to China that they recognise China’s historical contribution,“ said Zach Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who focuses on Southeast Asian politics.
After years of fighting that ended on April 30, 1975, the United States and Vietnam have rebuilt ties to become strong trade partners.
“We owe our success... to huge support from the Soviet Union, China... and solidarity from Laos and Cambodia,“ top party leader To Lam said in a speech before the parade.
The celebrations come after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi this month.
Reconciliation, excitement
Thousands of Vietnamese who worked for the Southern government fled, while others stayed and were forced into re-education camps.
In an article published Sunday on the government’s news portal, To Lam put an unusual emphasis on reconciliation.
Most of the population was born after the conflict’s end, but many young people appeared excited on Tuesday night as music blared through the streets and huge crowds began to form.
Thang Dang, 19, a physical education student at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, was among 250 of his classmates taking part in the parade, carrying Vietnamese national and Communist Party hammer and sickle flags.
“I will tell my future children about this event,“ he said ahead of the start. “I am so proud and my family is so proud too.”
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