Former Enemies Recall Vietnam War’s End With Eyes on Future
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Vietnam’s Communist leaders commemorated the 40th anniversary of the end of their war against the U.S. with red-flag pageantry as the two countries forge closer economic and military ties against the backdrop of a more assertive China.
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, was decked out in hammer-and-sickle banners as soldiers marched through the nation’s financial center. They passed by streets lined with American fast-food outlets where decades earlier Viet Cong tanks passed before crashing through the gates of the then-South Vietnamese presidential palace, ending the conflict.