photo credit: @odaucungchup

It’s the 50th anniversary of Reunification Day, April 30, 1975, when liberation forces pushed into Saigon, ramming down the Independence Palace with a tank. This day marked the end of the war, giving Vietnamese people their freedom, and everyone poured onto the streets, celebrating as on

Today’s celebration is even bigger than Tết (our Lunar New Year). We have a march showcasing our military, a parade with floats sharing our culture and various occupations that helped build our country to where it is today. There were jet planes, helicopters, and everything.

Everyone in the city was out camping on the streets since 8 p.m. last night to get a good view of the march and celebrate with the parade this morning. Even though I’m not part of the crowd and not a history buff, I felt the profound emotional weight of our forefathers and couldn’t help but be swept with a deep sense of pride in being Vietnamese and the energy of everyone made me feel like I was tapping into a vast network of Vietnamese across generations.

Here are some great photos of the celebration I collected from the internet. Please let me know if any adjustments to the credits are needed.

Here’s the special edition of Báo Nhân Dân (People’s Magazine) that published of reunification day, you can use your phone to scan the QR codes for more informations.

Have a safe and free day, everyone,

-Binh