(1 May 1995) T/I 10:20:27
STORY: ANNIVERSARY
LOCATION: HO CHI MINH CITY/CU CHI, VIETNAM
DATE: 30 APRIL 1995
DURATION: 1.38
Vietnamese parade reconciliation on their big day
Vietnamese paraded and posed for pictures with their former foes on Sunday (30/4) as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the end of a war that reunited their country but cost more than three million lives. Some 10,000 soldiers, students, workers and children marched along one of Ho Chi Minh City's main thoroughfares past a reviewing stand packed with top government and Communist Party leaders. Communist tanks clanked along the same road on 30 April 1975, to smash through the gates of the South Vietnamese presidential palace and seize power from the last remaining officials of the US-backed government. The 1995 celebrations also featured fireworks, theatrical performances, and majorettes. Even American icon Mickey Mouse made an appearance, emphasising the Vietnamese government's wishes that the celebrations should be conducted in a spirit of reconciliation with their former enemies. Mayor Truong Tan Sang opened the ceremonies by praising the patriotism that led so many to their death. Mayor Sang's speech emphasized the achievements of peace, especially the new burst of economic development in Ho Chi Minh City, called Saigon before 1975. Vietnam's economy stagnated for the first decade after reunification, but free-market reforms since the late 1980s have brought marked new prosperity.
SHOWS:
(HO CHI MINH CITY 30/4) Soldiers carrying flowers to statue of Ho Chi Minh. CU statue of Ho Chi Minh. White vehicle with picture of Ho Chi Minh. First tank to roll into capital in 1975. Bike brigade. SOT veteran Jeff Frederick. Troops marching. WS troops marching. SOT local woman (in Vietnamese).
(CU CHI 30/4) WS parade. Girls in yellow, marching. Visitor
entering amusement park. Photo shot in helicopter. Visitors
firing weapons. Entering tunnel. Inside tunnel. Up to tunnel exit.
(HO CHI MINH CITY 30/4) Night parade. Dragon. Mickey Mouse.
Soldier sets off fireworks. WS fireworks.
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