Vietnam on Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with the United States and the formation of the modern nation through the merger of North and South Vietnam.
Thousands had flocked to Ho Chi Minh City — once known as Saigon — to witness the military parade near the Independence Palace, where the war ended when a North Vietnamese tank smashed through its gates. The celebrations — performances by artists, speeches by leaders and former soldiers, and a squadron of jets — focused not just on the past but on the future.
