Vietnam Marks War's End

In Ho Chi Minh City, the mood was upbeat. For the nation that won the war, this was a day to celebrate victory over a superpower, an occasion to reflect on how far they had come. But, as CBS News Correspondent Barry Peterson reports, this anniversary also came with a sobering reminder of how far they have yet to go.

The soldiers, too young to remember the war, marched across the grounds of what is now labeled Reunification Palace. On the reviewing stand were old soldiers who did remember, and some of the generals who engineered the defeat of the Americans.

Twenty-five years ago this was a city called Saigon, in a country called South Vietnam. When North Vietnamese tanks captured the palace, it was the end of South Vietnam, and Saigon was soon renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after the communist leader of the North.

Long since dead, his picture dominated Vietnam's celebrations. "I am proud," said one man, "because we defeated a big, imperialist power."

But the speeches were of today's problems, not yesterday's victories. The mayor of Ho Chi Minh City, Vo Viet Thanh, decried bribery and drug addiction, which are among the problems stalling Vietnam's economy. But deeply felt respect and gratitude was also shown to those who fought so long for their country.

"The great victory of April 30th represents the triumph of the entire nation of justice over brutality and of humanity over tyranny," said mayor of the city, speaking under a giant billboard of a smiling Ho Chi Minh.

Other officials also paid glowing tribute to the three million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians who died during the war. More than 58,000 American troops were also killed in the conflict.

For some drug traffickers, thieves, and murderers, this was a day of freedom. An amnesty granted in honor of the anniversary set loose some 12,000 prisoners. One of them said, "I feel like I've been reborn. I never thought I would rejoin society because I was serving a life sentence."

Police clamped tight security over the venue, and kept it hidden from general view by barricading all roads to the palace. Entry to the early morning event, presided over by top Communist Party leaders, was by invitation only.

While the theme of the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War was overwhelmingly about reconciliation and moving on, five years later Hanoi has sharpened rhetoric about U.S. brutality and aggresion during the decade-long conflict.

It was, in the end, like a spring festival. Among the marchers in the gaily decorated city were people from a wide range of religious and ethnic groups. One had to remember this was a remembrance of a brutal war that killed 58,000 Americans and more than three million Vietnamese.

Nguyen Thi Tinh, 73, lived opposite the palace when the tanks rattled down the streets. Women had been warned the communists would rip out any painted fingernails, she said.

"It was the first time I'd seen communists I thought 'It's over, there is no more freedom'," she told Reuters Television.

Tinh recalled that instead of checking her nails, Hanoi's peasant soldiers came over to her house and politely asked if she could mend their tattered uniforms.