By Donald Kirk
Asia Times Online
HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet was the central figure on hand to lend top-level dignity to a three-hour parade of history as re-enacted on the 35th anniversary of the April 30, 1975, fall of the ancien regime of old South Vietnam and the country's reunification under Communist Party rule.
Goose-stepping soldiers, airmen and sailors led the way, followed by rows of marching Viet Cong decked out in pith helmets and black uniforms. Then cardboard tanks, prancing ballerinas in pink and white, mountain people in traditional dress, schoolchildren holding balloons and float after float. No special interest was left out in an endless procession of mobile displays, all with one bit of decor in common: huge portraits of Ho Chi Minh, the nation's heroic unifying figure.
It was an anniversary laden with symbolism and significance for a country that seems strangely uncertain whether it's socialist or capitalist. Old-style communism exists less as a frighteningly repressive influence then as a firm reminder that the power still lies with the forces that marched to victory in 1975. Vietnam's gold-starred red flag flew everywhere, from shops and stores and office buildings. Whoever planned the long weekend celebration, however, seemed more interested in appealing to southern sensitivities and promoting capitalism than in preaching revolutionary values.
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