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Saturday Morning News

Ho Chi Minh City Prepares to Celebrate Anniversary of the End of the 'American War'

Aired April 29, 2000 - 9:09 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Vietnam, victory celebrations are under way. Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of the end of the war they call "the American War." The main events take place in Ho Chi Minh City, known as Saigon before it fell to the North Vietnamese.

As CNN's Richard Blystone reports, shades of Saigon live on today, a quarter century after the war's end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On April 29, 1975, there were all the things you don't see today, excitement at the coming liberation, or despair as part of your family flew away, leaving you behind, the fear people had kept in the back of their minds erupting in panic, relief that it would soon be over, whatever Saigon's new masters would do.

This man's family spent the day wondering what would become of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said they're very, you know, ugly, they are killers. But when I meet them, they're very lovely, they're very friendly.

BLYSTONE: For him, it turned out all right. But for others there would be many scores settled, many families split before there was anything to celebrate.

For a historic anniversary eve, history's not much in mind here today. The Museum of the Revolution is now the kind of place where you go to have your wedding pictures taken. Within, a celebration of the victors. For the vanquished, however much they may have believed, however bravely they may have fought -- well, they lost.

(on camera): Former South Vietnamese pilots who flew helicopters just like this one have to make do with this for a memorial, a prize of war.

(voice-over): The anniversary parade and ceremony are to take place here within the grounds of what was the South Vietnamese presidential palace. For historic and economic reasons, the government says, nothing to do with security, it says. But there are signs that even after 25 years, authorities here don't feel entirely at ease.

Up in Hanoi, excitement may be running high, but down here, they're kicking back to kick off a four-day national holiday. Down here you get the sense that Hanoi is a long way away. And within the borders of Ho Chi Minh City, a rascally old town called Saigon lives on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLYSTONE: So Miles, the -- today, this evening, the accent is on the future. But as they say, the past is prelude.

Richard Blystone, CNN live in a glittering, gleaming Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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