Vietnam marks 80th independence anniversary with huge parade

A man walks past a Vietnamese flag painted on a wall in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Under fluttering flags and in a fever of national pride, legions of lock-stepped Vietnamese patriots marched through Hanoi on Tuesday in celebrations marking 80 years since the declaration of independence.

Around 40,000 troops and civilians began parading just after dawn, feting the date when communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh declared a “Democratic Republic of Vietnam” free from French rule in 1945.

Tanks, drones and missile batteries are poised to file through the streets as helicopters and planes streak over the heads of avid spectators, thousands who have camped out overnight.

Pham Thanh Van, a 78-year-old veteran, wore his military uniform pinned with medals earned fighting American troops as he prepared to watch from a front row seat at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.

“This will be my final memory. Don’t forget us,” he told AFP. “I feel so proud. Independence brought development and prosperity to the country. I felt it worth fighting for.”

Hanoi’s top leader To Lam marked the top of the parade with a speech as China’s number-three official -- National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji -- looked on, alongside influential former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Chinese and Russian troops were set to march alongside their Vietnamese counterparts in the two-hour procession, which began with a squadron of helicopters trailing the national yellow-star flag and hammer-and-sickle banners over the capital.

Economic transformation

The tightly-choreographed celebrations are set to out-scale those staged in April to mark the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, when communist North Vietnam sealed the defeat of the U.S.-backed South.

They will also break the record 30,000-strong show of force that the one-party state mustered for emancipation celebrations back in 1985.

University student Vu Thi Trang staked out her position to spectate from midnight on Sunday -- a full 30 hours before the parade’s start -- her spirits undampened by monsoon season downpours.

“Something inside just pushed me to be here,” the 19-year-old told AFP on Monday.

“I am grateful for the sacrifices of the previous generation, so that we have peace and freedom to grow up.”

French influence is still visible throughout Vietnam -- in the colonial facades of Hanoi’s mansions, in its fusion cuisine and schools where the French language is taught as a marker of prestige.

But the celebrations are expected to focus on Vietnam’s independent accomplishments, including its economic transformation into a global manufacturing powerhouse.

Ho Chi Minh’s 1945 independence proclamation was not recognized by France, which ruled Vietnam -- as well as neighbouring Laos and Cambodia -- as colonial assets prized for their rubber, rice and coffee.

But a disastrous military defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 led to France’s full-scale retreat from the region.

“We gained independence through the blood and sweat of previous generations,” said 36-year-old flag vendor Dang Khoa on Saturday.