On Wednesday, Vietnam celebrated fifty years since the war with the United States finished and the country became a modern nation. The celebration included a military parade and showed a focus on a peaceful future.

When Saigon fell on April 30, 1975, it meant Vietnam was no longer divided into the communist North and the South, which was supported by the U.S. The country's main leader told people that they had become more united over the past years.

To Lam, the head of Vietnam's Communist Party, said, "All Vietnamese people are from Vietnam. They have the right to live and work, and the freedom to find happiness and love in this country."

He also said, "We should forget the past, respect our differences, and plan for the future. Everyone - the party, the people, and the army - promises to help Vietnam become a country that is peaceful, united, successful, and growing."

Thousands of people stayed on the streets all night in the city formerly known as the capital of South Vietnam. It was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers took control. They stayed there to find the best place to watch the parade. Later, in the afternoon, many people remained on the streets, eating picnics and waiting for the drone and fireworks shows planned for the evening.

The red and yellow colours of Vietnam’s flag were seen all over the city. They were on buildings, painted on the faces of young people, and on the T-shirts of visitors from across the country.

"It is now time for peace," stated spectator Nguyen Thi Hue, a city resident. "Peace is the aspiration shared by people worldwide."

One parade float had the mythical Lac bird, a symbol of Vietnam, and another showed a picture of Ho Chi Minh.

Soldiers from China, Laos, and Cambodia marched with the Vietnamese army. Some wore uniforms like the North Vietnamese soldiers did in the war. Helicopters with the country's flag and planes flew over the parade near Independence Palace. This is where a North Vietnamese tank broke through the gates on the last day of the war.

Crowds watched the show as they stood outside the barriers and at some street corners where big screens were put up. People held up their phones and watched with wide eyes, waving and cheering at the soldiers marching past. People at home stayed close to their television sets.

Sitting next to Vietnam’s leader were Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen and Thongloun Sisoulith, who is the head of the Laotian Communist Party.

To Lam said the fall of Saigon was more than just a win against the U.S. and South Vietnam. He called it a "great moment" that ended a 30-year fight for freedom. This fight started with removing French colonial troops.

He said Vietnam is important in the world today because of help from the Soviet Union and China, support from Laos and Cambodia, and people around the world who wanted things to get better, including in the U.S.

The focus on bringing people together, rather than military victory like before, showed how Vietnam is changing with the world economy and politics, said analyst Nguyen Khac Giang. He also said the Vietnam War is still key to the Communist Party's power, seen as a military win and a sign of national unity. But To Lam's comments suggest that bringing people together is still not finished.

Giang said that the war still affects how united Vietnam is, and the disagreements that have not been solved.

Pham Ngoc Son, a soldier who fought for the communists, thinks that today the U.S. and Vietnam should only have peace and friendship.

"The war ended a long time ago," said the 69-year-old man. During the war, he drove army trucks, taking soldiers and supplies from the north to the south on the Ho Chi Minh trail. This was the secret route North Vietnam used to send supplies.

This year is also the 30th anniversary of Vietnam and the U.S. becoming friends officially.

In 2023, Vietnam made its relationship with the U.S. the best it can be. This is the same level of relationship it has with China and Russia.

However, there are new problems in the relationship with Washington. For example, President Donald Trump has put high taxes on goods and stopped giving a lot of help to other countries, which has made it harder to fix the damage from the war in Vietnam.

Vietnamese officials say their relationship with the U.S. is strong because America is helping with problems from the war, like the effects of Agent Orange and bombs that did not explode and are still dangerous to people in the countryside.

The future of those projects is now uncertain because the Trump administration reduced funding for USAID.

Also, the country that sells many goods to other countries is in danger in the weak global economy because of Trump's plans for tariffs.

Vietnam had to deal with high taxes of 46%. An expert said this makes people wonder what the US wants to do in Asia.

She said that in the past, having a good relationship with the United States helped Vietnam manage its relationship with its much bigger and stronger neighbour, China.

Vietnam, like the Philippines, has had direct disagreements with China about who owns parts of the sea in the South China Sea.

If the U.S. focuses more on economic competition instead of strategic competition, countries in Southeast Asia, like Vietnam, could become less important to the U.S.

It will really show how the new government views the important situation in the Indo-Pacific area and where countries like Vietnam belong, she said.

A government spokeswoman in Washington, Tammy Bruce, did not want to talk about news reports that the government had told diplomats not to go to special anniversary parties. She said, "I won't talk about what was or wasn't suggested."

The Embassy in Hanoi said that Susan Burns, the U.S. consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, attended the event. However, the U.S. ambassador, Marc E. Knapper, was not there.

Around 13,000 people, such as soldiers, local fighting groups, former soldiers, and people living in the city, joined the parade. The parade route went along the main street towards the Independence Palace, then turned into other streets and went by the U.S. Consulate.

A video of Chinese soldiers singing the famous song "As If Uncle Ho Were With Us on Victory Day" during practice was shared a lot online. China's leader, Xi Jinping, had visited Vietnam earlier that month to show that his country was a strong and stable power, different from Trump.