Along with thousands of others, teenager Linh camped out overnight to watch Wednesday's military parade marking 50 years since the metropolis, now called Ho Chi Minh City, fell to communist forces to end two decades of conflict.
Communist Vietnam's tightly-controlled state media has pumped out a barrage of positive messaging about the anniversary.
But flag-waving youngsters on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City told AFP that it was TikTok and Instagram posts about preparations for the parade of red-bannered floats and goose-stepping soldiers in recent weeks that had fired their enthusiasm.
Linh, 17, admitted she knew little about the conflict, but was part of a wave of young people with no direct connection to the war who wanted to experience the spectacle.
The event made her "feel quite proud to be Vietnamese", she told AFP.
"We are grateful for what the veterans did for us, for the country, pulling us out of war," said Linh, who had travelled from the capital Hanoi to watch the parade.
"Even if we hate history lessons at school, we can learn so many things from this event that the teachers have tried again and again to tell us."
- 'Great fun' -
Communist North Vietnam's victory over the US-backed South culminated in tanks crashing through the gates of the presidential palace.
The defeat for its Cold War ally, and the chaotic scenes of helicopters desperately evacuating staff from the US embassy roof, marked a painful and humiliating blow to Washington's prestige.
Vietnam's Communist Party has huge sway over education and children are taught about the country's victories in schools nationwide.
The party also exercises complete control of the media in Vietnam, a one-party state.
"There is a non-stop barrage of propaganda about this (anniversary)," Zach Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, told AFP.
But many young people said it was pictures on social media that had got them excited.
"Vietnam doesn't really have many outward showy expressions of military strength," said Vu Minh Hoang from the Fulbright University Vietnam.
"I think most people are surprised or excited by it," said Hoang, a professor of history and Vietnam studies.
"They like to think that Vietnam has a strong military that can defend itself."
Dang Nguyen Tuan Minh, a 21-year-old student, scouted a spot to sit and wait for the parade on Tuesday evening.
"We all had great fun, staying the night together on the pavement like this," he said. "The vibe was so great."
"I think this is a very wonderful lesson for the young ones about what the older generation has done for us."
Grand Vietnam parade 50 years after the fall of Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (AFP) April 30, 2025 -
Vietnam mounted its biggest-ever celebration of the fall of Saigon on its 50th anniversary Wednesday, including Chinese troops for the first time after Xi Jinping visited to portray Beijing as a more reliable partner than Washington.
A lotus-shaped float carrying a portrait of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh was near the front of the parade in the city renamed after him, AFP journalists saw, and fighter jets and helicopters carry flags flew overhead.
Thousands of people -- many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Vietnamese flag -- including families with young children and the elderly stayed out overnight in the streets, sharing food and waiting for the display.
The celebrations come half a century after tanks of communist North Vietnam crashed through the gates of the city's presidential palace, defeating the US-backed South and delivering a painful blow to American moral and military prestige.
"I am proud of having contributed to liberating the south," said 75-year-old veteran Tran Van Truong who had travelled -- dressed in full military uniform -- from the capital Hanoi to see the parade.
"But what's gone is gone, I have no hatred for those from the other side of the battle," Truong told AFP. "We should join hands to celebrate the end of the war."
Around 13,000 people, including veterans, soldiers and members of the public, were to march down Ho Chi Minh City's Le Duan Street, a major thoroughfare which leads to the Independence Palace.
For the first time, more than 300 soldiers from China, Laos and Cambodia took part in the spectacle.
More than 300,000 Chinese troops were involved in the bloody conflict, according to state media, providing crucial anti-aircraft defence support and helping with logistics and supplies.
But this year is the first time Chinese soldiers have ever been part of large-scale commemorations.
Only four years after the end of the Vietnam War, China itself invaded the country, only to be pushed back by Hanoi's troops.
"I think Hanoi is signalling to China that they recognise China's historical contribution," said Zach Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who focuses on Southeast Asian politics.
"It's also another way for them to signal: 'Don't think our foreign policy is lurching towards the Americans.'"
After years of fighting that ended on April 30, 1975, the United States and Vietnam have rebuilt ties to become strong trade partners.
But Hanoi also follows a "bamboo diplomacy" approach, striving to stay on good terms with both Beijing and Washington.
"We owe our success... to huge support from the Soviet Union, China... and solidarity from Laos and Cambodia," top party leader To Lam said in a speech before the parade.
He also credited "progressive people all over the world including American people".
The celebrations come after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi this month.
Beijing is trying to position itself as a stable alternative to Washington as Vietnam confronts a threatened 46 percent US tariff and American foreign aid cuts that could jeopardise war legacy programmes.
- Reconciliation, excitement -
After a war that eviscerated much of Vietnam, killing millions of its people as well as 58,000 US servicemen, the North's victory expanded communist rule over the whole country.
Thousands of Vietnamese who worked for the Southern government fled, while others stayed and were forced into re-education camps.
For many years the victory formed the basis of the Communist Party's legitimacy, before its authority became entwined with economic growth and improved living standards.
In an article published Sunday on the government's news portal, To Lam put an unusual emphasis on reconciliation.
He said Vietnamese people must rid themselves of "hatred, separation or division... so that future generations no longer have to experience war".
Most of the population was born after the conflict's end, but many young people appeared excited on Tuesday night as music blared through the streets and huge crowds began to form.
Social media users have been anticipating the parade for days after widespread coverage of rehearsals in the media, which is entirely controlled by the state.
Thang Dang, 19, a physical education student at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, was among 250 of his classmates taking part in the parade, carrying Vietnamese national and Communist Party hammer and sickle flags.
"I will tell my future children about this event," he said ahead of the start. "I am so proud and my family is so proud too."
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