Danang Celebrates 30th Anniversary

[thedrifter]

Danang Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Associated Press
March 30, 2005

DANANG, Vietnam - Once a major U.S. military base, the port city of Danang on Tuesday was again filled with soldiers as it celebrated the 30th anniversary of communist forces' victory here during the Vietnam War.

Hundreds of goose-stepping Vietnamese troops marched behind a giant portrait of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh being driven around Chi Lang stadium in a jeep. Clusters of multicolored balloons filled the air as a procession of 10,000 costumed performers and colored floats streamed through during the two-hour nationally televised event.

The massive celebration reflected the significance of Danang's strategic capture by the Communists during the Vietnam War.

The landing of U.S. Marines in Danang in 1965 marked America's official entry into the war. This port city housed the largest American military base north of Saigon, the capital of the U.S.-backed South Vietnam.

A decade later, on March 29, 1975, Danang became the third city to fall as communist forces advanced down the country's coastline in an aggressive offensive that ended April 30 with the capture of Saigon.


Ellie



That victory reunited the country and ended a painful conflict that killed 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese.

Speaking before a stadium filled with some 30,000 spectators waving Vietnamese flags, Nguyen Ba Thanh, the head of the city's Communist Party, made references to Danang's military past but focused on its future.

"Before the liberation, Danang was a huge military base... Industrial production was almost nonexistent. The rural areas were mostly destroyed by the war. Rice fields were unused," he said.

However, in the years since the war, Danang has enjoyed an economic boom that has made it a thriving showcase in Vietnam, he said.

"The whole city is like a big construction site, which is changing the city's face and creating a new image praised by the whole country," Thanh said.

The bustling city of about 750,000 people is now marked by a rising skyline filled with scaffolding-covered construction, some 200 new roads and four modern bridges spanning the Han River.

During the war, the nearby white sands of China Beach was a favorite rest and relaxation spot for U.S. troops. The region is courting tourism again with the construction of several multimillion dollar resorts along its coastline.

As he stood in his beribboned, cream uniform waiting to march in the parade with hundreds of other veterans, Lt. Col. Pham Van Lien, 72, recalled an earlier time of hardship and deprivation.

"I'm very happy that I survived so many years of war. I'm witnessing major changes in Danang and my country now," he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Navy Ship Makes Port Call In Vietnam
Associated Press
March 29, 2005

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - American sailors dressed in white lined the upper and lower decks of the USS Gary warship on Tuesday as the frigate docked in Vietnam's Saigon Port, one month before the country celebrates the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

The ship became the third U.S. Navy vessel in as many years to make a port call in the communist country since the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975. Officials on both sides said the latest visit symbolized warming military relations between the former foes.

"I think the most important thing for both of our nations and peoples to do is to continue to look forward, not backward," said U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine. "We cannot forget our past, but we certainly don't want to relive it. We have a much brighter future."

The ship visit also marks the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The two sides signed a landmark bilateral trade agreement in 2001 and business has exploded in recent years.

However, the two countries have only begun working on the more sensitive area of military cooperation. As the United States and Vietnam find common ground on issues of counterterrorism and regional stability, future military ties will likely include more ship visits and high-level exchanges such as Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra's historic trip to Washington in 2003.




Marine denied that the U.S. military may be looking to Vietnam as a future strategic area to establish a base to counter growing Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.

The timing of the five-day goodwill visit was not selected to coincide with the war anniversary, but a Vietnamese military official said the arrival was symbolic of how far the two countries have come in the past 30 years.

"I have experience the Vietnam War myself before when Vietnam and the United States were enemies," said Col. Bui Van Nga, the highest ranking Vietnamese Navy officer to greet the ship. "Now we must put aside the past, and I think we should look forward to the future."

As the Vietnamese and American flags flew side by side while the ship eased up the muddy Saigon River, many of the more than 200 sailors aboard were taking pictures and videotaping the arrival.

Most were too young to remember when Ho Chi Minh City was called Saigon, but U.S. Lt. Cmdr. Quoc Bao Tran remembers fleeing the country by boat when he was 7 years old, just before South Vietnam was defeated by communist forces.

"I'm overwhelmed, overjoyed and of course excited," he said, adding the visit marked his first time back to Vietnam. "Going down the Saigon River, I was excited but yet my heart was at peace. I'm looking forward to seeing the place where I was born."

But Tran said the thing he's most excited about is eating authentic Vietnamese food on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City during shore leave.

"I have 'nuoc mam' in my blood," he said, smiling while referring to Vietnam's staple fish sauce used in most dishes. "I like to eat all of the food."

The USS Gary is part of the U.S. 7th Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan. It is in the same family as the USS Vandegrift and USS Curtis Wilbur, which made port calls to Ho Chi Minh City and Danang in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Ellie