Vietnam Commemorates 40th Anniversary

Vietnam is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War with a military parade through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, BBC reports.

On 30 April 1975 the city – which was then called Saigon and was the capital of South Vietnam – was captured by communist troops from the North.

The North’s victory ended the war in which at least three million Vietnamese died, as well as 58,000 US soldiers.

The re-unification process was completed the next year.

In 40 years Vietnam, still a communist country, has come a long way. But some say the speed of social and political reforms are yet to catch up with the economic transformation.