Overview

• Vietnam commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s conclusion with a massive military parade and air show in Ho Chi Minh City, attended by 13,000 soldiers and thousands of spectators.
• The parade included participation from Chinese, Laotian, and Cambodian troops, highlighting Vietnam's historical alliances and its current geopolitical balancing act.
• The war, which ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of Saigon, claimed an estimated three million Vietnamese and over 58,000 U.S. lives, leaving a profound human and environmental toll.
• The use of Agent Orange by U.S. forces continues to cause severe health and environmental damage, with remediation efforts at Bien Hoa site resuming at reduced capacity after funding interruptions.
• U.S.-Vietnam relations, once normalized after the 1994 embargo lift, face renewed strain, with U.S. diplomats barred from attending this year’s commemorations under a Trump-era directive.