Thousands of Vietnamese gathered across the country on Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War—a historic moment hailed by the nation’s top leader as a “victory of faith.”

The day’s events culminated in a massive military parade in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, featuring thousands of uniformed soldiers, patriotic performances, and an aerial display of Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters. Spectators waved red national flags and sang revolutionary anthems, honoring what many view as one of the country’s most defining milestones.

The anniversary marks the capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975, effectively ending the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government and initiating the reunification of the country. Shortly afterward, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in tribute to the North’s revolutionary leader.

“It was a victory of faith,” declared Communist Party General Secretary To Lam in his address, describing the war’s end as “a triumph of justice over tyranny.” He echoed the enduring words of Ho Chi Minh: “Vietnam is one, the Vietnamese people are one. Rivers may dry up, mountains may erode, but that truth will never change.”

The fall of Saigon came nearly two years after the final withdrawal of U.S. combat forces and marked the conclusion of a devastating two-decade conflict. The war claimed an estimated three million Vietnamese lives and nearly 60,000 American soldiers, many of them drafted.

According to a Reuters dispatch from the day Saigon fell, North Vietnamese troops entered the city with little resistance, providing unexpected relief to residents who had feared a bloody final confrontation. The report described a striking mix of heavily armed veterans in fatigues and youthful, barefoot fighters marching through the capital.

Global audiences watched as dramatic images of the war’s final hours were broadcast: U.S. helicopters airlifting nearly 7,000 people—both American personnel and South Vietnamese civilians—from rooftops around the city. The last U.S. helicopter departed from the roof of the American Embassy at 7:53 a.m. on April 30, 1975, just as North Vietnamese tanks approached.

Though the fall of Saigon marked the symbolic reunification of Vietnam, the formal legal unification was completed in 1976—22 years after the country was originally divided following the end of French colonial rule.