Vietnam War: History (BBC)

[cshchan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/05/vietnam_war/html/introduction.stm

[Roaming East]

rather abbreviated, quite a bit worse than the old history books i recall reading in middle school

[2RHPZ]

The day the Vietnam War ended

Thirty years ago on Saturday, the Communist armies of North Vietnam captured the city of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War. BBC Vietnamese reporters have spoken to some of the key figures involved in the final battle.

At 10:45am on 30 April 1975, two communist tanks crashed though the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon.

Soon after, soldiers climbed on top of the palace to plant a red and blue flag with the yellow star of the Revolutionary Forces of North Vietnam.

But then nothing happened for several hours.

The conquering soldiers were left walking up and down the palace's corridors and stairs, or resting by their tanks in the front yard.

Inside the palace, all the cabinet members of the South Vietnamese government, with General Duong Van Minh as its president, were sitting around a big table, nervously drinking tea.

The attack had been too swift and Tank Units 843 and 390 reached the centre of Saigon before anyone in the communist army had the time to prepare a proper ceremony for the handover of power.

Colonel Bui Tin, a journalist for the Communist Armed Forces newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan, had just arrived to report on the battle of Saigon.

...more... (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4491193.stm)