| Summary/Abstract |
Earlier this year on the sunny morning of April 30, several thousand members of the Communist Party of Vietnam, retired and current military personnel, and select foreign guests assembled in the center of Saigon (officially known as Ho Chi Minh City) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Vietnam’s political unification. In the run-up to the event, party organizers had pulled out all the stops. An extended holiday was announced. Television and print media bombarded their audiences with interpretations of the anniversary’s meaning. Neighborhood loudspeakers across the country blared patriotic tunes and instructed households to display the nation’s flag. Propaganda brigades replaced billboard advertisements for soap powder and motorbikes with words and images honoring the “total victory” and the “complete liberation” of the south of Vietnam.
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