(VOVworld) – At 11.30 on April 30, 1975, the liberation flag flew on the rooftop of the Independence Palace, Saigon, signaling the victory of the 1975 spring offensive of the Vietnamese army and people. Vietnam News Agency reporter Tran Mai Hanh, who joined the Ho Chi Minh campaign to liberate the south, was among the witnesses of the moment when the liberation army’s flag was hoisted.

Tran Mai Hanh's report was published on Nhan Dan newspaper on May 2, 1975 (Photo archieve)

Journalist Tran Mai Hanh recalled the historic moment of Saigon liberation and Vietnam reunification: “The scene of the Independence Palace was great. The tanks of the liberation army entered the palace and then turned their guns out to protect the palace. Local people formed crowds outside. Inside, generals and officers of the Republic of Vietnam were sitting and waiting mournfully. Prime Minister Vu Van Mau walked back and forth in the yard. Nobody arrested them. Liberation troops were busy; some were sitting in their thanks, while the liberation flags were flying.”

Tran Mai Hanh is the first journalist of Vietnam who wrote an on-the-spot report about the victory in the Independence Palace at noon on April 30, 1975. His report was published in Vietnam News Agency news bulletin and broadcast on Radio the Voice of Vietnam on May 1^st, 1975. It was also published on Nhan Dan newspaper’s special edition a day later. Hanh said: “At noon April 30, before writing this report, I was struck with idea of going to the Saigon port to see how the liberation was going on that day. At 1pm, the liberation army entered and took over the port. On the Saigon river, some ships of the Saigon army was hit by liberation troops’ bullets, exploded, and emitted a lot of smokes. In the port, hundreds of people run out to welcome the liberation troops, waving the red flags with a yellow star and portraits of President Ho Chi Minh. I saw this moving scene. When I returned to the Vietnam News Agency office, I wrote the first report. The image of the Saigon port and the line “Ho Chi Minh city brightened with yellow stars” came into my head and I used that line as my report’s title. More than one year later, when the reunified National Assembly issued a resolution, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city.”