Thirty years on, world marks fall of SaigonBy Nick Grimm and...

Thirty years on, world marks fall of Saigon
By Nick Grimm and staff reporters
ABC Online

On this day 30 years ago, tank driver Nguyen Van Tap drove his Chinese-built tank through the gates of Saigon's presidential palace in an emphatic demonstration that the Vietnam War had been won.

Today, as Mr Nguyen joins celebrations in Vietnam, Australian Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffery will attend the dedication service for the Victorian Vietnam War Memorial at Dandenong, south-east of Melbourne.

When the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, fell to advancing forces from the communist north on April 30, 1975, it brought to an end years of conflict in the former French colony.

Mr Nguyen became possibly the most famous tank driver in the world when he drove through the palace gates.

Today, he will take part in the celebrations in what is now known as Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

"My family, my wife and I are here to revisit the place we and our brothers in arms joined our last fierce battle in the great spring victory," he said.

His wife, Nguyen Thi Tien, says it is the first time she has visited the place of her husband's last battle.

"I like it very much, am very happy as people and young students welcome us," she said.

It was three decades ago, roughly the same amount of time that the people of Vietnam had endured the war that brought victory to the communists and defeat to the United States and its South Vietnamese allies.

At Dandenong, Vietnam War Memorial spokesman John Wells says the monument pays tribute to both Vietnamese and Australian war veterans.

"I wanted something that says that these soldiers went through the same experience as our soldiers," he said.

"Almost something that says it doesn't matter what war you were in or what uniform you were in, if you pulled on the boots, you're in the club.

"You've got shared experiences that bind you more than differences in skin colour would separate you."