April 30th 1975. The end, when it came, was brief and conclusive. The US planes took off, the tanks rolled in, the gates were thrown open and the red flag flew. Saigon had fallen.

It was fifty years ago, when what the Vietnamese call The American War ended.

To co-opt lyrics from The Doors, “It was the end, beautiful friend, the end/ Of our elaborate plans, the end/ Of everything that stands, the end…”

Well, it both was and wasn’t.

True, it finished one of the 20th century’s great wars of national liberation, a multi-generational epic that had pitted Vietnamese patriots against three empires: France, Japan and the United States.

But war wasn’t done with Vietnam.

Within a few years, the Vietnamese found it necessary to invade Cambodia to oust the Khmer Rouge mass murderers, who had begun to raid parts of southern Vietnam.

In turn, this triggered a short but vicious war with China – whose leaders, shamefully, backed the Khmer Rouge.

What followed has echoes today. In particular, there was a major refugee crisis, with people displaced along the border with Cambodia, and what were called ‘boat people’ taking to the waves, some of whom came to Ireland.

The Vietnamese were also badly hit by sanctions and embargoes, some of which lasted until as late as 1994.

Internationally, many people who had opposed the presence of US military in South East Asia and supported the drive to reunification and national liberation greeted the end of the war with relief and quiet satisfaction.

But, thanks to geopolitical pressures and conflicts (for example, between the USSR and China) they were unable to help with the country’s reconstruction for almost two decades.

FIRST TELEVISED WAR

In Vietnam itself, there was tumult and chaos as the palace gates opened and the flags were raised.

Loyalists of the defeated Republic of Vietnam cowered in monumental panic and fear.

Some tried to get on aircraft leaving the city. Many took to the open seas, a substantial proportion of whom perished.

There were electrifying, shocking videos of people clinging to the runners of helicopters, some falling to their deaths; and harrowing accounts of the terrors met by the boat people, from storms, poorly equipped boats and pirates.

The war in Vietnam wasn’t the only terrible conflict of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Yet, it is etched into our consciousness like few others.

We, Ireland included, are of the Anglosphere and our worldview has been shaped by its media and discourses, good and bad.

Anti-war rally, NYC by Bernard Gotfryd

Call it a white, western perspective and collective memory.

The generation that ushered in the music boom of the 60s was also the one sent to serve in Vietnam. They were global and so, therefore, was the conflict.

It was the first televised war and the images found greatest traction in those countries where TV was the dominant mode of communication at the time.

The moving images, and highly literate reportage – followed in due course by movies and in-depth analysis – gave shapes and sounds to our perceptions. Think of Michael Herr’s acclaimed Dispatches.

NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY

There were two sides to the story, of course, but we mostly heard about the Americans and what they went through – or were responsible for.

Tales emerged of terrible violence, on people and the environment, of vast tonnages of explosives and biocides, of mishaps, terrors and trials, of broken lives and bones and blood and mud.

Think of movies like Platoon, The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now and how they colonised our perceptions.

That said, 80% of Americans who served in Vietnam never saw combat, being what were called REMFs (Rear Echelon Motherfuckers). True!!

Rather than combat-grizzled grunts and warriors, they were the easy-living drudges of a humungous supply and communications industry.

One (just one!) of their bases was at Long Binh, about 30km north of Saigon. Over a decade, its cost ballooned to over $130 million. And that’s at 1960s prices!!

At its peak, Long Binh had 3,500 buildings and 240km of road and covered an area bigger than the city of Cleveland.

There were 81 basketball courts, 64 volleyball courts,12 swimming pools, clubs, gyms, sports fields, driving ranges, a go-cart track, clubs, libraries and an amphitheatre. Oh and 40 bars.

There was even an unofficial brothel and a “male beauty bar.”

You can rest assured that the Vietnamese combatants had no such luxuries. Their lot was much more a case of sacrifice and privation.

But their tenacity was clear to all, and their ingenuity and indomitability.

Tom Barry, the fabled guerrilla leader from West Cork said of them that they would endure, and they did.

And so, fifty years on, what have we?

Well, Vietnam is transformed.

Massive projects are being delivered in infrastructure, connectivity, communications and energy transition.

Vietnam is one of only four countries globally to enter the EU-supported Just Energy Transition Partnership.

And, as many Irish people will acknowledge, the natural beauty of the country is reflected in a still-growing tourism industry.

PROFITS OF THE WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS

There’s huge progress on poverty, down from 60 percent of the Vietnamese population thirty years ago to below 4 percent by 2024.

Unsurprisingly, there are also growing pains. Air quality is a serious issue, especially in Hanoi.

And, there are new worries and external threats. There’s a trade imbalance that the Prince of Orange might take a dislike to.

They have cause to worry about China too.

For millennia, the Vietnamese have been wary of their giant northern neighbour and wars have been fought. The East Sea (aka the South China Sea) is always a potential flashpoint.

So, they’ve espoused a non-aligned diplomatic approach, expressed as the ‘Four Nos’ policy: no military alliances, no siding with one country to act against another, no foreign military bases or using Vietnam as leverage to counteract other countries, and no threat or use of force.

It’s something we should consider as we debate neutrality.

Fifty years after the fall, Saigon is multi-cultural and cosmopolitan – a swirling hot-pot of energy and enterprise and great food.

The Irish are there in numbers. Some are tourists but others, including teachers and nurses, are there for the long haul. Their growing numbers are reflected in a burgeoning GAA club scene.

When the Vietnamese army took Saigon, who’d have thought that fifty years later there would be two GAA clubs in the city, another two in Hanoi and yet another being established in Da Nang?

Given the heat and humidity, these are hardy folks. But they’re harvesting the fruits of peace!

And notwithstanding military parades and fly-bys and fireworks, that’s the point. What will be celebrated in Ho Chi Minh City at the end of April is peace, not war.

Inevitably, one then thinks of the millions who died in Vietnam and the grotesque cost. What a waste. Hasn’t vastly more been achieved after the war was ended?

A soldier holds a Vietnamese child during Vietnam War

Now, look at the murderous conflicts around the world and ask yourself what are they good for? Other than the profits of the weapons manufacturers, and the psycho-sexual gratification of preening militarist monsters, the answer is absolutely nothing.

Say it again.

Up on Hog Hill we’ll welcome the day with gratitude.

And then we’ll gently mark the anniversary with a pot of Trà Shan Tuyt C Th Vit Nam (Snowshan Tea, so called because it grows in the high mountains of north-west Vietnam).

And we’ll give thanks for those who make peace rather than war.