On April 30, the Southeast Asian nation of Vietnam celebrated 25 years as a unified country. All through April, bright decorations and parades filled the streets.
"I'm very excited because we are celebrating national reunification," said Nguyen Cong Hien, a security guard in the capital, Ho Chi Minh City.
From the early 1960s to 1975, U.S. troops helped fight a war to stop communist North Vietnam from taking over democratic South Vietnam. For last week's anniversary, many U.S. soldiers made an emotional return to their old battleground. Among them was Senator John McCain, who ran for President.
The war bitterly divided Americans. Some supported efforts to keep South Vietnam a democracy while others, who believed Americans had no business in the fight, protested. About 60,000 U.S. soldiers died in the war. When the communists took over South Vietnam's capital on April 30, 1975, it was all over.