The National Day military parade

September 2 is National Day in Vietnam, similar to our July 4th holiday in the States.  On September 2, 1945, with the conclusion of World War II, Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France with a speech in Ba Dinh Square that invoked the language of our own Declaration of Independence.  

We knew there was a parade during the day sometime and fireworks at night.  We were surprised to learn that the parade is 7 - 9 AM, we assume to beat the heat and humidity (and  by 8:30 this morning we were already pretty hot).  But since this was probably the only time in our lives that we would be able to attend a National Day parade, we woke up early and headed out about 6:15 AM.  After a failed attempt at securing a taxi, walking to the bus stop, riding a bus that broke down, and hiking along Thu Le lake, we made it to the parade route by Hanoi International School.

Here was a mom and her two kids walking toward the parade:

Some of the many National Day billboards throughout the city about the day.  Imagine if leading up to the 4th of July, about half of the billboards in the US had pictures of George Washington and American flags and simply said "July 4" and you start to get the idea.

The crowd was about 10 deep where we were watching the parade.  At one point the police had to bring in more metal barricades to prevent people from running across the street:

I don't think this guy got the memo -- it was Vietnam Independence Day.  Actually this kid's hat is one of the few American flags I've seen anywhere in Vietnam -- not terribly surprising I suppose.  Later in the parade I offer Noah 20,000 VND (about $1) to try to get a  USA! USA! chant going.  But then I quickly tell him I'm kidding, because Noah is the type of kid that might actually try to start a USA chant at a Vietnamese military parade.

And then the parade started.  We knew it was a military parade, but we didn't know it was ONLY a military parade.  The event consisted solely of groups of soldiers marching.  We think they represented different branches of the armed forces from different regions of the country: 

A group of young people standing near us watching the parade.  They were definitely into it:

One thing missing from all of the groups marching: women.  There appeared to be no women serving in the armed forces of Vietnam, until late in the parade there were two whole groups of women that marched by.  The first appeared to be communications specialists who were dressed in bizarre military uniforms with mini-skirts, which created a strong reaction from the young Vietnamese men standing next to me:

The second group of women had a much different look.  If there were any catcalls from the young men standing next to me, they may have had a problem on their hands:

Here's a brief video of two of the groups marching by.  You'll hear music in the background which was blaring on loudspeakers through most of downtown during the parade.  And the second group that marches by starts to do a more formal march, which drew large cheers from the crowd:

With the parade over at 9 am, we decided to walk back and grab a bowl of pho on the way.  Although it was hot and humid and provided some surprises, it really was a good morning.