Caught on camera: Visitors enjoy moment of victory captured by photographs at an exhibition at the Reunification Palace in HCM City on Saturday. (Photo: VNS)An exhibition of more than 100 photographs of the Anti-American war, taken by photojournalists who worked for the Liberation News Agency (LNA) between 1965 and 1975, is open at the Reunification Palace in HCM City until Thursday.

The exhibition is organised by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Reunification Palace to mark the 37st anniversary of the liberation of Sai Gon, April 30, 1975, which marked the end of the war.

The images taken by the war photojournalists illustrate the indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese during the conflict, including the stupendous effort that was the Ho Chi Minh Trail. They also capture the indescribable emotions of Vietnamese people and soldiers on April 30, 37 years ago.

The exhibition, titled Viet Nam – Bai Ca Chien Thang (Viet Nam – The Victory Song), also features more than 50 pictures that record achievements in rebuilding the country after the war.

Some of the photographers won awards for their work, while others are known only as a name stamped on the bottom of the photos. More than 260 LNA staff members died during the war, 40 of whom were photojournalists. In 1976, the LNA merged with the VNA.

At the exhibition's opening ceremony, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi called the photographers historians who recorded the country's history through their pictures. To this, they risked their lives in the battlefield, he said.

Also on hand were LNA photojournalist Dinh Quang Thanh, 78, who has several photos of his displayed at the exhibition as well as war veterans Vu Dang Toan and Bui Quang Than, who rode the tanks that crashed through the main gate of the then Independence Palace 37 years ago.

They met and shared their emotions and memories of the special day with students of the HCM City University of Social Science and Humanities as well as the HCM City Culture College.

Source: VNS