Opened at the Vietnamese Women's Museum on Saturday, the exhibition celebrates the 40th anniversary of Reunification Day (April 30) and recalls the victory of the national resistance war. — VNS Photo Truong Gia Vi

HA NOI (VNS) — Photojournalist Dinh Quang Thanh still remembers the happiest day of his life - the day Sai Gon was liberated and the country was reunited.

Together with liberation soldiers, he walked on Sai Gon's streets and received the people's warm welcomes and hearty cheers. Thanh was surrounded by the people, who tried to put candy and cigarettes into his backpack and pockets. Lieutenant Hua Kiem captured the photo while he was standing on the back of a car.

The photo is one of 100 entries taken or collected by Thanh which are on display at the exhibition Spring Road in 1975.

Photo Quang Thanh

Opened at the Vietnamese Women's Museum on Saturday, the exhibition celebrates the 40th anniversary of Reunification Day (April 30) and recalls the victory of the national resistance war.

Many of the precious photos are being shown for the first time, and record how the people and soldiers lived and fought during the war. The exhibition also highlights the joyful scenes across the country on that day in 1975.

Thanh was born in Gia Lam District on the outskirts of Ha Noi. He was recruited on a Vietnam News Agency training course in 1958 and became a political news reporter.

Photo Chu Quang Thanh

He always felt proud that he served the war of resistance as a soldier, though his weapon was a camera, not a gun.

"On March 26, 1975, five journalists from the Vietnam News Agency, including myself, gathered in a "key group" (nicknamed by the agency) to participate in the General Spring Uprising 1975," said Thanh.

After being given the command, Thanh had just a short time to call his wife, telling her to pass by the office to take his personal effects home. She quickly went to the kindergarten to pick up their twins to say farewell to Thanh.

"That time I got a gun and two cameras, a Rolleiflex and Pentax. I put them in my backpack and set off."

"On the way, nostalgia, patriotism and news from the southern front-line urged us to move faster.

Photo Quang Thanh

"Along with other reporters, we joined the legions moving at a fast speed along National Highway 1 to be there in time for the South's liberation," said Thanh.

Nguyen Thi Bich Van, director of the Women's Museum, said each photo Thanh took on the way was precious proof of the nation's brave history.

"The photos are true to life, not staged. They portray optimism, pain, belief and resilience," she said.

"I think the exhibition will bridge the past and the present, and different generations."

The exhibition will run until May 25 at the Vietnamese Women's Museum, 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Ha Noi. Thanh plans to donate all the photos to the museum for a permanent exhibit. — VNS