Viet Nam, 2023

The Salavan Tree, Couroupita Guianensis, (Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusee Aublet) – “Cannonball Tree” (Cannonball Flower), Silva Linga flower, Couroupita is in the family of Lecythidaceae.   It is believed to be the tree under which Buddha was born. The flower can be dried and turned into a tea. Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

The Independence Palace

The Independence Palace is also known as the Reunification Convention Hall is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam.  It was the home and workplace of the president of the Republic of (South) Vietnam.  It was the site of the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 that ended the Vietnam War, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

Construction of the current Independence Palace was begun in 1962 to replace the old palace, which was badly damaged due to being bombed by two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots.

Independence Palace in 1967

The construction of the palace started on July 1, 1962.   The completed hall was inaugurated on October 31, 1966 The Independence Hall served as Thieu's home and office from October 1967 to 21 April 1975, when he fled the country as communist North Vietnamese forces swept southwards in the decisive Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

On 8 April 1975, Nguyen Thanh Trung, a pilot of the South Vietnamese air force and an undetected communist spy flew an F-5E aircraft to bomb the palace but caused no significant damage.   At 10:45 on April 30, 1975, a tank of the North Vietnamese army bulldozed through the main gate, effectively ending the Vietnam War.