HANOI (DPA) — The Vietnamese government calls it Liberation Day, but for Nguyen Van Hoang, a wiry man in his mid 60s, the events of April 30, 1975 had different connotations. He recalls the day his life changed forever with a wistful smile.

"I was stationed at a battlefield in the Central Highlands. I was sitting with some of the men when we heard that North Vietnamese troops had entered the presidential palace in Saigon. Later that day we surrendered."

Then 27, Hoang had risen to be an officer after joining the South Vietnamese army when he was 17.

"At the time I was only thinking about my men. The people say the bullet escapes you, not you escape the bullet. It's all about destiny."

Veterans of the North Vietnamese army during events commemorating the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in Phu Tho province, 100 kilomteres northwest of Hanoi, 20 April 2005. EPA/JULIAN ABRAM WAINWRIGHT

It was a momentous day: the end of the Vietnam War, as it is known in other countries, and the first day of an independent, unified nation under the Communist government. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after North Vietnam's revolutionary leader.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the anniversary was to be marked with incense ceremonies, a special arts programme and a bicycle race anmong others.

But despite the official festivities, the topic remains divisive.

Nguyen Duc Gan, 67, was a North Vietnamese soldier during the war. He was taken prisoner in 1969 and kept in the notorious Phu Quoc island jail until the Paris Peace Accords in 1973.

"On April 30, 1975, I received the news from our commanding officers that Saigon was liberated while I was convalescing in a camp [outside Hanoi]. I was very happy at that time."

Gan says he believes the date should be celebrated, but in a way that would help Vietnam and the US become closer.

"We should not forget the past, we should remind young Vietnamese people about the loss of the war, but in a way that encourages young people to look at future."

He says the way the country has marked the day has changed over the years.

"State media do not talk much about the cruelty of soldiers from South Vietnam or the Americans, but focus on the bravery of northern soldiers.

This view rankles with some.

A sturdy-looking man with a strong Californian accent, who gave his name only as Thanh, was one of the hundreds of thousands of "boat people" who fled the country after the war.

He returns to Ho Chi Minh City sporadically to help poor veterans who fought for the South. He did not want to give his real name because he was concerned it would affect his chances of returning for another visit.

"I don't want to be here to see the official celebrations" on Thursday, he said. "For me and many others it is a very sad day. I will be back in the US then and will spend the day with some friends."

"South Vietnamese soldiers in general have been forgotten. Not just in Vietnam but overseas as well," says Nathalie Nguyen, a scholar from Monash University in Australia who has written about the experience of South Vietnamese veterans.

"From the point of view of the South, the North Vietnamese wanted the whole of Vietnam to be communist and the South resisted. This side of it hardly ever features in accounts of the war. It has been very much dominated by the United States. That's beginning to change slowly," she said.

"There was a whole generation of historians who very much dominated this aspect of the historiography. That's beginning to shift now. It's just distressing that for many of the veterans it's too late."

A photo made available 27 April 2015 shows Vietnam War photojournalist Tim Page as he visits the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 26 April 2015. EPA/LE QUANG NHAT

The government's partisan portrayal of history resonates with fewer people now, says political analyst and Vietnam expert Tuong Vu from the University of Oregon. This is partly because of the work of overseas Vietnamese who fled after the war.

"They are changing the minds of many Vietnamese about what the war was," he said. "At least part of it was civil war. They are persuading young Vietnamese, especially in south Vietnam, about that."

North Vietnamese veteran Gan says he believes it is not wrong to call it a civil war, but it was a civil war caused by foreign nations, not Vietnam.

"I think people still care about the anniversary of the end of the war now. It is one of the most important days of the nation. Without that day, there would be a no united Vietnam country now. Vietnam would be separated like North and South Korea."

Across the country veteran Hoang says life has been hard since the war ended. He spent nearly three years in a re-education camp and afterwards could not find a job at a state-run company.

"When you do paperwork at any official agency they won't do it for you. They say it's not enough, come back later. They won't say it's because you are a South Vietnamese soldier but I know that's the reason. The only paper I have is the re-education paper," he said.

"On April 30 I will feel sad because I am separate from normal people in society."

Reporting by Marianne Brown

BANGKOK — A Redshirt-run television station has been permanently canceled after Thai authorities decided its news coverage was politically divisive and could "incite unrest."

The decision was announced by Natee Sukonrat, deputy chairperson of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC), on his official Twitter account today. 

Redshirt leader Nattawut Saikua on Peace TV in January 2015. 

The station, called Peace TV, was previously suspended for a week in April after the NBTC said its news coverage violated the ruling junta's Order No. 97, which forbids media from fomenting violence or causing "divisions in the Kingdom."

The station, which is operated by the largely anti-coup Redshirt movement, often featured core Redshirt leaders like Jatuporn Prompan and Nattawut Saikua. 

NBTC member Natee said today that the channel violated its agreement not to air politically divisive content.

"The NBTC has carefully deliberated on the action and concluded that it is a repeated offense," Natee wrote on Twitter. 

However, another member of the NBTC also took to Twitter to voice her opposition to the board's decision to revoke Peace TV's license. Supinya Klangnarong said she was the lone member to vote against the measure.

In series of Twitter posts, Supinya explained that the NBTC can choose from a variety of punishments, such as suspending the offending talk shows. Yet, the NBTC "skipped" all other possible measures and shut down Peace TV for good, an punishment she called "disproportionate."

"I agree that, by principle, the NBTC should increase its effort to regulate TV channels to prevent the problem of reproducing hatred and incitement, but it should be proportionate," Supinya wrote. "We should not just jump from not using power to using power in the highest way."

According to Supinya, Peace TV has recently focused on discussing the draft of the new constitution, which was written by a junta-appointed body, and a car bomb in the southern island of Koh Samui last month. 

"From what I have listened, Peace TV does not use rude language like another channel that belongs to the same political group. The content may be seen as criticizing the state power with a skeptical viewpoint," Supinya wrote. 

Core Redshirt leader a co-founder of Peace TV Nattawut Saikua said he will appeal the NBTC's order in Administrative Court and seek an injunction. 

"Peace TV is a private organization that does its business legally," Nattawut wrote in an official statement. "This motion does not only affect the rights and liberty, but also affects business of the station. Therefore, our legal team is using legal channel to defend our station." 

He also said he believes the NBTC, which has yet to formaly notify the channel, has been plotting to shut down Peace TV from the beginning.

"It's like they gave us yellow card first to build some legitimacy for giving us red card later," Nattawut said. "I don't understand those in power right now. The current situation requires diverse opinions to benefit the drafting of the constitution and create reconciliation, but they end up blocking a channel that voices different opinions. It means the opinions of certain people that do not match those in power will be rejected. With thing like this happening, how could this country move to democracy?"

Both of Thailand’s Redshirt and Yellowshirt movements operate their own TV and radio channels featuring news programs and live broadcasts of their political rallies. Media agencies affiliated with the two groups played significant roles in the pro- and anti-government rallies last year that culminated in the May 2014 coup.

On 20 May 2014, then-army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha unilaterally imposed martial law and ordered all partisan media agencies to shut down. Two days later, the general staged a coup d'etat and toppled the Redshirt-backed government. 

The partisan media outlets were later allowed to resume operations under the conditions that they change the names of their stations and adhere to the junta's guidelines. The junta has also enforced a ban on political gatherings and protests in an effort to promote "national reconciliation." 

Critics say the junta is particularly bent on curbing the influence of the Redshirt movement, which has commanded the polls and elected majorities in congress in every national election for the past decade.