Originally the French governor's palace; then Norodom Palace; then Independence Palace; the magnificent original French building was knocked down to make way for Reunification Palace; which was built on the same site between 1962 -66. It is today a famous landmark in Ho Chi Minh City and a popular museum and tourist attraction. The present building was designed by architect Ngo Viet Thu and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the US-Vietnam War. It was famously the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30; 1975; when a North Vietnamese army tank crashed through its gates and a soldier triumphantly hoisted a National Liberation Front flag on its roof.