Amid a swirl of incense and Buddhist prayers at the Perfume Pagoda, Nguyen Cao Ky finally got the homecoming both he and Vietnam's communist leaders had longed for.
Now 74, the former head of the American-backed Saigon government, known for his ruthlessness, his womanising and his fervent anti-communism, had returned to his hometown to make peace with himself and the victors of war.
"Today, back here, it's just coming home," said Ky, trim and sprightly and still sporting his trademark moustache.
"Vietnam is now unified. Vietnam is a country - unfortunately a very poor country in the world community - so I think it's a duty and a responsibility of all Vietnamese, whether in Vietnam or overseas, to forget about the past."
It's a message Ky has been sounding since his historic return to Saigon, renamed Ho Chi Minh City, in mid-January.
And it has won over the Hanoi government against which he swore to defend Saigon before fleeing by helicopter on the eve of the city's fall.
The rehabilitation of Ky, who for nearly 30 years railed against Hanoi from his adopted American homeland, was symbolically completed when he travelled north to his hometown and former enemy country.
"Everything is perfect," smiled Ky after a yellow-robed monk led his family in a private prayer ceremony at the Perfume Pagoda, 60 km (37 miles) south-west of Hanoi, the spot where his mother had implored Buddha for a son.
Curious onlookers crowded around a meeting between the temple's head monk and the former fighter pilot whose pistol-packing, skirt-chasing past is remembered far better than his two years at the helm of the Saigon government from 1965.
Most were too young to remember Ky and the 1963 coup in which he helped overthrow South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem.
"I recognise him from VTV," said an excited 24-year-old Huong, who gave only her first name, referring to the state broadcaster.
Vietnam is embracing its three million "Viet Kieu", or overseas diaspora, for their expertise and earnings. The community remits more than $2 billion each year, much-needed funds to fuel economic growth averaging seven percent a year.
A third of Vietnam's 80 million people still live in poverty, forcing it to depend on development aid from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and a host of governments.
After years of political and economic isolation, Vietnam is also seeking global acceptance. Part of that mission is winning the hearts and minds of ethnic Vietnamese scattered overseas.
Last year, government officials made a series of visits to America, home to some of the most embittered Viet Kieu. During meetings with Ky, the foundation was laid for his return.
Any doubts about the official views of Ky were doused when a local newspaper ran a photograph of the former prime minister, his wife and daughter posing with the head of the Communist Party umbrella organisation, the Fatherland Front.
In the background, but clearly visible over the shoulder of the party official, is a bust of Ho Chi Minh, the country's revered revolutionary leader who unified north and south.
Ky is also painting himself as a unifier.
He dismissed bitter criticism from some Vietnamese war veterans, dissidents and fellow overseas Vietnamese that he has sold out.
On his return home, he has reconnected with old war buddies in the south, high school classmates in Hanoi and toured the sights of the northern province of Ha Tay where he was born.
He has talked to fellow Viet Kieu, sat in coffee shops, played rounds of golf and attended an endless round of new year "Tet" banquets with officials and organisations.
Ky flatters the government by saying Vietnam is set to become Asia's "dragon" economy. He also says political reform will come naturally after the economy is on a sounder footing.
In Vietnam, Hoang Minh Chinh, a veteran critic of Hanoi, accused Ky of "selling out his conscience", Radio Free Asia reported.
Ky makes no apologies about his role during the conflict Vietnam calls the "American War" and thinks his trip may heal wounds, not reopen them.
He thinks his critics in America "will treat me better because they now maybe understand me better with this trip, and I hope that those against me will become my new friends".
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