Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

It is an honour to speak on this issue today and it is a day when we recall not just the events of this very significant battle in the Vietnam War but commemorate the entire service of our men and women in the Vietnam War. It is in that spirit that I would like to draw attention to the range of experiences of the people who served in and survived that conflict. Those who came back injured, of course, are often forgotten among the stories of the casualties who did not come back, those who were killed in action. But those who did come back suffered horrendously in relation to the disabilities they acquired. In that conflict so many more survived to live on than in previous conflicts because the battlefield service of our medical services was so good in Vietnam. But they lived with horrendous injuries nevertheless. In fact I was recruited by Brigadier Billy Rolfe, who lost both legs in Vietnam and still went on to make a great deal of his life afterwards. He became a brigadier in the Army, he was a well-known rugby fanatic who coached teams, and he went on and got himself a law degree as well. He was typical of that spirit, the veteran who was not going to be defeated by such horrendous injuries. Quite often in the past those injuries would have led to death in the battlefield, but so many Vietnam veterans did come home to fight that battle.

For those who did not come back to the Army there was a real problem. They went back to a community that, in large degree, either ignored or vilified them. There was either apathy or actual aggression. Both sides of politics let these veterans down. For them it was particularly tough. To endure the things that they had had to endure and to perform their duty in the way they had had to perform it and then not to have support from their community was particularly psychologically devastating. I think we have all learned the lessons of that period. In the case of veterans who now return from conflicts such as Iraq, where there was also controversy, everyone across the spectrum has learned that you do not take out these issues on the veterans. It is the political masters who have to answer for making such decisions.

I think those who came back and stayed in the Army had an easier time because they were respected and admired within the Army for their service and for what they had accomplished. The Army that I joined—in terms of the key ingredients, the key bones and sinews and intellect that drove our organisation during my early service—was shaped and driven and influenced by that core of Vietnam veterans that fleshed out the entire organisation. I benefited enormously from the training that I received from those veterans. The training that they provided me helped me survive through the deployments that I went on to serve in, but the whole organisation benefited. The received wisdom that was passed down through the generations that have served since is still there in our Army and it has enabled us to serve well in similarly complex operational environments—these counterinsurgency environments. When we went to Somalia with the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, the very first thing Lieutenant General David Hurley, who is now our Chief of the Defence Force, said was, 'Well, this looks to me like a counterinsurgency type of environment.' And he went on to apply all of those intuitive things that he had learned at the hands of the Vietnam veterans who had trained us. I pay tribute to all of them who put me through the mill at Battle Wing in Land Warfare Centre, Canungra, where of course most of those Vietnam veterans also did their predeployment training to go to Vietnam.

So I think they coped better when they were in the Army, in an organisation that valued their service. But then there were the families of those who came back who did not have that support. The families certainly endured a great deal in living with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and we should really acknowledge all that they went through over the many years that they had to cope with those psychological issues and other, physical, issues that their family members came back with. Their support for their people and their sacrifice on behalf of this nation as well, not only for those who lost their lives but for those they had to support, is certainly something that we should acknowledge as well as part of the commemoration of this day. We do need to have a better understanding of the day itself. It took a long time before we really appreciated the full strategic and tactical importance of this battle. Delta Company, only a company-strength unit, took on two manoeuvre units of the enemy—the Vietcong 275th Regiment, which itself was composed largely of regulars from the north and the famous, or infamous, D445 battalion of local force Vietcong. So two large manoeuvre units confronted a subunit, the Delta Company, of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. As has been pointed out, they were vastly outnumbered. One thing that strikes you as you read about this battle, or if you see the transcripts or hear the recordings of the radio telephone traffic that took place during the battle, is that you really appreciate the professionalism of these soldiers. Through the incredible stress of what was going on, they maintained their discipline and their professionalism in directing the fire support that they received was first class, and was what actually saved the members of the unit who were able to survive the battle.

In that respect, I pay tribute today particularly to the New Zealanders who supported our troops—the 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery—and to the service that Captain Morrie Stanley rendered that day. Morrie, unfortunately, passed away on 16 September last year. He was a tremendous professional but also a really fine man. He had tremendous empathy for the soldiers whom he was trying to support. You can see that if you watch the very fine documentary that the Foxtel company produced on this battle. I am so glad that we have that oral history of Morrie, since he left us last year. It was a poignant moment for other veterans of the battle who were able to see him in hospital and hand over to him the decorations that we were able to obtain in recognition of what this battle actually meant.

This battle for appropriate recognition was a long-fought battle, particularly by Harry Smith, on behalf of his soldiers over many years. It was only recently that we understood that the efforts of Delta Company in fact saved the 1st Australian Task Force, which at that time was still establishing itself. This was a concerted effort by the enemy to annihilate the task force. Not only did Delta Company and the supporting elements achieve the success that they did and defeat that objective; also, through the overwhelming casualties that were caused to the enemy, they really devastated them to the extent that they were not able to mount such an effort ever again in Phuoc Tuy province. As a result, we were able to contribute to other efforts elsewhere.

This battle for appropriate recognition is something that is a bit of a shame on this country. I am so pleased that we were finally able to bring that to conclusion. Certainly, we know that the quota system, the system that applied at the time, really denied some of the key players of that battle the recognition that they deserved, such as Harry Smith whose award recommendation was downgraded. So we were able to give him the Star of Gallantry and, similarly, second lieutenants Geoff Kendall and Dave Sabben had their decorations upgraded to the Medal of Gallantry. Subsequent to that, we established the Honours and Awards Tribunal, which looked after a few other unfinished business elements of the battle, such as in relation to Cliff Dohle, one of the Iroquois pilots awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts, and of course the overall awarding of the Unit Citation for Gallantry to Delta Company. They were of course, back in 1968, acknowledged by President Johnson with the Presidential Unit Citation, which I know the unit wears with pride.

An element of controversy was the South Vietnamese intention towards Delta Company. I was able to get together with Paul Ham, the Vietnam War historian, to get to the bottom of this issue. We were able to uncover diplomatic traffic that clearly indicated that it had been the intention of the South Vietnamese government to award the Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation to that unit. At the time the Australian government rejected that offer and instead members of the unit were given dolls by the Vietnamese, which as you will appreciate did not quite reflect the significance of their efforts. So we were able to clarify that and the members of the unit were awarded that Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation as well. We have managed to clear up a lot of unfinished business from the years when this was a running sore for people like Harry Smith. I know Harry was not able to get to the award ceremony on 18 August that the Governor-General attended, but Harry has been acknowledged by all his soldiers for the massive effort that he has put in over the years on their behalf. Harry, we really salute you.

It has been a real privilege for me to have known and had many conversations with Harry, as it has been for me to have known so many of the veterans of this battle—guys like Bob Buick, who I spoke to on the phone only a few days ago. I met many of them at the famous Sporties Bar at 6RAR when I was playing rugby for 6RAR. We won the premiership and these veterans would always turn up to Sporties and share their stories with us—a great bunch of blokes; fantastic people.

Probably the most poignant and satisfying moment of my time in politics has been the mission to Vietnam that we went on to bring back the remains of Michael Herbert and Robert Carver, the last two of our service people missing in action in Vietnam, members of No. 2 Squadron, Magpie squadron, flying Canberra bombers. I went over there with a good friend, Alan Curr, who served with both of them, and with me in Timor. It was an incredibly emotional experience travelling over there with the families and veterans of the unit to bring our last two back. In effect, it is mission accomplished, in that we did not leave anybody behind.

At the same time, dealing with the Vietnamese authorities really brought a lot of issues home to us. They were so welcoming, generous and warm hearted in how they received us and the families. It was a tremendous experience, but the poignancy of it was emphasised by the fact that they still have 300,000 of their own missing in action from that war. It is a great source of pride to me that today Australians are assisting the Vietnamese to locate those who are missing in action in battlefields that we served on, and that we have the records and the technical capability to assist them. This is one of the things that is forming a wonderful bond between our two countries now. Something beautiful has actually grown from this horrendous experience. Thousands of Australian students travel to Vietnam, and many Australian tourists as well, and many Vietnamese come to learn and study in Australia. So a wonderful bond and thread has grown up—and also amongst the veterans of both sides in the dealings they have with each other.

Obviously, how we address the situation with the mental health issues that they face is something we have been trying to move on with. I am very pleased that we have had the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training program, which we have put $1 million towards, and that we have introduced the comprehensive mental health 'lifecycle' package. This fell out of the improve mental health studies that we instituted, and $92 million has been allocated for the implementation of both those studies. These are some of the things that need to be done to respond to the issues that emerge from these conflicts, and a lot more is still necessary.

I will finish by talking about the importance of maintaining the lessons from that war. All of my career has been basically in a counterinsurgency style environment, and all of those lessons that were taught to us by those Vietnam veterans remain relevant today. I am really pleased that finally we have managed to institutionalise that cultural and historical experience by now creating the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence, which is based out at Queanbeyan. This takes the lessons that we need to learn from counterinsurgency and emphasises that the types of environments and conflicts we are facing in Afghanistan are not just military. They are social, economic and political issues and they all have to be addressed at the same time and meshed with a cohesive strategy.

Having recently spent a week on the ground in Afghanistan, I am delighted to see the impact of that strategy. That reorientation of our approach is really starting to take effect marvellously on the ground in Oruzgan Province, which is recognised by the other contingents in Afghanistan and by the Regional Commander South, who has emphasised that Oruzgan is the model that others should emulate if they are to achieve success in Afghanistan. So the spirit, the experience and the service of these veterans from Vietnam lives on in what our troops today are doing on the ground in Afghanistan. I salute what they gave to me and what they gave to the country. It is a proud tradition, a proud record and a proud experience which we should continue to honour in every way possible.

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