Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tomorrow, 18 August, is the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. To commemorate the occasion, services will be held in my electorate of Makin at Henderson Square at Pooraka and at the Tea Tree Gully RSL Memorial Garden. Being in Canberra, I will be unable to attend those services, but I will be represented at both of them by members of my staff. On Sunday, 21 August, I will, however, attend the annual service organised by the Vietnam Veterans Day Council of South Australia at the Torrens Parade Ground in Adelaide, as I have done for several years.

The Battle of Long Tan was fought between the Australian Army and Viet Cong forces in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tan in South Vietnam. During the battle, 108 soldiers from D Company of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, fought off an assault by an estimated 2,500 Vietnamese troops. The battle claimed the lives of 18 Australians, whilst 27 other soldiers were wounded. At least 245 Vietnamese were also killed.

In Henderson Square, located in the Montague Farm Estate within Pooraka, a special Vietnam War memorial was established several years ago. On the initiative of Fred Pritchard, himself a Vietnam veteran, who project managed the development of the estate in the 1990s, Montague Farm has been dedicated to Australians who served and died in the Vietnam War. Of the 501 Australian servicemen killed in the Ten Thousand Day War, 62 were from South Australia, and the majority of them have been recognised in the naming of the streets and reserves in the Montague Farm Estate. Henderson Square is named in memory of Warrant Officer Malcolm Henderson, who passed away on 16 December 1967.

I note that in this week's edition of the Leader Messenger, the local newspaper, the vice-president of the Tea Tree Gully RSL and Vietnam veteran, Malcolm Love, who I am sure will not mind me referring to him as a mate, was quoted:

"No one does say much about Vietnam … but I saw enough for it to have a pretty big impact on my life.

"We might not talk about it but we all know what it was like and we take comfort from that.

"We support one another and look after one another."

The bond that these Vietnam veterans share is uniquely strong. It is easy to forget today that there was considerable opposition in the 1960s to the Vietnam War and, indeed, to the notion of conscription. Many of those Australians who served in Vietnam were national servicemen. In March 1966 the government announced that national servicemen would be sent to Vietnam to fight in units of the Australian Regular Army and for secondment to American forces. Despite this, many former national servicemen I have come to know now see their national service as a positive phase in their lives.

Just as our remembrance of World War I centres on the Gallipoli landing on 25 April, for the Vietnam War it has become centred on the Battle of Long Tan. Not only is this battle significant because of the courage the 100-plus young Australian men displayed fighting off a regimental assault; it also had a considerable impact on the war as it allowed the Australian Army to gain dominance over Phuoc Tuy Province.

This week, 45 years after the Battle of Long Tan, former members of D Company, 6RAR, will receive a Unit Citation for Gallantry. The current generation of 6RAR are continuing a proud tradition and have recently returned from serving the nation in Afghanistan. Several 6RAR solders will receive individual medals for their efforts during their recent eight-month deployment. When you consider that the late American President Lyndon Baines Johnson awarded D Company 6RAR the US Presidential Unit Citation in 1968, one could argue that the official recognition within Australia is long overdue. The words contained in the late president's citation conjure up a strong image of what the young Australian soldiers endured 45 years ago. I quote from the citation:

The enemy maintained a continuous, intense volume of fire and attacked repeatedly from all directions. Each successive assault was repulsed by the courageous Australians. Heavy rainfall and a low ceiling prevented any friendly close air support during the battle.

After three hours of savage attacks, having failed to penetrate the Australian lines, the enemy withdrew from the battlefield carrying many dead and wounded, and leaving 245 Viet Cong dead forward of the defence position of D Company.

Last year the last two Australian missing personnel from the Vietnam War, Pilot Officer Robert Carver and Flying Officer Michael Herbert, were brought home. It was an important closure to the war, which ended nearly 40 years ago but which has not been forgotten by those who served there. To quote a Vietnam veteran, 'I left Vietnam in 1970, but Vietnam never left me.' Tonight I take this opportunity to recognise our Vietnam veterans. (Time expired)