Around 120 people gathered at Ballina’s cenotaph today to honour Vietnam veterans and mark 60 years since one of Australia’s most famous battles.

Veterans stood alongside widows and families of servicemen who have since died, serving Defence Force members and younger generations for the annual Vietnam Veterans Day commemoration.

This year carried particular significance, falling exactly 60 years after the Battle of Long Tan on August 18, 1966.

Ballina RSL Sub-Branch secretary Michael Wright told the gathering the day was deliberately known as Vietnam Veterans Day rather than a celebration of victory.

“Today is about the veterans and their family,” he said.

He said Vietnam veterans had also led the fight for many of the benefits and entitlements subsequently received by Australian veterans.

RSL Sub-Branch president Jamie Tanner said many of the Australians sent to Vietnam between 1962 and 1975 had not chosen to go.

“The government told them to go,” he said.

“They did.”

Mr Tanner said younger generations of veterans should also recognise the work Vietnam veterans had done after returning home to secure better recognition and support for those who served.

Ballina RSL Sub-Branch Secretary Michael Wright and President Jamie Tanner

Bill Moore, who served in the RAAF in Vietnam with Youth Ambassadors Olivia Flanagan and Ava Cribb

Phil Chapman, Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and Matt McMahon

Remembering Long Tan

Vietnam veteran and former Ballina RSL Sub-Branch president Bill Moore delivered a commemorative address tracing Australia’s involvement in the war and the events at Long Tan.

On August 18, 1966, D Company, 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, fought a vastly larger enemy force in a rubber plantation near the Australian base at Nui Dat.

Mr Moore recalled how the Australians fought for four hours in a tropical downpour, supported by artillery, an ammunition resupply and eventually reinforcements in armoured personnel carriers.

Eighteen Australians ultimately died as a result of the battle.

Mr Moore said more than 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, with 523 dying as a result of the war and almost 2400 wounded.

For many, however, the battle did not end when they came home.

“Many returning service personnel met a hostile reception for their homecoming,” he said.

Some subsequently suffered the long-term effects of post-traumatic stress and chronic illness.

A new generation remembers

One of the most moving contributions came from Ballina RSL Youth Ambassador Olivia Flanagan, who reflected on the experience of Australians who went to Vietnam when they were not much older than she is today.

She said the anniversary was an opportunity to remember not only those who served, but the families and loved ones who stood alongside them.

“Your service mattered,” she told the veterans.

“As a representative of the youth of our community, I am forever grateful for your service, the time, health and youth you gave, and for those who never returned.”

Mr Tanner said there were lessons for today’s veterans in the experiences of the Vietnam generation — and particularly in the role their families played when servicemen returned home carrying physical and psychological injuries.

“To those that served in Vietnam, I say thank you,” he said.

“To those families that stood by your veterans and helped them through their darkest times, I say thank you.”

Wreaths were laid during the Ballina ceremony by representatives of the RSL, Ballina Shire, serving Defence personnel, service associations, youth ambassadors and members of the community.

The service concluded with a reminder from Mr Wright that Vietnam Veterans Day was not only about remembering those who had died.

“It’s important that we don’t forget,” he said.

“We’re here to remember, but also to celebrate those who continue to serve and to remind us of the sacrifice that they continue to make.”

And, he said, that sacrifice extended beyond those who wore the uniform to the families who stood behind them.

Main photo: Eddie Cudd lays a wreath at the cenataph with Colleen and Dick Wills OAM