Hundreds of people came together in Geelong to honour and remember the men and women who served in the Vietnam War.
Vietnam Veterans Day on August 18 marked the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, one of the most significant conflicts for Australians who served during the Vietnam War.
Geelong and District Vietnam Veterans Association held its remembrance march and service a day early on August 17 from 11am at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in North Geelong.
President David Sikorski said the day honoured all Australian Vietnam Veterans and was an important time for the community to pay its respects.
“We gather to remember and honour the courage, sacrifice and resilience of over 61,000 Australian men and women who served during the Vietnam War,” he said
“Their sacrifices and challenges they endured are etched in our nation’s history, and it is our duty to ensure their legacy is remembered and honoured.
“59 years ago, on August 18, 1966, a company of 108 men from the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment faced overwhelming odds in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tan.
“Despite vastly being outnumbered with over 2000 North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops surrounding them, the Australian soldiers displayed extraordinary valor and determination.
“Their resilience and fighting spirit was instrumental in repelling the enemy forces, inflicting heavy casualties and ultimately securing a strategic victory.”
Mr Sikorski said this year also marked the 50th anniversary of establishing the Geelong and District Sub-branch, the “oldest known veterans’ association in Australia”.
Jim Murrell was conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War and served six months before he was injured and returned to Australia.
He said Vietnam Veterans Day was an important time for surviving veterans to remember their friends and comrades who had died during or after the war.
“During Vietnam Veterans Day, as it is with most vets, they think of their mates and particularly those that didn’t come back or those that have died since,” he said.
“For me, I wake up every morning, I take a breath of fresh air, I kick my legs over the side of the bed, I throw open the curtains and I look up into the sky and see the two fresh-faced 21-year-old mates who were killed either side of me.”
Close to 200 people gathered at the memorial as the Geelong Memorial Brass Band led a march down Swinburne Street.
The march was followed by presentations that remembered the fallen and shared stories from the war, as well as a wreath-laying ceremony and poppy drop.
Ocean Grove’s Vin Healy also performed The Mist of Long Tan alongside musician Matiss Schubert, a song inspired by an image of mud mist that rose after monsoonal rains.
