The Mapleton RSL Sub-branch conducted a memorial service on Sunday, August 18th, in the Mapleton Memorial Park to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day.
Under a perfect blue sky, the well attended service was opened by Mapleton RSL President, Matt Dykes, and the keynote address was delivered by Mapleton RSL Treasurer, Lloyd Anderson. The Blackall Range Lions Club provided morning tea following the service.
This event marks the anniversary of Australia’s most costly battle in the Vietnam war, the Battle of Long Tan. On 18 August 1966, D Company, Royal Australian Regiment, fought to defeat enemy forces in the Long Tan rubber plantation. The plantation was only a few kilometres from the 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat. D Company and New Zealanders from 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery, fought for almost 4 hours against soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army, who outnumbered them by 10 to 1.
In May 1968, Delta Company was awarded a US Presidential Citation ‘for extraordinary heroism’, one of only 2 Australian units to have received the decoration. Almost 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam from 1962 until 1975.