Rain forced Mapleton’s Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemoration indoors on Tuesday morning, 18th August. Despite the rain, about 50 people gathered in Mapleton Hall to remember those who served in one of Australia’s longest and most divisive military conflicts.
The service marked 60 years since the Battle of Long Tan, fought on 18 August 1966, and remembered the almost 60,000 Australians who served during Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In his commemorative address, Mapleton RSL member Colin Brewer returned to a simple question as he reflected on the Australians who did not come home. Imagining what one of those soldiers might ask of the country for which he had died, Brewer said: “Will they remember me?” It was a question that went to the purpose of the morning’s gathering.
Mapleton RSL President Matt Dykes welcomed those attending the 10am service before Colin delivered the address. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the RSL, Legacy, Blackall Range Lions and other community organisations.
A Battle in the Rain
The Battle of Long Tan began after Australian troops searching the area around their base at Nui Dat encountered a much larger enemy force.
D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, comprising 105 Australians and three New Zealand artillery observers, faced a force estimated at more than 2,000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops. The fighting took place in heavy tropical rain and continued for several hours. Artillery support, an ammunition resupply by RAAF helicopters and the eventual arrival of Australian reinforcements in armoured personnel carriers were crucial to D Company’s survival.
Colin Brewer described the battle from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. “The encounter between the two opposing forces was intense and deadly,” he said. Despite the instinct to escape the danger, he said, “each soldier remained steadfast and resolute within his own space and responsibility”. Colin went on to describe the overwhelming noise of gunfire and exploding ordnance, the close proximity of opposing forces and the difficulty of getting reinforcements to D Company. He recalled the armoured personnel carriers having to cross a flooded, fast-flowing waterway as they made their way towards the battle.
By the end of the battle, 17 Australians had been killed and 25 wounded. One of the wounded later died, bringing the Australian death toll to 18. Eleven of those who died were National Servicemen. Long Tan became one of the best-known Australian engagements of the Vietnam War and ultimately provided the date on which all Australian Vietnam veterans are now commemorated.
Why Australia Went to Vietnam
Australia’s involvement in Vietnam had begun four years before Long Tan, when the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam arrived in South Vietnam in 1962.
The decision was made against the background of the Cold War. Australian governments feared the spread of communism through South-East Asia and considered events in Vietnam a threat to regional security. Strengthening Australia’s strategic relationship with the United States was also an important consideration.
Combat troops followed in 1965 and Australia’s commitment grew to include Army, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy personnel. National servicemen were also sent to Vietnam. Conscription became one of the most contentious aspects of Australia’s involvement and contributed to increasingly large anti-war demonstrations at home.
Australia began withdrawing combat forces in 1970 and 1971, with its participation in the war formally declared at an end in January 1973. Almost 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam. More than 500 died and thousands were wounded.
Coming Home
For Colin, however, the story did not finish when Australian servicemen left Vietnam. He spoke about veterans returning with what he described as a reasonable expectation that their service would be recognised. “They had duty done, with courage and dedication,” he told the Mapleton gathering. Instead, some were confronted with “indifference and even hostility”.
The experience was not the same for every returning serviceman. Some units received formal homecoming parades, while others returned individually or in small groups. Some encountered hostility as public opposition to the war grew, while for others the absence of broader recognition contributed to a feeling that their service had been forgotten.
Colin spoke particularly about the difficulties faced by young National Servicemen returning to civilian life. They were expected, he said, to resume their previous employment and social lives almost immediately, “as if this life-changing experience had not happened”. For some, the adjustment was difficult. Colin spoke of veterans turning to alcohol and drugs and of families trying to support men whose experiences had changed them.
Recognition Came Slowly.
In 1987, about 22,000 Vietnam veterans marched through Sydney in a national Welcome Home Parade, watched by an estimated 100,000 people. The Vietnam Forces National Memorial was dedicated in Canberra five years later.
Vietnam Veterans’ Day itself grew from Long Tan Day, originally commemorated by veterans of the battle. In 1987, 18 August became a national day to recognise all Australians who served in Vietnam.
“We Will Remember Them”
At Mapleton Hall, the focus returned to remembrance. Denis Griggs delivered the Ode before the Last Post and a minute’s silence. The service concluded with the New Zealand national anthem, God Defend New Zealand, followed by Advance Australia Fair. After the formal service, the Blackall Range Lions Club provided morning tea, giving those attending a chance to stay and talk over refreshments.
Colin Brewer had ended his address with the promise at the heart of the commemoration. In remembering those who did not return, he said: “We said that we would remember them, and we will.” Sixty years after Long Tan, on a wet Tuesday morning in Mapleton, the answer to the question he had posed earlier was there in the hall.
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