A special wreath-laying service will be held at the Cobram war memorial on August 18 at 9am to mark Vietnam Veterans’ Day, which recognises those who served and gave their lives in the Vietnam War.
Everyone is also invited by the Goulburn Valley Vietnam Veterans’ Association sub-branch to an 11am service in Shepparton at the war memorial there; the 11am wreath-laying ceremony at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance is also expected to be broadcast.
August 18 is the anniversary of the battle of Long Tan in 1966. On the same date in 1969, a 3m concrete cross was erected on the battleground but has since been relocated to permanent display at the Australian War Memorial.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first Australian troops landing in Vietnam; 30 Australian Army Training Team Vietnam members arrived in Saigon to help train and advise as part of the US Military Assistance Command Vietnam.
The government officially ended Australia’s involvement in the war on January 11, 1973 when then-Governor-General Paul Hasluck issued a proclamation to formally end hostilities; it followed a December 1972 announcement by the newly elected Labor Government to bring all troops home.
By that time, 60,000 Australians had served in the conflict, with 3129 people wounded and 512 killed.
January 11, 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of the formal end of hostilities, with a series of commemorative events expected around that time.
