This year marks the 50th anniversary of Australia’s withdrawal from the Vietnam war.
From 1962 to 1973 more than 60,000 Australians served in the conflict alongside United States and South Vietnamese troops to repel the Vietcong, a communist-led insurgent force supported by the North Vietnamese Army.
In 1964, the National Service Act introduced a scheme of selective conscription in Australia designed to create an army of 40,000 full-time soldiers. Many of them were sent on active service to Vietnam where sadly 521 Australians died and around 3000 were wounded.
Vietnam Veterans’ Day will be commemorated at war memorials in both Yamba and Maclean at 11am on Friday August 18, a date that recalls the Battle of Long Tan where, in 1966, Australian infantry and cavalry supported by New Zealand and US artillery held out against a superior enemy force.
Following its Service, the Maclean RSL sub-Branch is inviting veterans and their immediate family to attend a light lunch at the Maclean Bowling Club.
Steve Walton