This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan.
On August 18, 1966, the men of Delta Company 6RAR fought a pitched battle against over 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in a rubber plantation not far from the small village of Long Tan. The 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers prevailed, but only after fighting in torrential rain for four hours.
Nearly overrun, D Company were saved by a timely ammunition resupply, accurate artillery fire from the nearby Australian base, and the arrival of reinforcements by armoured personnel carrier.
Of the Australians who fought, 18 lost their lives and 24 were wounded, the largest number of casualties in one operation since the Australian task force had arrived a few months earlier.
The Battle of Long Tan itself developed as a consequence of Viet Cong mortaring of the Australian Task Force compound. This, together with intelligence reports indicating that several Viet Cong units were close by, galvanised a rapid Australian response. Company-sized groups were ordered to search the surrounding area around the Nui Dat Base with the aim of locating and neutralising the threat.
The names of the dead are inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance in this War Memorial, along with more than 500 regular and national service sailors, soldiers and airmen who also went to Vietnam and did not return. We continue to honour their memory and the supreme sacrifice they made when their country called.
Over time, all Vietnam veterans adopted the day as one to commemorate those who served and died in Vietnam.
In 1987, following the very successful Welcome Home parade for Vietnam veterans in Sydney, Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced that Long Tan Day would be known as Vietnam Veterans’ Day. Since then, it has been commemorated every year as the day on which the service of all those men and women who served in Vietnam is remembered.