Services were held around the nation on Friday to remember the nearly 60,000 Australian men and women who served in the Vietnam War.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Vietnam Veterans’ Day is held on August 18, which is the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan.
On that day in 1966, 105 Australians and three New Zealanders of D Company 6RAR were engaged in one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War.
Eighteen Australians lost their lives in the fierce battle in a rubber plantation, and afterwards 245 Viet Cong bodies were found.
More than 3000 Australians were wounded in the Vietnam War, and 521 were killed.
Vietnam Veterans Day services have been held at Veterans’ Memorial Park, Aberdare for 21 years.
The 2017 service was attended by members of the Cessnock and Kurri RSL Sub-branches and the local community.
Three lanterns were lit in honour of three local men who died in the Vietnam War – Errol Bailey, of Kurri Kurri; Richie Lloyd, of Weston, and Paul ‘Ziggy’ Trzecinski, of Maitland.
Cessnock RSL Sub-branch president Max Lewis said it was important to acknowledge all who served our country in Vietnam.
“All in all, we commemorate the 521 Australians killed, and the veterans that still suffer today,” he said.
