Last Tuesday, the Orbost SubBranch of the RSL held a Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemoration ceremony.
It marked the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan.
SubBranch Chaplain Bevil Lunson recited two prayers to the approximately two dozen people who attended.
A recording of I Was Only Nineteen – A Walk in the Light Green by Redgum was played.
SubBranch president Carl Turney delivered the following address:
“Who served Australia in the Vietnam war?”
“Between 1962 and 1973: Over 60,000 Australian service men and women served in Vietnam. Approximately 3,000 were wounded. And 521 lost their lives.”
“Among those 60,000 who served: Nearly a third (19,000) were ‘Nashos’ or national servicemen, conscripted into the military.”
“And of the 521 who died: Almost 40 per cent (200) were ‘Nashos’.”
“Our service personnel in Vietnam came from families who had come here recently, and had lived here for countless generations.”
“Those who served and sacrificed even included non-naturalised Australian residents, and British subjects living here.”
“Warren Mundine’s brother ‘Zeke’, along with all Australian indigenous soldiers, were treated as brothers, as comrades in arms.”
“Some Aussies were eager to serve, and others served against their will. Some believed in a god, others in multiple gods, and still others in no god at all. Some felt our participation was noble and worthwhile, while others considered it a counterproductive folly.”
“No matter your background, beliefs, gender or politics … People just like you served and sacrificed, and will do so in our future. They came from all walks of life.”
“Why did Australia enter the Vietnam War?”
“The government at the time openly admitted a desire to strengthen strategic relations with the United States.”
“We even adopted the American saying ‘All the way with LBJ’.”
“To make it more popular, the singer Normie Rowe was conscripted, even though his birthday did not come up in the draw.”
“This was all motivated by US concerns about the so-called ‘Domino Effect’, which held that if North Vietnam defeated the South, Communism would spread across all of South-East Asia.”
“Thus Australia, as an ally of the United States, with obligations under the ANZUS Pact, became involved in the Vietnam War.”
“Additionally, the conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia over Borneo in 1964 was the driving force behind the introduction of national service (conscription) here. The fear that the conflict could spread to Indonesia’s border with Papua New Guinea was seen at the time as a critical threat to our national security.”
“You have obligations, as citizens, to those who have served.”
“A covenant, in its most general and historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action.”
“By custom and culture, when a nation sends its military into conflict, there is a relationship of reciprocal obligation: The service men and women risk their lives, their health, and their very sanity for their nation.”
“Our country, in return, must honour, support, care for, and respect those guardians of our freedoms and our very lives.”
“This is as sacred and precious a relationship as is possible, between an individual and their society.”
“As well as our obligations to the service personnel of past wars, we have an equal obligation to those in our future conflicts.”
“Our ongoing obligation includes this: That we only allow our political masters to send Australians into harm’s way, when it is absolutely necessary for our nation’s defence, and after all other ways of resolving that threat have been exhausted.”
“Not to punish a country. Not to impress an ally. Not to impose our culture, economics, or religion on another sovereign nation.”
“How to best fulfil your moral obligations, on this? Never think of our military as faceless and nameless other Aussies.”
“Imagine sending your own son or daughter into a field of battle.”
“Consider condemning your own brother or sister to a post-traumatic-stress-disorder self-inflicted death.”
“Envision taking up a weapon, and fighting a life or death duel against another, yourself. Are the reasons really that compelling now?”
“The greatest sin we can commit upon those who have served us, is to allow their counterparts in the future to suffer or die unnecessarily – due to our passivity, our opinions or our whims.”
“Shortly after WWII, the U.S. general Douglas MacArthur said: ‘The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war’.”
“Please, let us give our deepest appreciation to those who served us during Vietnam, and continue to learn all that we possibly can, from that conflict.”
“Lest we forget.”
