Australia deployed more than 60,000 military personnel to Vietnam between 1962 and 1973, of whom 521 were killed. The Battle of Long Tan anniversary has become Australia’s official Vietnam Veterans Day. Photo: Australian War Memorial
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/2005140/kick-guts-australian-anger-vietnam-cancels-veterans-ceremony Southeast Asia
‘A kick in the guts’: Australian anger as Vietnam cancels veterans' ceremony for 1966 Battle of Long Tan
More than 1,000 veterans and their families have travelled to Vietnam to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic battle on Thursday
A reconstruction of the Battle of Long Tan, Vietnam, 18 August 1966, between 'D' Company and Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces. Image: Bruce Fletcher
Vietnam cancelled a long-arranged commemoration ceremony for Australian war veterans Wednesday in a move Canberra described as “a kick in the guts” that it is seeking to overturn.
More than 1,000 veterans and their families have travelled to Vietnam to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan on Thursday.
“We have been working with the Vietnamese government for over 18 months for this, towards making sure that this commemoration took place in a low-key, dignified and respectful way,” Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said.
“For us to be given such short notice of the cancellation is, to put it in very frank terms, a kick in the guts,” he said from Canberra.
The Battle of Long Tan took place on August 18, 1966 and was the most costly single battle fought by Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War. Seventeen Australians were killed in action and 25 wounded, one of whom later died from his injuries.
Tehan said he was bitterly disappointed at the decision which he said “should not have occurred”.
“My hope is that the Vietnamese government will overturn it,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was hoping to speak to his Vietnamese counterpart on the issue.
As commemorations marking Long Tan began in Australia, Tehan said Canberra had gone out of its way to ensure the Vietnam event was low-key.
“We understand that there are sensitivities still in Vietnam,” he said.
Tehan said it appeared the decision was based simply on the sensitivities relating to Long Tan, and did not relate to any other aspect of the relationship between Canberra and Hanoi.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs said while the Vietnamese authorities had cancelled the commemoration ceremony for Vietnam Veteran’s Day at the Long Tan Cross site on August 18, private access to the site may still be permitted.
Australian veteran Peter Taylor, who served in Vietnam in 1969-70 after the Battle of Long Tan and who organises battlefield tours in the region, said the decision came as a shock.
“We’ve only just found out,” he said by phone. “I just can’t believe it.”
“We do commemorations every year. There are about a thousand Australians who have come out for this one. There’s never been a problem before so we’re not sure what has happened.”
He said there was a planned gala dinner on Thursday night for about 600 people, including up to 80 Vietnamese veterans of the battle.
“It’s not just the Aussies, there are lots of Vietnamese who come out for these ceremonies. We have a very good relationship with them.”