‘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
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.