Geelong to host Vietnam War commemoration

VICTORIA’S Vietnam Veterans will gather in Geelong this May to commemorate the 55th anniversary of one of Australia’s longest-running fights in the Vietnam war.

Two newly established Australian bases outside of Saigon sustained an almost month-long attack from local Vietnamese forces in 1968, fights that president of the Geelong and District Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (GDVVAA) Graham Christie said later became known as “the longest, largest, bloodiest battles by Australian in the entire Vietnam War.”

Mr Christie said the service at North Geelong’s Vietnam War Memorial on the Melbourne Road will be a fitting location given the site’s “formidable” salute to all that served in the war.

“All Victorian Vietnam Veterans are genuinely welcomed – with an obvious focus on those who served at Coral and Balmoral – for together we strengthen the ties of our service,” he said.

Mr Christie said commemorations will align with previous services held at the cenotaph in Bendigo in 20221 and 2022, and invitations have been extended to Victorian parliamentarians, distinguished guests, first responders, local clergy and nurses “who on the day prior address International Nurses Day”.

The 1968 battles at Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral in the Bien Hoa and Binh Duong Provinces lasted from May 12 to June 6, during which eight Victorians were killed in action.

Six were National Servicemen, whose names were picked via the conscription lottery that sent people to serve based on their birthdate.

The commemorations start at dawn (6am) on May 13, on the corner of Swinburne Street and Melbourne Road, North Geelong.