Call for veterans to get involved

VIETNAM veterans in Bacchus Marsh who have chosen to remain private are being encouraged to meet up with colleagues for a social lunch on Vietnam Veterans’ Day later this month.

The lunch will be held on Sunday 18 August at the Bacchus Marsh RSL in Main Street, after a remembrance ceremony. The event will start at 12pm and all Vietnam veterans and their families are welcome to attend.

The call for veterans who have preferred to remain unknown is being made by Vietnam veteran and RSL member Alf Hawken, who is reaching out unofficially.

“We had a lot of people who returned from Vietnam and never joined the RSL, and were upset with the world about how they were spat on – they were called baby-killers and whatever else – and chose not to associate with Vietnam vets at all,” Mr Hawken said.

“I’m trying to reach out to people who may live in the town, who may have come into the town, that have chosen not to be associated with other Vietnam vets, to come and join us on the day.”

Mr Hawken stressed there was no intention of recruiting veterans into the RSL.

“It’s just to come down, enjoy one another’s company,” he said.

“There’s no pressure whatsoever. (But) as the years go by, lots of people choose to forget.”

Mr Hawken said he had already arranged for a couple of local vets to attend.

He served in Vietnam in 1967 to 1968 as a member of 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, as a platoon medic.

On 18 August in 1966, the men of D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, alongside three New Zealanders from 161 Battery Royal New Zealand Artillery, encountered the enemy in a rubber plantation outside the village of Long Tan.

They faced a force of more 2000. Heavily outnumbered, D Company held fast for four hours, supported by artillery fire from Nui Dat, before reinforcements arrived.

Eighteen soldiers were killed, the largest loss of life on a single day for the Australians.