Today our nation will pause to mark Vietnam Veterans\u2019 Day, the key commemoration in this 50th anniversary year of the end of Australia\u2019s involvement in the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thousands of Australians will gather at the Vietnam Forces Memorial in Canberra, and across the country, to honour the service and sacrifice of our Vietnam veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 18 August 1966, Australians and New Zealanders were outnumbered 10 to one in the battle of Long Tan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the single greatest loss of life Australia suffered during the Vietnam War – 18 Australians were killed and 24 were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the years that followed, Vietnam veterans gathered to commemorate those lost at Long Tan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now we gather on 18 August each year to mark Vietnam Veterans\u2019 Day, paying tribute to all those who served in Australia\u2019s longest conflict of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
60,000 Australian personnel served in Vietnam over more than a decade, which sadly resulted in 523 lives lost, and some 3,000 wounded. For their service, and the sacrifices of their families, we say thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis year, as we mark the 50th anniversary since the role of Australian troops in the hostilities in Vietnam came to a close, we acknowledge the service and sacrifice made by our veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTheir experiences during and after the war are a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by those who have served our country and the debt of gratitude we owe each and every one of our veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany of our troops returned to face new battles at home and not every one of those battles was won \u2013 it is important as Australians we know the stories of service in Vietnam and what our veterans faced when returned home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe honour you, we thank you and we are so sorry it took us so long as a nation to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we speak of the Anzac spirit, we speak of having your mates’ backs, no matter how dire the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut when our veterans returned home from Vietnam many felt unsupported, unrecognised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn marking 50 years since the end of Australia\u2019s involvement in Vietnam, we honour and thank all those who served, and the sacrifices of their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have made your nation proud.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today our nation will pause to mark Vietnam Veterans\u2019 Day, the key commemoration in this 50th anniversary year of the end of Australia\u2019s involvement in the Vietnam War. Thousands of Australians will gather at the Vietnam Forces Memorial in Canberra, and across the country, to honour the service and sacrifice of our Vietnam veterans. On … Continue reading “COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF AUSTRALIA\u2019S INVOLVEMENT IN THE VIETNAM WAR”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22393,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22392\/revisions\/22393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}