Vic: Vietnam veterans "come out" at shrine remembrance

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Vic: Vietnam veterans "come out" at shrine remembrance

By Sue Green

MELBOURNE, Aug 18 AAP - About 5,000 Vietnam veterans and their families from aroundVictoria gathered at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance today for a ceremony their lobbygroup called a "coming out".

It drew 2,000 more participants than last year and included more than 100 Vietnam-born veterans.

At the same time similar ceremonies in state capitals and small towns around the countryalso marked Vietnam Veterans' Remembrance Day - a commemoration first declared by then-primeminister Bob Hawke in 1987.

Today's commemoration marked the 36th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan - an August18, 1966, battle in a South Vietnam rubber plantation in which 108 men of the 6th RoyalAustralian Regiment fought off an estimated 2,000 North Vietnamese regulars.

In Melbourne the veterans marched along the shrine forecourt, led by the Australian Army Band.

At a ceremony at the shrine steps they were addressed by Air Commodore Chris Beatty,now RAAF Commander of Training, and once a helicopter gunship flight leader in South Vietnam.

He paid tribute to the bravery of the Australian troops at Long Tan and to the morethan 500 Australians who died in the war.

Opposition to the Vietnam war meant that men such as those who fought at Long Tan wereshunned when they returned, some keeping their service a secret.

But Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia national president Brian McKenzie, todayat a ceremony in Burnie, Tasmania, told AAP many were now coming out of that self-imposedisolation.

"They are coming out in droves every year on August 18," he said.

"The more that come out, the more that can take part and can get help if they need it," he said.

Mr McKenzie said the day was also a chance for veterans to show that they were no longervictims and instead were achievers.

"It's also a day that they can remember and pay respects to the fellows that nevercame home," he said.

Federal Veterans' Affairs Minister Danna Vale called on all Australians to say "thankyou" and "we salute you" to the Vietnam veterans today.

A spokeswoman for Ms Vale said that although many Australians opposed Australia's participationin the war, they could still recognise the professionalism of the veterans who had goneto do their jobs.

"Everybody has their choice to decide how they feel about the Vietnam war.

"What she is saying is, these guys did a professional job and did what was asked ofthem and their service in that role should be recognised by all Australians," the spokeswomansaid.

Leo Powning, a Vietnam veteran who organised the Melbourne commemoration, said it wassignificant that numbers were still increasing.

Many veterans involved had only become active in such commemorations and in acknowledgingtheir role in the past five years, he said.

AAP sjg/gfr/cjh/br

KEYWORD: VIETNAM VIC