Free Republic

Vietnamese authorities have agreed to allow restricted access to the Long Tan site after negotiations with the Australian Government overnight. Access to the site is being limited to groups of 100 people or fewer. The Federal Government's Smart Traveller website advises that any visitors to the Battle of Long Tan site cannot wear medals or uniforms, carry banners or make speeches. The Vietnamese Government said the commemoration ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary remained cancelled. Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan, who yesterday described the last-minute cancellation as "a kick in the guts", said he was glad for the reprieve. "The...

A commemoration ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan in Vietnam has been cancelled. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Vietnamese authorities had cancelled Thursday's Veterans Day at the Long Tan cross site. The department said it understood private access to the site was still permitted and the advice of exercising normal safety precautions in Vietnam was still current. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement the Vietnamese government had advised it would not permit the ceremony to go ahead. An official party including the Australian and New Zealand ambassadors will still...

ON Wednesday night Harry Smith uncorked two bottles of fine red wine to celebrate the award of gallantry medals to his men for their role in the epic Battle of Long Tan. "The fat lady has finally sung," Smith told The Australian. ..... The main problem with the retrospective awarding of gallantry medals is deciding what point to stop, says historian Michael McKernan, former head of the Australian War Memorial. He warns of possible legal problems with awarding the Victoria Cross of Australia to World War I heroes, for example. ..... McKernan says it remains incomprehensible that 18-year-old Oerlikon gunner...

FORTY-TWO years after the Battle of Long Tan, Harry Smith's long campaign for due recognition for his men is over. Mr Smith and two fellow officers will get top gallantry awards for the 100-odd men of D Company 6 RAR who on August 18, 1966, fought against 1500 North Vietnamese regular troops and Viet Cong guerillas. This follows approval by the Rudd Government of the main recommendations of an independent review, by a panel of retired senior army officers, of the battle regarded as a classic study in the use of combined arms to defeat a superior enemy. It restores...

A LARGE contingent of Vietnam veterans, some cheery, some gruff, some wary, many by turns all three, and all grieving to a degree, has returned today to mark the 40th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan, where 18 men of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment died in defeating a much larger Vietnamese force. This is the event that, like Gallipoli and Kokoda, has become the symbol, the emotional touchstone, of a wretchedly long war. Singer John Schumann, who wrote his song, I was only 19 - the unofficial anthem for veterans, who are mostly aged about...

FRESH moves are under way to see that Australian soldiers involved in the Battle of Long Tan receive appropriate medals after almost four decades. Long Tan is the best remembered single incident of Australian involvement in Vietnam, an epic battle in which 100 diggers fought off more than 1500 Viet Cong (VC) soldiers. Seventeen died and 21 were wounded. Yet the Australian commander Major Harry Smith was recognised only with a Military Cross when the recommended award was a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) - second only to the Victoria Cross. Three platoon commanders were recommended for Military Medals but their...