Film long overdue: veteran
STANLEY Hodder, 73, of Ayr, was 20 years old when he answered the call to serve his country and was deployed to Vietnam.
He was part of D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, which faced up to 2500 Viet Cong on August 18, 1966.
Mr Hodder said an Australian film telling the story uniquely from an Australian perspective about the Battle of Long Tan was “beyond overdue” with previous failed attempts.
“They’ve tried to incorporate as much as what happened. I met the producer down south outside of Kingaroy and I told him he could not make enough noise,” he said. “The
stepping off from the bottom rungs … it was good filming, there was no ego.” The battle scenes were filmed in Kingaroy, with the last four weeks of the eight-week production filmed on the Gold Coast. artillery was atrocious … they’ve made it pretty loud.”
Mr Hodder attended the premiere of Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan last night with his children and grandchildren, hoping the film might bring some insight to the public about what the Australians endured.
“I haven’t really spoken about it to my children, it’s not something you bring up, and they know it was a big event over the years,” he said.
“You just don’t talk about what you see.”
Mr Hodder said 6RAR was a highly trained unit, and thought it was the right decision that he and other veterans were consulted about their experiences during filming.
“I was very pedantic just making sure all the little things were correct, the movements of my fingers on the trigger … you just want to make sure you’re checking and doing it all right,” Abbey-young said.
“A lot of people got to meet the actual guys they were playing. Ron lost his best mate in the battle, so he’s pretty closed off from it, it’s very traumatic.
“I sent a message to his daughter saying I hoped the movie provided some consolation that we’re telling their story.”
The director of Danger Close, Kriv Stenders, also directed Red Dog, one of Abbey-young’s favourites.
“It’s amazing when you look into how much time and effort and years of dedication went into getting this off the ground,” he said.
“From every single person from the big dogs to the little guys, just to be a part of this is a big thing, it’s very rewarding.
“This is a great piece of Australian storytelling and I’m so bloody lucky to be part of it.”
Abbey-young said he thought the film would resonate with Australians.
“I really think a lot of people are going to enjoy it, it’s an important event in our military history,” he said.