VETERANS HONOURED
THE red and the yellow colours of South Vietnam were proudly on display alongside the Australian flag at yesterday’s Long Tan Day ceremony.
Members of the Vietnamese Community in Australia Queensland Chapter made the drive up the range from Brisbane yesterday to take part in Toowoomba’s Long Tan Day commemorations.
Held each year on August 18, the day serves to remember one of the bloodiest battles involving Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War.
On that afternoon in 1966, a single infantry company of 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers encountered and fought off a regiment of some 2500 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops.
St Ursula’s College grade 11 student Grace Bowman gave the guest speech, reflecting on what the Vietnam War meant to her and others of her age.
“Although I was not born until the turn of the 21st century, the ripple effect of this conflict still filters into my life and that of my peers today,” she said.
“Our main job, as a generation twice removed from the Vietnam War, is to not only embody the values that the veterans epitomised, but pay our respects to the service, sacrifice and suffering that the grandfathers and grandmothers of our country endured.
“As the future of this country, we are obliged to protect the legacy and memory that has been given to us.”
More than 100 people turned out for the Long Tan Day service at the Toowoomba Vietnam Memorial next to Queens Park.
Members of the 13th Australian Army Cadet Unit formed the catafalque party.