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14 August, 2025
Service to remember Vietnam veterans
THOSE who made the ultimate sacrifice will be remembered at a ceremony in Terang next week as part of Vietnam Veterans Day commemorations.
The Terang Returned and Services League (RSL) sub-branch will next week host a service for Vietnam Veterans Day on Monday, August 18 from 5pm at the Terang RSL Hall.
The day is held on the 59t h anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan – which remains among the bloodiest conflicts Australian soldiers have endured.
The battle took place at the Long Tan rubber plantation when a company of 108 Australian soldiers withstood assault from an estimated 2000 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces over a three-hour period.
The battle was the bloodiest single battle in Australia’s military history.
In total, 18 ANZACs were killed in action and 24 were wounded.
The counting of Viet Cong fatalities was halted at 245, with signs the death toll was significantly higher.
Terang RSL sub-branch senior vice president Terry Fidge, himself a Vietnam veteran, said the Battle of Long Tan had become a defining moment in the Vietnam War.
“The battle was among the biggest the Australian troops had faced during their time in Vietnam, with a large number of casualties,” he said.
“The conditions on the night were horrible, it was close combat fighting during monsoonal rain.
“That’s why, on August 18, we pause to reflect on what those soldiers faced and what all Australian soldiers faced during that time of conflict.”
Mr Fidge said Vietnam veterans had not been welcomed home with open arms due to the unpopular nature of the war – despite the fact many servicemen were conscripted.
“The Australian population was badly divided with the commitment of Australian troops to Vietnam,” he said.
“This resulted in large protests and moratoriums but, unfortunately, that anger from those protest groups were taken out on the troops as they returned home from Vietnam rather than being taken out on the politicians – where it should have been directed.
“An unfortunate fact is a lot of the protesters were university students who were only hearing one side – they never knew, or bothered to find out, what was actually going on in that country.
“Anyone, with any education, knows that in Vietnam at that time you either supported the Viet Cong or you were never seen again.”
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