State Member for Orange Phil Donato (second left) with members of the Parkes RSL Sub-branch at the Vietnam Memorial last Thursday.
A good crowd of veterans and family and community members attended the commemoration of Vietnam Veterans Day last Thursday in Parkes.
State member for Orange Phil Donato officially opened the renovated Vietnam Veterans Memorial before the start of the service.
The memorial celebrates not only one of Australia’s longest military engagements of the 20th Century from 1962 to 1972, but also the almost 60,000 Australians who served and the 521 veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Vietnam Veterans Day takes place on 18 August, originally to acknowledge the Battle of Long Tan which took place in 1966 and resulted in 18 Australian deaths and 24 wounded after three hours of fierce fighting before the withdrawal of the Viet Cong.
Parkes RSL Sub-branch member Ian Griffey delivered the prologue saying on the 56th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan it was important to remember that “for our Vietnam veterans, life after the war could never be the same. Thousands of our servicemen have developed long-term health problems associated with what they were exposed to in Vietnam. Tragically they are over-represented in statistics on respiratory disorders, cancer, depression and suicide.”
The Australian War Memorial recognised Indigenous Vietnam veterans on the commemoration day after new research had identified more than 250 Indigenous men and women who served for Australia during the Vietnam War.
State Member for Orange Phil Donato with President of the Parkes RSL Sub-branch Keith Woodlands after the official opening of the renovated Vietnam Memorial in Parkes.