Vietnam Veterans Day a chance to pay tribute

TODAY marks Vietnam Veterans Day, Australia’s annual day for remembering the service of those who fought in the Vietnam War

YEARS after the Battle of Long Tan, the late Clifford Marchant and his fellow soldiers on the 6RAR Delta Company still had clear memories of the historic August 18, 1966 encounter.

“He said if it wasn’t for the New Zealand forces sending in salvos of bombs, it would have been a very different battle,” his son Robert Marchant said.

“He said those guys were putting those bombs right on them and bombing basically within metres of where the men were.

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“There were more than 2000 people on the opposition and you had one Delta Company there, so the opposition was very large.

“They reckoned it rained bombs and bullets – it would have been hell.”

Today marked Vietnam Veterans Day, Australia’s annual day for remembering the service of those who fought in the Vietnam War between 1955 and 1975.

Darwin tour guide Robert Marchant, whose father was part of the 6RAR Delta Company that fought in the Battle of Long Tan. Mr Marchant is pictured at the World War II oil storage tunnels at the Darwin Waterfront, where he runs tours. Picture Katrina Bridgeford

The day was originally known as Long Tan Day and is still commemorated on the anniversary of that battle, in which 100 Australian and New Zealand soldiers defeated some 2500 Vietnamese troops – and 19 Australians lost their lives.

Robert Marchant, who runs tours in Darwin’s World War II oil storage tunnels and has a deep interest in military history, said while his father had not fought in the battle of Long Tan because he was stationed in the catering corps at the time, he had been deeply affected by the death of “his boys” in the Company.

He said the way Vietnam veterans had been treated at home at the time was “disappointing” and while public perception had improved since, there was still some way to go.

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“The soldiers were attacked from both sides – one was a political war and the other was at home, which was very disappointing,” he said.

“We’ve got to accept the fact that they weren’t the people that made the decisions, they were just the soldiers,” he said.