By Tim Barlass
The Albanese government is under pressure to award a posthumous Victoria Cross to a rifleman from the Vietnam War to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia’s involvement in the conflict.
The bravery of Private Richard Norden in the Battle of Coral-Balmoral in 1968 has become a rallying point within the Australian military community.
For many former and current servicemen, they believe a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) awarded to Norden, who later died in a motorbike accident, was inadequate.
The then governor of NSW, Sir Roden Cutler, congratulates three men after decorating them for bravery. From left: aircraftman Kevin Wickerson, Private Richard Norden and Petty Officer William Young.Credit: George Lipman
Former governor-general Peter Cosgrove, who also served in Vietnam, counts himself among those admirers, saying he was “blown away” when he first read the citation detailing Norden’s bravery more than 50 years ago. “I thought, when I read that, this bloke should have got a VC.”
Nine months ago, after a lengthy campaign opposed by the Australian Army hierarchy, the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal recommended to the government that the former Gundagai local should be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Now, with the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia’s involvement in the war, Norden’s former squadron commander Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) George Hulse said the government should act on the tribunal’s recommendation.
Members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, patrol outside the perimeter of fire support base Coral in South Vietnam’s Bien Hoa Province, following several attacks on the base in May and June 1968.Credit: Australian Army
“This affects me and all the sappers and all the signalmen that weren’t necessarily part of that infantry battalion, but we were there, and we know what happened,” said Hulse, who has been driving the campaign.
The Battle of Coral-Balmoral, some 30 kilometres north-east of Saigon, was one of the most costly for Australian forces in the Vietnam War. Twenty-five Australians were killed and 109 wounded.
A newspaper clipping from when Richard Norden returned home to Gundagai after being wounded in the Vietnam War.
On May 14, 1968, Norden’s platoon came under heavy fire in an ambush by the North Vietnamese People’s Army. A forward scout and the section commander were wounded and isolated due to heavy enemy fire.
Norden asked for cover and ran forward to the wounded section commander. He killed one North Vietnamese soldier and, having expended his ammunition, recovered the enemy’s automatic weapon which he used against further enemy forces while assisting the wounded section commander back to the platoon. The life of the section commander was saved.
Although wounded, Norden again advanced to the forward scout and was fired on by an enemy soldier. But he reached the scout, killing the enemy soldier who had been using the scout as a shield. Norden, having determined that the scout was dead, returned to the section, collected grenades and cleared the area so that the body of the scout could be recovered.
Norden received the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and after the Vietnam War served in the Australian Capital Territory Police. In 1972, he died from injuries sustained in a police motorcycle accident in Canberra.
Hulse says an announcement about the Victoria Cross decision should now be made on Vietnam Veterans’ Day this Friday.
“It’s been in the minister’s in-tray for about nine months not going anywhere,” he said. “I got the message that it would be a very brave minister who does not take the recommendation of the appeals tribunal.”
Norden’s older brother Rodger Norden said a decision has been a long time coming. “When he was awarded the DCM he said the governor remarked: “What do you have to do to get the VC?”
Matt Keogh, Minister for Veterans, said the matter is in the hands of Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
A spokesperson for the deputy prime minister said: “Private Richard Norden is one of those who bravely wore our nation’s uniform, displaying tremendous courage and mateship.”
Four VCs have been awarded to Vietnam servicemen. The last posthumous VC was awarded three years ago to Edward “Teddy” Sheean, who was killed in the Second World War.
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