Battle of Long Tan

[the_hawk*]

Something I didn't know until Saturday

over 10:1 odds

The Battle of Long Tan (18 August 1966)

108 men from D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) clashed with a force of 1,500 to 2,500 from the Viet Cong 275th Regiment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Tan

[Anonymous]

Didn't know that either hawk !

[channys_mum]

According to one of the iroquois pilots (whom I have met) they were ordered not to fly in because of the conditions, however because of 'bad' radio transmission the pilots 'didn't hear' their orders and flew in.

A friend of mine was badly injured and thought to be dead, so his 'body' was being used as a shield until he groaned. He survived multile wounds and lived on til gosh I think maybe 10 years ago.

I am still friends with his wife and we catch up for coffee about once per month. 

They stood their ground and proved once again that the Aussie soldier is a force to be reckoned with.

[the_hawk*]

Much respect to your friend and her husband.


It was never the solders that were involved but the government of the day that was at fault

I think its sad they were treated so bad on their return and a lot has been hidden away and not talked about openly.

I am more than a little ashamed to admit I knew so little about it until the service I went to on Saturday 

[this-one-time-at-bandcamp]

As an American veteran of that era, I have nothing but admiration and thanks for the Australian fighting man, and how they have stood beside us through thick and thin.........I have the rare privilege of being able to say that my relatives served not only in the US military, but the RN and the RAN.............

[imastawka]

hawk, and anyone else,  when you can spare 1 3/4 hours

  Brilliant doco

[channys_mum]

I have watched a few minutes and will watch again later.

My ex husband went with the advance party (1RAR) in 1965. There were 20 of them I think. They went by plane to have things set up for 1RAR to arrive by ship.

In 1967 I went to work at 2 military hosp in Ingleburn NSW. I worked with a Major Smith who had received a purple heart I think it was. I am not sure if it is the same Major Smith as on the vid. Maybe I will see when I watch it.

I was only 20. I saw schoolfriends who had been airlifted back, It was sad and hectic and unreal stepping over stretchers in the hallway and the admitting room.

I was there when Simon Townsend flew the conscientious objector flag (not a real flag)

If it had such an impact on me and I was in the safety of Aus. How hard for the boys who were there. Most of them were only 19 as the song goes.

And yes the boys and their families were treated badly by the people. There was no support, and no recognition. We were called military scum.

[imastawka]

I remember it all too well.  The boys returning, and not welcomed

like the heroes that they were.  Those were terrible days.  And the poor boys

who could no longer take it.  The sadness and horror.

I marched in the Moratoriums in Melbourne against the war.

My hubby dodged the draft, because by that time, we were married.

Married men were exempt from the draft.

Yes, he was only 19.   But he wanted to go.  I didn't understand why

I'm glad he dodged it, for the sake of our family and his own

mental well-being.

The doco is really confronting, from memory,

if you have personal knowledge, I  think

It has been some time since I watched it

[channys_mum]

Hi stawka

My hubby was a reg. He was 19 and I was 17 almost 18 when he left. I got special permission to marry because he wanted us to be married before he went overseas. He of course didn't know at that stage where he was going, just that he was going. We were married in the February and he left in June. 

The boys wanted to go because they really thought that they were defending Australia from communism.

Nothing was gained but so much lost. 

I am glad that your hubby missed out on the draw. 

[lyndal1838]

My exOH was in the Navy at the time of the Vietnam War....he made 3 trips to Vietnam.  Once as a crew member of HMAS Sydney and twice on Destroyer Escorts accompanying the Sydney.

I remember him ringing from Singapore and all I could talk about was the fuss being made in Sydney about the departure of the Sydney with the troops going to Vietnam.  I was rather taken aback when he said he knew and that they were to rendezvous with the Sydney near Singapore and escort her the rest of the way. 

So much for wartime security but it sure hit home to me that it was not a Sunday picnic....every man and his dog knew the troop and ship movements.