Image above: Commemoration ceremony and dedication of memorial cross on the site of the Battle of Long Tan. The
Battle of Long Tan took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, The battle took place over the days
18 August – 19 August, 1966 (52 year ago this weekend).
Vietnam Veterans Day tomorrow https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/vietnam-veterans-day Vietnam Veterans Day is commemorated on 18 August every year. The day was originally known as Long Tan Day, chosen to commemorate the men of D Company, 6RAR who fought in the battle of Long Tan in 1966. On that day, 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers fought a pitched battle against over 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in a rubber plantation not far from the small village of Long Tan. The Australians prevailed, but only after fighting in torrential rain for four hours. They were nearly overrun, but were saved by a timely ammunition resupply, accurate artillery fire from the nearby Australian base, and the arrival of reinforcements by armoured personnel carrier. Eighteen Australians lost their lives and 24 were wounded, the largest number of casualties in one operation since the Australian task force had arrived a few months earlier. After the battle the bodies of 245 enemy soldiers were found, but there was evidence that many more bodies had been carried away. 
This time in 2016, you may remember that the Battle of Long Tan was in the news for a range of reasons. It
was the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan and many Australians
who travelled to the memorial site could not enter. Many of those
excluded were Australian soldiers who had fought in the battle and felt
somewhat disturbed that they could not commemorate their mates that fell
at that spot. As always, as a contestable issue there are two sides to
the story - sides that we discussed when we were in Vietnam several
weeks later. As you know this is again a part of our tour and it
would be great if you had some detailed background on the battle and the
commemoration activities. We will be conducting a Memorial Service at
the site when we visit - led by Cheryl. In fact, this is the only
official memorial service we participate in because there are no other
memorials to Australian soldiers in Vietnam. We will however have
informal moments of commemoration at nights when you present the soldier
you have researched.
I recommend that you listen and/or watch the links below that provide some excellent backgrounding to the Battle of Long Tan and the controversy from 2016. What do you think?
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