It may have been the first time their names had been spoken in Vietnam since the end of the war

Photo: Commemorative Service at Ha Long Bay

Abby Walker shares her photograph from the trip and some words to accompany the image chosen. Thanks for being the first one to send through your photo and write-up Abby. I look forward to read those to come.

I chose this photo because aside from Long Tan, this was another of the pivotal moments in the trip for me. The commemorative service on the boat at Ha Long Bay was run by Cheryl and it was really special to be able to honour our soldiers one more time in Vietnam.  That night we all spoke the names of the soldier that we wrote our essays about and the soldier that we researched and presented to the group. My soldiers that I honoured that night were George Doddridge and Geoffrey Lawrence Tweedie.

This out of all of the experiences on the trip stood out to me because it struck me that this may have been the first time their names had been spoken in Vietnam since the end of the war. It is so tragic that stories like these are beginning to be forgotten but this trip has opened my eyes to see that these were real people that went through so much so that we could live the way we do today. This really blows my mind in a way because to think that so many men, women and animals went to fight for a cause that they didn’t really understand, experienced the horrors of war and saw many of their friends die beside them and gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country, their lives.

Sometimes I am still in awe when I think that such a thing that we have learned so much about as a group could’ve happened to other human beings just like us. Imagining ourselves in their shoes is something that you can’t really do through watching documentaries and TV shows, but when you’re standing there maybe in the same place that the Australian soldiers did all those years ago, it gives you a feeling that is hard to understand but that you’re remembering the lives of the soldiers who may have already been forgotten. My grandfather served in the Vietnam War and returned, and it was really powerful for me especially when we visited Nui Dat to think that I could be standing in the same place that he was. I was honoured to commemorate one of his best friends that was killed due to a cruel accident, friendly fire. I know how much this affected him and the commemorative services both at Long Tan and in Ha Long Bay gave me a chance to remember his sacrifices and the effects it had on so many around him.

This trip has changed my life and has given me a whole new perspective of different aspects in the war and the sacrifices that the soldiers made for us. I now know what was done in the past so that we could live freely and without the threat of danger and sending our loved ones to fight. I’d like to finish with a quote,  ‘The greatest cruelty is our casual blindness to others’. So, for all those who have lost loved ones, for all those who said their final goodbyes and for all those living today in their honour. Lest we forget.