Narrabri RSL sub-branch commemorated Vietnam Veterans’ Day and Victory in the Pacific Day on Wednesday with a ‘COVID-safe’ wreath-laying ceremony at the Narrabri War Memorial.
Narrabri RSL sub-branch president Gary Mason OAM performed the combined commemoration.
The ceremony is held on the anniversary of the August 18, 1966, Battle of Long Tan in the Vietnam War, 55 years ago.
VP Day is traditionally marked on August 15, but the two remembrance events are nowadays held on the same day.
The COVID pandemic forced the curtailment of the traditional Vietnam Veterans’ Day and Victory in the Pacific commemoration on Wednesday, but Narrabri RSL sub-branch and others were determined that the occasion would not be passed unrecognised.
There was no audience for the event.
Pandemic health regulations meant that there could only be a simple wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial, with no invitations or encouragement of community participation.
However, Vietnam War veterans Gary Mason OAM, on behalf of the sub branch, and Richard Barry OAM, in honour of our servicepeople, each laid wreaths at the memorial as did Helen Stoltenberg and Daryl Farrar.
The arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam in South Vietnam during July and August 1962 marked the start of Australia’s engagement in the war.
The commemoration is the opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to the almost 60,000 Australians who served during the 10 years of our involvement in the Vietnam War.
See more like this:
- February 14 – a day to honour our ‘Nashos’
- Narrabri’s Anzac Day commemorations will go ahead this weekend
- Welcome return of Anzac Day | PHOTOS
