Inquiry into Long Tan Issues Recommendations Accepted
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Keith:
Nashos' service to be set in stone
Joe Kelly
THE AUSTRALIAN
THE battle of Long Tan in Vietnam lasted barely four hours, but for Allen May the events of August 18, 1966 have resonated for a lifetime.
Called up for national service in 1965, he was the first Australian to enter the fray at the battle of Long Tan, and soon lost one of his best mates to mortar fire. But while the scars of war will never fully heal, Mr May is glad that the deeds of Australia's national servicemen are to be honoured with the construction of a new memorial in Canberra to begin tomorrow.
Mr May said the fountain, to be erected in the grounds of Canberra's war memorial, would be a lasting tribute to the sacrifices made by Australia's "nashos" , but admitted that such recognition was "long overdue".
"We really got nothing. That memorial should have been put up straight away," he said.
"`It's just a mark of respect for what happened to the youths of the day during that period of time. It lets the people know what the national servicemen did."
In total, 227,000 national servicemen were conscripted for six-months' service in either navy, army or air force between 1951 and 1959. A second conscription scheme, this time of two years' duration, was introduced in June 1965, ending in 1972. During that time 804,200 men were registered and 63,790 were called up.
On August 18, 1966, 21-year-old Private May was the forward scout for 11 Platoon D Company 6RAR, patrolling a rubber plantation near the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat in the Long Tan area. Mr May recalled how the battle began, saying he stumbled across a group of "kids" eating rice in a clearing, who turned out to be North Vietnamese regulars. "They looked up at us, dropped their rice, picked up their rifles and started firing." After returning fire, Mr May and 11 Platoon pushed further into the plantation when all hell broke loose.
"We got 250-300 metres into the rubber plantation when an estimated 1500-2500 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars opened fire. My first thought was we're in the shit here." he said yesterday. Mr May said that of the 31 men in 11 Platoon -- 26 of whom were national servicemen --only seven survived unwounded from the battle. Mr May said even after 40 years his experiences in Vietnam still haunted him and he needed to take more than 25 tablets a day, mainly painkillers and muscle relaxants. He hasn't worked since 1992 when he was made redundant from his quarry manager's job in Queensland.
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Keith:
Higher honours for heroes who fought at Long Tan in Vietnam
Stuart Rintoul and Mark Dodd | October 29, 2009
Article from: The Australian
THE decision to upgrade honours to Vietnam veterans who fought at Long Tan was the culmination of "a long, hard struggle" for greater recognition, according to Bob Buick, who served as a sergeant in one of Australia's most famous battles.
Forty-three years after the battle, in which 18 Australian soldiers died, the men of D Company 6 Royal Australian Regiment will receive the nation's highest unit award -- the Unit Citation for Gallantry -- with the backing of the Honours and Awards Tribunal.
The award has been made only once before -- to the Special Air Service Regiment for duty in Iraq in 2003.
The federal government will also upgrade an award to a deceased RAAF helicopter pilot, Cliff Dohle, who defied orders and flew ammunition to the besieged men of D Company in a battle in which just over 100 Diggers withstood an attack by at least 700, and by some accounts as many as 1500, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in monsoonal rain.
Flying a Huey helicopter, Flight Lieutenant Dohle air-dropped cases of 7.62mm ammunition wrapped in blankets to the Diggers.
Retired sergeant Buick said he made the citation request to former Coalition defence industry minister Bronwyn Bishop in 1997, but said he was told by one of her advisers to "bugger off, and go and play with your toys somewhere else".
"It's been a long, hard struggle," he said. "Harry Smith (D Company's commanding officer in August 1966) and myself have been like a couple of old bloody ferrets running down rabbit holes, getting into a lot of dead ends.
"But through perseverance and knowing that an injustice was done, we just kept on chasing the whole thing.
"I always personally felt that Australian unit citations would be the way to solve all the problems that had been created over the years. I was very disappointed that the tribunal and the government didn't see fit to recognise the artillery people, the APC troop and the air force.
"Those three arms or support groups were absolutely instrumental in us winning the day."
Mr Smith said the unit award was "wonderful, because it goes to everyone".
He said he would continue to fight for awards for 12 soldiers who had been denied because of a lack of supporting paperwork.
Cliff Dohle died in February. His widow, Joan, said last night she was "very pleased" her husband's bravery would be recognised with the Distinguished Service Medal.
"I'm very pleased for Cliff," she said. "It's a pity he's not here to see it himself."
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Keith:
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
068/2009
RELEASE OF INQUIRY INTO UNRESOLVED RECOGNITION ISSUES FOR THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN
The Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support, the Hon Dr Mike Kelly AM MP, today announced that the Government has accepted the recommendations of the independent Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal Inquiry into Unresolved Recognition Issues for the Battle of Long Tan.
The Report recommended that:
1. Flight Lieutenant Cliff Dohle be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the contemporary equivalent award to the Distinguished Flying Cross, the original award for which he was properly recommended in 1966 by all levels of Australian command in Vietnam;
2. No other individual awards be made to participants in the Battle of Long Tan; and
3. Delta Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR), be awarded the Unit Citation for Gallantry for its performance at the Battle of Long Tan in August 1966.
The Battle of Long Tan was fought on 18 August 1966 when Delta Company, 6 RAR came into contact with a much larger enemy force while patrolling outside the 1st Australian Task Force at Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. Seventeen members of Delta Company were killed during the battle, and another 21 were wounded.
The release of the findings fulfils a Rudd Labor Government election commitment. The Government has accepted the Tribunals findings, and I have directed Defence to implement the recommendations, said Dr Kelly.
I am delighted that the Tribunal has recommended the award of an Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry to the men of Delta Company 6 RAR. This ensures that all are recognised for what was in effect a magnificent team effort. It has only been in recent years that we have come to appreciate the full significance of the battle in the context of the conflict.
For the South Vietnamese Government at the time it meant that the Phuoc Tuy Province was effectively neutralised as a concern. For the US it contributed to the overall effort in that it enabled resources to be focused elsewhere. For Australia it was significant because we now know that this was a planned and determined effort to annihilate the Australian Task Force before it had settled in.
The result of the action was not only that the enemy was prevented from achieving this objective but was never able to mount such an effort again in Phuoc Tuy Province for the remainder of the Australian presence.
I also commend the Tribunal for upholding the recommendation made in 1966 by RAAF command in Vietnam to award Flight Lieutenant Cliff Dohle the Distinguished Flying Cross, said Dr Kelly.
I would also like to thank the Tribunal for its work on this and the other matters it has dealt with or is continuing to deal with. I believe all members of the Tribunal have undertaken their work diligently, fairly and with an open mind. I continue to have complete confidence in the Tribunal.
The release of the Tribunal?s report and the acceptance of the recommendations clearly demonstrate the Governments commitment to the independent review of long-standing Defence honours and awards issues.
The Tribunals full report is available at www.defence-honours-tribunal.gov.au. Further information on Defence honours and awards is available at: www.defence.gov.au/medals/
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