Mr POOLE - 1999-08-18
Today the Chief Minister will take part in the ceremony at the Darwin Cenotaph to mark Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day. Can he inform this House as to the significance of today’s event?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,for old soldiers today is probably second in importance only to Anzac Day. The Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day service was previously known as Long Tan Day. I had the privilege of being a troop leader of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, based in Townsville, when the troops came back from Vietnam to Australia early in 1972. I was the only one in the unit, actually, who didn’t carry Vietnam medals. That was a hard task for a young officer among all the old warheads.
18 August 1966 has been established in our history as a most significant day in the battle of South Vietnam. It was on this day that D Company 6 RAR, searching for Viet Cong in a rubber plantation north-east of Barea in Phuc Tuoy province, distinguished itself when engaging in military operations against an opposing armed force. As the battle developed, it became apparent that Delta Company was facing superior odds. Its platoons were surrounded and attacked on all sides by reinforced enemy battalions using automatic weapons, small arms and mortars.
Fighting courageously, the men of Delta Company maintained their formation in a common defence perimeter and inflicted heavy casualties on the Viet Cong. The enemy maintained intensive and continuous fire from all directions. Each successive assault was pushed back by the Australians. After three hours without penetrating Australian lines, the enemy withdrew, leaving 245 Viet Cong dead, 500 wounded and three captured. Delta Company lost 17 men, with 19 wounded.
The conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage of Delta Company, supported in the final stage of the operation by armed personnel carriers of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, were in the highest tradition of military valour and reflected great credit on Delta Company, the battalion, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and the Australian Army. On the day, the Australian troops won a most significant victory over the enemy in one of the most spectacular engagements in the Vietnam campaign. It is certainly a great privilege for me to be able to participate in the day which has so much significance for our returned Diggers from Vietnam.
Today also marks the unveiling of the new Darwin Cenotaph. The word ‘cenotaph’ comes from the Greek words for ‘empty tomb’. When the ancient Greeks could not recover the bodies of their war dead from a battlefield they would build an empty tomb where the comrades and families of the dead could pay their respects. The tradition continues today. Cenotaphs around our country are places where citizens can pay their respects to all those Australian men and women who didn’t make it back.
I congratulate the officers of Transport and Works for their work on Darwin’s new Cenotaph. The Northern Territory government believes that the taxpayers’ funds - more than $450 000 - which were expended have created an important and lasting tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives.
I understand that, if the House is still sitting, we will suspend proceedings to allow members to attend the Long Tan ceremony. I encourage members to do exactly that.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,for old soldiers today is probably second in importance only to Anzac Day. The Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day service was previously known as Long Tan Day. I had the privilege of being a troop leader of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, based in Townsville, when the troops came back from Vietnam to Australia early in 1972. I was the only one in the unit, actually, who didn’t carry Vietnam medals. That was a hard task for a young officer among all the old warheads.
18 August 1966 has been established in our history as a most significant day in the battle of South Vietnam. It was on this day that D Company 6 RAR, searching for Viet Cong in a rubber plantation north-east of Barea in Phuc Tuoy province, distinguished itself when engaging in military operations against an opposing armed force. As the battle developed, it became apparent that Delta Company was facing superior odds. Its platoons were surrounded and attacked on all sides by reinforced enemy battalions using automatic weapons, small arms and mortars.
Fighting courageously, the men of Delta Company maintained their formation in a common defence perimeter and inflicted heavy casualties on the Viet Cong. The enemy maintained intensive and continuous fire from all directions. Each successive assault was pushed back by the Australians. After three hours without penetrating Australian lines, the enemy withdrew, leaving 245 Viet Cong dead, 500 wounded and three captured. Delta Company lost 17 men, with 19 wounded.
The conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage of Delta Company, supported in the final stage of the operation by armed personnel carriers of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, were in the highest tradition of military valour and reflected great credit on Delta Company, the battalion, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and the Australian Army. On the day, the Australian troops won a most significant victory over the enemy in one of the most spectacular engagements in the Vietnam campaign. It is certainly a great privilege for me to be able to participate in the day which has so much significance for our returned Diggers from Vietnam.
Today also marks the unveiling of the new Darwin Cenotaph. The word ‘cenotaph’ comes from the Greek words for ‘empty tomb’. When the ancient Greeks could not recover the bodies of their war dead from a battlefield they would build an empty tomb where the comrades and families of the dead could pay their respects. The tradition continues today. Cenotaphs around our country are places where citizens can pay their respects to all those Australian men and women who didn’t make it back.
I congratulate the officers of Transport and Works for their work on Darwin’s new Cenotaph. The Northern Territory government believes that the taxpayers’ funds - more than $450 000 - which were expended have created an important and lasting tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives.
I understand that, if the House is still sitting, we will suspend proceedings to allow members to attend the Long Tan ceremony. I encourage members to do exactly that.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016