Vietnam War

Long Tan Memorial on Daylesford War Memorial. Photograph: Clare Gervasoni.

The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was fought (primarily) between the Communist North and the Capitalist South during the Cold War (1947-1991). This war eventually involved Australia and New Zealand Armed Forces after 1961. To many Vietnamese it was known as the Resistance War against the American's or some know it as the America War. This war occurred in Vietnam and also in Laos and Cambodia.

A number of soldiers who served during the Vietnam War were from Ballarat and District.

Background

Australia and New Zealand, close allies of the United States and members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and the ANZUS military co-operation treaty, sent ground troops to Vietnam. Both nations had gained experience in counterinsurgency and jungle warfare during the Malayan Emergency and World War II. Their governments subscribed to the Domino theory. Australia began by sending advisors to Vietnam in 1962, and combat troops were committed in 1965. New Zealand began by sending a detachment of engineers and an artillery battery, and then started sending special forces and regular infantry which were attached to Australian formations. Australia's peak commitment was 7,672 combat troops and New Zealand's 552. More than 60,000 Australian personnel were involved during the course of the war, of which 521 were killed and more than 3,000 wounded. Approximately 3,500 New Zealanders served in Vietnam, with 37 killed and 187 wounded. Most Australians and New Zealanders served in the 1st Australian Task Force in Phước Tuy Province.

National Service

The Birthday Ballot - National Service

Often known as conscription, the National Service Scheme was introduced by the Menzies Government in November 1964. Popular belief holds that the scheme was conceived specifically for Vietnam. Although untrue, the close timing of its introduction and Australia’s growing commitment to the war made it seem so to many people. In late 1964 the Government had yet to decide on increases to the number of Australian troops in Vietnam, and was, in fact, more concerned about the regional implications of the Confrontation between Malaya and Indonesia, particularly its potential to spill over the border of Papua New Guinea for which Australia had defence responsibility. Small numbers of national servicemen served in Sarawak, a Malayan state on the island of Borneo, in early 1966 towards the end of Confrontation. The first national servicemen reached Vietnam in the middle of that year, several months before the official end of Confrontation on 11 August 1966.

Under the National Service Scheme, twenty-year-old men were required to register with the Department of Labour and National Service (DLNS), they were then subject to a ballot which, if their birth date was drawn, meant the possibility of two years of continuous full-time service in the regular army, followed by three years part-time service in the Army Reserve. As part of their duty, national servicemen on full-time duty were liable for ‘special overseas service’ including combat duties in Vietnam.

We examine these ideas through the lens of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, drawing comparisons with American experience in the process. The recruitment lottery was designed to bolster Australia’s regular army with National Servicemen so that sufficient manpower would be available to participate in the Vietnam War. Sixteen biannual lotteries were conducted between 1965 and 1972.

The Service

Lieutenant General Thomas Joseph Daly KBE CB DSO

Born: Ballarat, Victoria 19 March 2013

Chief of the General Staff 1966

"His appointment to the Army's senior position coincided with Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and Daly sought to ensure that Australia's small army was the equal of other, larger national forces."

"He was a keen supporter of national service, believing that exposing civilians to the military was beneficial to the services and to society."

The People

Ballarat and District Vietnam Veterans

Bill Akell - Robert Thomas Carbury - A. N. Cooper - Ron Delaland - John Dellaca - Bill Dobell - Rowan Edward Gamble - Leslie Keith Hyatt - Fayette Irene Lewis - Desmond James Maher - Noel Robert Mende - Ray Mende - Terrence O'Donnell - Wayne Parrott - Raymond Keith Rosenow - Geoff Sculley - Graham Sculley - Douglas James Waight

Ballarat School of Mines / Ballarat Junior Technical School Vietnam Veterans

Robert Thomas Carbury - John Dellaca - Keith Jeffs - George W. McInnes - Noel Robert Mende - Ray Mende - Douglas James Waight

Daylesford District Vietnam Veterans

Terrence Bernard O'Brien - Ian Tinetti

"A small crowd gathered in Daylesford last Sunday to remember all those who lost their lives serving Australia". Ian Tinetti and Peter Ward (both Veterans) were present this day to lay a wreath for those they served alongside and for others who served on Remembrance Day in 2012. For some 82 years regular events have been held with local organisations participating with wreath laying in support of veterans from all Wars that Australians have served in. Along with the Remembrance service Daylesford RSL sub branch President Keith Pyers spoke to the crowd of those who remain are scared by the horrors of battle action and war survival. The main focus of their attendance of the Remembrance Day Service was to pay homage to the local service people past and present to honour their contribution to their Country and their fellow Countrymen.

Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Ballarat Sub-Branch

The VVAA Ballarat Sub-Branch is the second oldest group of its kind in the state, about 40 years old. With 102 members, the youngest is 69 and the oldest is exactly twenty years their senior. Every Vietnam Veterans’ Day, the group usually holds a service at Sturt Street’s South East Asia Memorial. They gift a teddy to the first baby born in Ballarat during that 24 hours, and flowers to their mother.

John Dellaca

Legacy

19 August 1966 was the battle of Long Tan Day. In 1987 after Sydney’s ‘welcome home’ parade Prime Mininster Bob Hawke declared 18 August to be the official day of all Vietnam veterans/

External links

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--Peter Hume 13:23, 1 February 2017 (AEDT)