An open letter to Vietnam veterans everywhere

NO MATTER WHAT … A TIME FOR REFLECTION

Vietnam Veterans' Remembrance Day: What does it really mean to us?
No matter who you are or who you served with, or even where your allegiances might lie in terms of the veteran community generally (and ultimately, it really matters not), if you are a Vietnam veteran, then in one way or another, the Day will invariably mean something to you as an individual.

At the very least it is a time for reflection, and for some of us that reflection will be more sombre, and more deeply meaningful, than for others. But, no matter how you view it, and whether or not it is a day of mixed feelings, as for some it undoubtedly will always be, the simple fact remains, that if nothing else, it is a day when we all come together in the true spirit of brotherhood and mateship.

We forget our differences, and we remember our fallen comrades - the five hundred - who never made it back to see this day. We pause for a moment, and we recall those who have passed away since. And, at some point, many of us will then take a trip down memory lane, to another time and another place, to an experience that is uniquely our own and which in one form or another will always be with us for the rest of our days. An anonymous writer has described it thus: "…[We] have lived in times others would say best forgotten." This is not to suggest that we can forget those times, nor even that we should; it is simply a reflection on the fact that such is our legacy.

So, it really matters not, whether you call it "Long Tan Day" to commemorate those who so desperately fought and gave their lives on that 18th day of August 1966; or, whether you call it "Vietnam Veterans' Remembrance Day" as it has come to be formally recognized by many. No matter that you were at Coral and Balmoral for all or part of those twenty-six days in May and June of 1968; no matter that you remember another battle, or firefight, or contact, or other incident unique to yourself and your immediate vicinity. No matter that you were there in the mid sixties, or the early seventies, or at some other time during the war. No matter who you served with; whether you were an infantryman, or a gun number, or drove a laundry truck, or repaired a tank, or sent a signal, or cooked a meal, or fulfilled a civilian role. No matter that you served with the Army, or that you were a Navy diver, or that you helped maintain RAAF hueys: you were there. You did your duty. You felt it and you smelt it and you dealt with it in whatever way you could. You are a veteran and proud of it. And so you should be.

On this day, we come together again to remember our fallen comrades, to renew friendships, and by no means least, to reminisce and reflect a little on times past - both the good, and the bad. In the spirit of true camaraderie, we come together with our friends and our families and our partners to observe, and in some way also to enjoy, a day that is unique to us all as Vietnam veterans. No matter what, this too is our legacy, and will always remain so.

Ron Briggs, Adelaide, 18th August 1998

Copyright © 1998

An image from another era...