Long Tan

Emotional journey for veterans

A LARGE contingent of veterans, some cheery, some gruff, some wary, and all grieving to a degree, has returned to Vietnam today to mark the 40th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan.

• In depth: The battle of Long Tan 40 years on

Web chat: Long Tan heroes

You can ask Long Tan veterans Bob Buick and David Sabben about their experiences in the battle by posting questions to them via our webchat.

Long Tan citation foreshadowed

PRIME Minister John Howard has opened the way for veterans of the battle of Long Tan to display a South Vietnamese unit citation awarded 40 years ago but never officially approved.

Cross to stir the memory

TWO heroes of the famed battle of Long Tan are being denied medals by bureaucracy, the RSL said yesterday.

War veteran MP backs Long Tan review

LABOR backbencher Graham Edwards has stepped up calls for an inquiry into medals issued to veterans of the battle of Long Tan.

The Ghosts of Long Tan

It is 40 years since Bob Buick and Dave Sabben laid eyes on the men who tried to kill them. Now, the former Australian soldiers are confronting their old ghosts.

Diggers' families fight for war medals

FAMILIES of Diggers killed at Long Tan during the Vietnam War are furious that the Federal Government still refuses to issue bravery medals for the battle.

Finally, victory at Long Tan

FOR 40 years, Dave Sabben and Bob Buick refused to go back to Vietnam, much less to that haunted rubber plantation in Long Tan.

Fight for the medals victors deserve

IT was one of the bravest battles ever fought by Australian troops - a miraculous victory against the odds - but those who served at Long Tan have never been properly honoured by their nation.

Privates on parade fishing for a lure

IT has taken four decades, but Vietnam veterans are set to fire a shockwave through the ranks of old comrades.

Pain of Long Tan remains

REGIMENTAL signaller Graham Smith was cranky as he marched out of base at Nui Dat on August 18, 1966.

Vets' families share the burden

TWO men blooded in the nation's fiercest firefight of the Vietnam War 40 years ago this month have described how families are left to help carry a soldier's "baggage".

Long Tan

Twenty years ago, eight young Queenslanders were gunned down in the Long Tan rubber plantation. They had walked to their graves with music in their ears. Glenn Drabble, then 21, of Zillmere in Brisbane, almost certainly would have heard the first of three rock concerts at the Nui Dat base on that day, August 16, 1966.

Vietnam veterans reunite after 20yrs

Vietnam veterans, unlike other generations of Australian soldiers, lost one another after the war. But all that is about to change.

Vietnam veterans honoured

MORE than 1000 people paid tribute to soldiers who fought in Vietnam at a remembrance ceremony today in Perth.

Beresford to direct Long Tan film

BRUCE Beresford has signed up to write and direct a big budget Australian film based on the Vietnam war's Battle of Long Tan.

Vietnam vets enjoy memorial concert

THE formal commemorations behind them, Vietnam vets came together today to enjoy a concert - by performers who had played for them during the war 40 years ago.

Long Tan more luck than good judgment

THE battle of Long Tan was a "fortuitous blunder" after officers ignored intelligence about 2500 enemy troops, according to a former signaller.

Long Tan remembered in Brisbane

AUSTRALIAN soldiers who missed a 1966 concert at Nui Dat featuring Col Joye and Little Patti ended up defeating 2500 Viet Cong in the Battle of Long Tan, a Brisbane service was told today.

Vietnam vets deserve respect, says Nelson

AUSTRALIANS who served in the Vietnam war should be shown the highest respect regardless of what view an individual may have about the conflict itself, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said today.

Memories return for Vietnam vets

IT was a long way from the mud and blood of Vietnam but as the distinctive sound of two Iroquois choppers closed in, the memories came rushing back for veterans gathered at Canberra's Vietnam war memorial today.

Service marks Vietnam Vets' Day

VIETNAM war veterans have been honoured at a memorial service in Canberra attended by hundreds of survivors of Australia's longest military engagement.

Viet war still open sore: Minister

THE recognition of Vietnam veterans was still an "open sore" in Australia's history that had not been properly addressed, Liberal MP Joe Hockey said today.