A service will be held at the Cobram and District War Memorial on Friday, August 18, to honour Australian servicemen and women who served in the Vietnam War.
The ceremony will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Australia’s withdrawal from the conflict.
The ceremony will begin at 9am and will be attended by local dignitaries, school students and service personnel, both past and present.
Weather permitting, there will also be a fly-by conducted by the Murray Border Flying Club.
The Vietnam War lasted between 1955-1975 with Australian troops being involved between 1962-73.
Australia’s involvement in the war was divisive at the time, with more than 60,000 Australians serving and 523 dying and almost 2400 being wounded.
Battle of Long Tan by Mal Lyons
Against the odds in sixty-six, on a far off foreign shore,
Australians fought Vietnamese In a fierce and bloody war;
August eighteenth marks the date when they fought man to man,
In dark of night and monsoon rain In the Battle of Long Tan.
The Sixth Battalion's D Company Were out from Nui Dat,
Their mission was to search and find where four, four five were at;
They found them in “The Rubber” preparing to assault,
But the tactics by our Diggers brought their action to a halt.
As night fell on the battlefield and rain still pelting down,
Our Diggers fought with courage in the rain soaked battleground;
The enemy with its larger force tried hard to break the line,
But the Diggers fought back harder to repel them all the time.
The enemy strength was greater than originally was thought,
But the armour and artillery gave the Diggers good support;
Hampered by the rain and mud, visibility had long gone,
And the fierceness of the battle was still to linger on.
Machine guns light and heavy, were fired from around the flanks,
Until the enemy, badly beaten, began to leave their ranks;
The Diggers, tired and weary were battle scared and sore,
But their tactics and their courage forced the enemy to withdraw.
Next morning told the story of events the night before,
And strewn around the battleground were the casualties of war;
The Aussies suffered losses many brave Diggers died,
But they won the battle honours with skill and guts and pride.
The battle now is history, but a well remembered date,
Where fighting was commended and the courage was top rate;
There were many acts of bravery displayed by every man,
Who fought that bloody battle in the rubber at Long Tan.
Mal Lyons - D Company