Vietnam Veterans Day Commemoration Ceremony

18 August is the Anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan (1966) in which the heavily outnumbered men of D Company, 6 Royal Australian Regiment fought a fierce battle against North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in a rubber plantation close to the village of Long Tan. In 1969, veterans of 6RAR installed a memorial cross and held a service at Long Tan to commemorate the battle. Over time this day became synonymous with all those who served and died in Vietnam, and in 1987, Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced that Long Tan Day would be known as Vietnam Veterans Day.