AUSTRALIANS MARK VIETNAM WAR’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

Melbourne, 29 Safar 1434/11 January 2013 (BERNAMA/MINA) – The 40th anniversary of the official end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war will be marked in Canberra on Friday.

In 1973, then Governor-General Paul Hasluck proclaimed the cessation of hostilities by the Australian government in the conflict.
From 1962 to 1972, more than 60,000 Australian men and women served in Vietnam with more than 500 killed and another 3,000 wounded.

But for those who returned home, the psychological scars were possibly the worst. Australian War Memorial head of military history Ashley Ekins said the proclamation of the war likely meant little to those when it was signed off by Hasluck on January 11, 1973.

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“It wasn’t a big deal when it was announced back in 1973, simply a
proclamation by the government by the governor-general,” Ekins is
quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying.

The conscription of young Australians to fight the war, the anti-war movement and the reaction troops faced on their return left a lasting impact on Australia as a nation that is still felt today.

At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the anniversary will be marked with a short address during the closing ceremony where each day the Last Post is played by a bugler or a lament played by a piper to remember the sacrifice made by Australian troops. (T/R-020/R-006)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)