By Alesha Capone
For Rick Hallin and Bruce Hicks, Vietnam Veterans’ Day is a time to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives during the conflict.
Both men are members of the Melbourne West Sub-Branch of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association of Australia.
Each year on Vietnam Veterans’ Day, the sub-branch holds a wreath-laying ceremony at the Werribee cenotaph in Station Street.
Veterans, families and members of the public are invited to attend this year’s event, which will be held from 7am on Saturday, August 18.
“It’s very emotional for me, remembering mates and friends and everyone who died, and the absolute waste of their lives,” Mr Hallin said.
“In memory of all the blokes that gave their lives, lest we forget.”
This year is the 50th anniversary of Operation Toan Thong, which ran from April to June 1968. Both Mr Hicks and Mr Hallin were part of the operation.
When they shipped out to Vietnam,
Mr Hallin was 18 and Mr Hicks, 22.
Mr Hicks was in the 102 Field Battery, 12th Field Regiment, Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, while Mr Hallin was part of the 1st Ordnance Field Park, attached to 2nd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment.
Mr Hicks says television re-enactments make it seem like everyone knows what is happening during a war, but in reality “it’s actually absolute chaos”.
He was hit in the head twice during the war – once by mortar and once by a table blown towards him in a draft of wind caused by a Chinook helicopter.
Mr Hallin says he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after the war, and still has nightmares about the conflict. “In all wars, you see so many lives cut short,” he says.
Details: vvaa.org.au
Alesha Capone
