VIETNAM: TWO AUSTRALIAN WARSHIPS COMMEMORATE ANZAC DAY, A NATIONAL DAY IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOUGHT AND DIED IN BATTLE

Record ID: 861817

  • Title: VIETNAM: TWO AUSTRALIAN WARSHIPS COMMEMORATE ANZAC DAY, A NATIONAL DAY IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOUGHT AND DIED IN BATTLE
  • Date: 25th April 1999
  • Summary: MCU LONE SOLDIERS PLAYS BAGPIPES ON DECK OF SHIP
  • Embargoed: 10th May 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
  • City:
  • Country: Vietnam
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA82Y54THXDKTNSLOGA48AKJE0N
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: In Vietnam, two Australian warships have commemorated ANZAC Day, a national day in honour of those who have fought and died in battle.
    Anzac Day is marked on this day every year by Australians and New Zealanders.
    On Saturday (April 24) just after the warships, the Perth and the Arunta, arrived in communist-ruled Vietnam, Australia's maritime commander, Rear Admiral Chris Ritchie paid tribute to the dead on both sides of the Vietnam War.
    Flowers were laid at the foot of a statue of Vietnam's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in the former Saigon which now bears his name.
    Then, just before dawn on Sunday (April 25), the Admiral led a solemn tribute to soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who have fought and died in battle.
    The dawn service to commemorate ANZAC Day was especially emotional for a number of war veterans who served in the Vietnam war and who joined the gathering on board the guided-missile destroyer HMAS Perth, herself a veteran of the war.
    The strains of a lone bagpiper were carried across the ship's deck as those attending the service lit candles and stood before a large white cross.
    The Perth and the Arunta are the first Australian warships permitted to visit this country since the decade-long Vietnam war ended in 1975.
    Australian and Vietnamese officials have painted the five-day naval visit as another step in developing bilateral relations, especially between the two armed forces.
    But for Australian veterans attending Sunday's dawn commemoration, it held far more emotional.Some, like the Perth herself, had returned to Vietnam for the first time since the war.
    Danny Johnson, of Hobart Tasmania, served with the Australian army during the war.He made his first trip back to Vietnam especially to mark ANZAC Day.
    "You think about the times you have been through, the times that other people have been through and just generally thinking about the mates that you've lost."
    Rodger Maskall, from Maleny in Queensland, served on board the Perth during the war.It was also his first trip back."It was quite moving actually, I guess it's a special ship for me and the service at any time is very moving."
    Around 50,000 Australian soldiers served in the Vietnam war, fighting alongside troops from the U.S.-backed South Vietnam against the Communist North.Some 500 Australian soldiers were killed before Australia withdrew its troops in 1973.
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