Melbourne commemorating Vietnam War a ‘great support to the Veterans’

Australia News

Today is the 60th anniversary of the first troop deployment of Melbourne soldiers into Vietnam – marking Australia’s entry into a fraught and unpopular war.

Air Force Association Victoria President and Vietnam pilot Max McGregor says the crowds turning up to the Shrine of Remembrance in their thousands are a “great support to the veterans”, many of whom received a cold welcome back to Australia.

Mr McGregor said the reception of fellow war veterans was similarly frosty.

“The reaction of some was that it wasn’t a real war, because we were doing 12 months service rather than for the duration,” he said.

“That’s gone into the past, now it’s accepted.”

Credit SKY NEWS