Historical information

Vietnam Veterans parade 1987. Australia gives the Vietnam Veterans:soldiers, navy and airman finally receive the "welcome home" they deserved.

Significance

Vietnam Veterans parade 1987. Australia gives the Vietnam Veterans:soldiers, navy and airman finally receive the "welcome home" they deserved.

Physical description

Stained pine board with three Vietnam plaques mounted on - plaques - 1. Australian force Vietnam, 2.National memorial to Vietnam forces 3 Vietnam vetrans parade sydney 1987.
1. Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial and 2. National Memorial to Vietnam forces
The Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial is dedicated to all those Australians who served, suffered and died in that conflict. It was built largely through contributions from the Australian people, raised by the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial Committee.
3. Vietnam Vetrans Parade Sydney 1987
On October 3, 1987, around 22, 000 Vietnam veterans marched in a ‘Welcome Home’ parade through the streets of Sydney It was estimated that the
parade was watched by a crowd of up to 100,000, including Prime Minister Hawke, and that it stood up to ten deep along the parade route in some places.
he marchers carried more than 500 Australian flags, each flag representing a serviceman who had lost their life during the Vietnam War. These simple acts represented the reconciliatory nature of the event – the flags, standing for the nation-state, were accepted as a proper symbol for the fallen by the veterans and symbolised their reconciliation with the body politic that they felt had rejected their rightful place in the Anzac narrative after the end of the Vietnam conflict.

Inscriptions & markings

Plaques:-
1. Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial, Wooden Shield with metal shield with black outer ringed by service corps insignia, inner with a white band of the shield shape. the interior of the metal shield is light blue circle, with a white vertical sword, the top of the sword is a banner of red and orange strips. Below the metal shield is a Australian Army rising sun badge. Followed by a banner inscribed with " Australian Force Vietnam"
2. National Memorial to the Australian Vietnam Forces :- Small wooden shield, with a metal rectangle inscribed -