Physical description

Framed photo collage of Australian involvement in Vietnam.

Inscriptions & markings

In the centre of the collage there is a bronze plaque wich reads:

VIETNAM

The Vietnam War was a military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975.

The was was fought between the communist North vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the united States and other member nations of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived beginning n 1950. U.S. involvemeny escalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Invollvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. Despite a peace treaty signed by all parties in january 1973, fighting continued. In response to the anti-war movement, the U.S. Congress passed the Case-Church Amendment in June 1973 prohibiting furtherdirect U.S. military intervention without Congressional authorization yet the U.S.was still heavily invested in the war until 1975, when North Vietnam captured Saigon. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of facilities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.

AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT:

For a decade from 1962 to 1972, Australian forces were actively involved in the bitter war that tore Vietnam apart. they served with distinction, and in battles such as the decisive Battle of Long Tan they proved that they were more than a match for the Viet Cong.