18th August '07'The 41st Anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan.Let Us Remember and Honor

Greetings Members and staff of AboveTopSecret.com .

As some of you probably know, Today is the 18/08/07 ( 18th of August 2007 ) and hence, it is the 41st anniversary of the battle of Long Tan and also Vietnam Veterans day.

The Long Tan Cross was conceived by the 6th Battalion Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) WO1 James "Jimmy" Cruickshank during the unit’s second tour of duty in 1969. It was constructed by the unit’s engineers, the Pioneer Platoon.On the third anniversary of the battle, the Cross was raised at the site of the battle where it remained untouched while the Australians were stationed in the province. Today it is located in the military museum at Bien Hoa.

At that same site on 15 April 2002, the Vietnamese people unveiled a completely renovated Long Tan Cross Memorial. Of most significance were the official recognition and acceptance by the Vietnamese of the importance of this site to Australian veterans

Please members and guests of AboveTopSecret.com , I want everyone to take a minute or so to sit back and remember all those lives lost in Vietnam all those years ago. And not just Australian Forces but also the brave American and New Zealand forces as well as the other soldiers who went over there and put there lives on the line in what is commonly known one of the worst if not The Worst wars that have ever taken place.

Please have a think about those brave soldiers and the families who lost sons and daughters, children and friends , those who loved and those who were loved all those years ago.

Have a drink, have a toast , even take a minute just to sit in quite contemplation and remembrance of the lives that were lost and also the lives that were changed forever in Vietnam all those years ago. . .

This is a poem written by an American Soldier who was one of the very many that were involved , please take time to read this.It is called
The Vietnam Blues

I wanna tell you 'bout some blues I got one time,
In a little place called Vietnam.
Now I guess Vietnam's about as far away from here as you can get,
'Cause it didn't seem to matter which way the jet flew.
Sometimes we'd go East, sometimes West,
But no matter, twenty-two hours later,
There you are in Vietnam.

Now I did three tours over there,
Twenty-six months,
In which time I came down with malaria three times,
Jungle rot, immersion foot, two kinds of internal parasites,
Shrapnel wound in my leg,
And Agent Orange all over my body.
I'm talkin' blues now, Jack.

Well, you run into two kinds of Vietnam combat veterans;
Some can't talk about it, some can't stop.
But there's one thing we've all got in common;
Sometimes we get thinkin' 'bout the guys 'n gals
That didn't make it back,
And we come down with a real bad case,
Of the Vietnam blues.



Lest We Forget.

We Remember And Respect

Omega85

[edit on 17/8/2007 by Omega85]

"Have a drink, have a toast , even take a minute just to sit in quite contemplation and remembrance of the lives that were lost and also the lives that were changed forever in Vietnam all those years ago. . ."

Doing that right now,
and I will be reading more about that particular battle.
An horrific situation for all concerned,which the above poem illustrates chillingly.
Already I can`t help drawing a parallel with Iraq today-no political undertones or anything,just that the horrors people are going through,on all sides echoed in
the poem:

"Some can't talk about it, some can't stop.
But there's one thing we've all got in common;
Sometimes we get thinkin' 'bout the guys 'n gals
That didn't make it back, "