ESO to hold Vietnam War vigil on 3 August
A message from the Vietnam Veterans Vigil (VVV)
A fortnight before the official national commemorative service on Vietnam Veterans’ Day, the VVV will organise a series of low-key events that focus on individual loss rather than national, collective loss.
These events are also intended for those Vietnam veterans and next of kin who are too frail to attend the ceremony in Canberra but may be able to visit their local cemetery, and by doing so, play an active part in this significant year of remembrance.
We plan to hold a Service of Remembrance at every grave or commemorative plaque site across the nation and overseas on 3 August 2023.
Services will be held at 1100 local time across Australia and in Malaysia. The last service, at dusk, will be held in Scotland, where Lance Corporal Robert Buchan is laid to rest with his mum and dad.
We will also hold a very simple, low-key Dawn Service at the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial in Canberra.
We are calling for volunteers to co-ordinate each commemorative service. You can find more information at our website www.vvv.org.au. On the website is a list of all those killed in action (KIA), a map showing which towns across the nation they are commemorated in and detailed information on how you can help.
There is even a suggested template for the prepared commemorative service and links to the sound recordings you may wish to include.
We request that every grave visited be photographed by those in attendance. The photos can then be uploaded to the Virtual War Memorial of Australia website. Full and easy instructions are provided on their website.
While the focus is to visit the graves of all 523 servicemen KIA, a secondary aim is to visit the graves of any other Vietnam veterans who have died since their service in Vietnam and are buried in the same cemetery.
The Organising Committee members and Patrons of the VVV were all members of the Australian Vietnam Forces Welcome Home Parade 1987 and the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial Committees.
Please visit the VVV website for more information.
