General News
23 August, 2026
60 years on, the legacy of Long Tan still resonates
VIETNAM veterans, their families and members of the public from Ararat Rural City, Northern Grampians Shire and Pyrenees Shire gathered on Tuesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the infamous Battle of Long Tan.
The Battle of Long Tan, one of the most significant engagements in Australia's military history where 18 Australian troops were killed and a further 24 wounded.
On 18 August 1966, soldiers from D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, faced overwhelming odds and engaged a much larger Viet Cong and North Vietnamese force in a rubber plantation near Long Tan, in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam.
The Battle of Long Tan has become an enduring part of Australia's military history and remains a defining moment for those who served in the Vietnam War.
Sixty years later, the legacy of Long Tan continues to resonate across generations.
The day is marked annualy by a joint commemoration of veterans and their families from Ararat Rural City, Northern Grampians Shire and Pyrenees Shire.
Ararat RSL President Scott Rigby said history shows the Battle of Long Tan was a fierce and exhausting battle.
“Approximately 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers fought against a force many times their own size. They endured intense fighting, heavy rain, difficult conditions and an enemy determined to overwhelm them. Yet they held their ground.
“The courage displayed that day was extraordinary. Young Australian soldiers, many barely out of their teens or early twenties, faced circumstances that few of us could ever imagine.
“Today, 60 years later, we remember them not simply as soldiers who died in a battle, but as sons, brothers, husbands, fathers and mates,” Mr Rigby said.
Veteran Bob Prideaux delivered the main address at Tuesday’s ceremony recounting the hardship many soldiers faced during the Vietnam conflict.
The audience fell silent as Mr Prideaux told the story of fierce fighting and daring rescues in the jungles of Vietnam.
“Long Tan isn’t just a battle 60 years ago in a land far, far away. It’s part of our history, Ararat’s history,” he said.
Member for Ripon Martha Haylett told those assembled the qualities displayed by armed forces in Vietnam are indicative of the Australian spirit.
“The battle of Long Tan has become one of the defining moments of Australia’s military history not only because of the bravery displayed that day but because it represents the qualities we so deeply admire in those who served; courage in the face of danger, loyalty to one another and an unwavering sense of duty.
“Today as we reflect on Long Tan and the wider Vietnam war we honour all of those that served,” Ms Haylett said.
Ararat Mayor Bob Sanders, Northern Grampians Mayor Karen Hyslop and Pyrenees Mayor Damian Ferrari were all in attendance and laid wreathes at the Ararat service.
