Going Back

Author:Gary McKay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS027070
ISBN: 9781741158373
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd
Published: 2007-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

LONG TAN: THE CROSS

The Long Tan Memorial Cross was first erected on the site of the massive battle in the Long Tan rubber plantation not far from the Nui Dat base during 6 RAR’s second tour of duty, with serving battle survivors of Delta Company—the rifle company involved in that bitter encounter—in attendance. The Cross has become the focal point of Australian pilgrimages to Viet Nam for one simple reason. While battlefield pilgrimages have traditionally focused on visits to the cemeteries of war dead, in Viet Nam no Australians are buried in war cemeteries—it was the first overseas conflict in which most Australian dead were brought home for burial. A small number (24) of Australian dead from Viet Nam lie in the Australian section of the British War Cemetery in Terendak, Malaysia, and one serviceman in the Kranji Military Cemetery in Singapore, but that vital link with the past is not present in Viet Nam itself. The Long Tan Cross has come to represent the men killed in South Viet Nam, and is one of only two foreign monuments to the dead allowed in Viet Nam (the other is to the French at Dien Bien Phu). Veterans are permitted to visit the area in small numbers to pay tribute not only to the Long Tan dead, but to all veterans killed and injured during the war.

An escort by police and special permits are required to enter the Long Tan rubber plantation and Long Tan Memorial Cross area. Visitors need to travel up Route 764 towards Binh Ba and turn off onto Route 766, or if coming from the west turn off the Dat Do–Long Phuoc road and head north-east to the battle site past The Horseshoe to the rebuilt Long Tan village. Turn north near the signpost reading ‘Long Khanh 59 km’, then turn north into the battle site. Groups will have to stop at the police post in Long Tan village, where the bronze plaque that adorns the Cross is kept in safekeeping for placing. A small bus can take you almost right into the area, then it’s a short 200-metre walk to the Cross.

As historian Elizabeth Stewart notes, ‘The area has become sacred ground, and many comment on the eerie nature of the place. Few words are spoken in the simple ceremonies held there, but few visitors leave the area dry-eyed.’1 The site has not always been in its present condition; it was previously a cornfield and tapioca patch. A decade ago, rubber was planted and the area is now almost as it was when Delta Company began patrolling through the area on that fateful, stormy afternoon of 18 August 1966.

While a visit to the Long Tan Cross provides a cathartic and emotional highlight for many pilgrims, another highlight involves meeting former enemy. In informal meetings— often with former members of the Viet Cong D 445 Battalion—veterans from both sides drink a toast and recognise in each other a common struggle with a difficult war legacy. Realising

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