Vietnam Veterans Day, or Long Tan Day, was marked at the War Memorial in Canberra and ceremonies across the country on Sunday.
The Battle of Long Tan was one of the defining chapters of Australia's Vietnam campaign.
(A memorial service for Vietnam Veterans Day at the Cenotaph in Sydney)
On August 19, 1966, some 108 Anzacs from D company 6RAR withstood an attack of more 1,500 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars. Eighteen diggers were killed, for most it was their battle but not their war.
The Vietnam War was conceived by politicians and it was strategised by and large by Cold War generals but it was fought by young men mostly in their twenties.
Today those men are recognised for with honour and distinction, but decades ago they came home to no recognition, official or otherwise.
Bluey Schultz found it tough to return to civilian life when he returned from his service in Vietnam in 1974.
“You go and apply for a job and they'd say 'oh where've you been?' and I'd say 'I've just done six years in Vietnam' and they'd say 'well, there's the door'.”
With constant anti-war protests often focussing anger towards returning servicemen, many re-enlisted simply because there was no support.
(A veteran mark watches on at a ceremony to mark Vietnam Veterans day in Sydney)
“I've thought a fair bit about it but we sort of kept to ourselves, all our mates looked after each other but I never really had much to do with the public at all,” says veteran Roy 'Shady' Lane, attending a memorial service at the Cenotaph in Sydney's Martin Place.
They were even shunned when they tried to join the Returned Servicemen's League.
“I dropped out, I got disillusioned at the way we were treated by the veterans at that time somewhat sadly. And I never got back into the RSL until about 10 years ago,” says veteran Terry James.
It was an attitude that South Vietnamese troops who fought alongside Aussie diggers couldn't understand.
“I feel sorry for the Australians solders who came to Vietnam to join in the war. After they come back with no welcome I feel terrible sorry for them,” says former South Vietnamese serviceman David Tu.
(David Tu served with the South Vietnamese army, alongside allied forces)
But in the 1980s attitudes changed and a counter-protest movement emerged.
It was immortalised by John Schumann's Vietnam War anthem "I was only 19"
“And you got to the stage when you learned to hide you were a Vietnam veteran and I didn't come out as a veteran until the coming home parade, so that was '87 before I would admit it,” says Vietnam Vet Greg Cant.
In 1987 veterans were given the first official welcome home parade.
“I can't remember anything I can't remember anything, all I can remember is the tears and the kids putting their hands out and saying 'you're my hero' that really made the day,” says Bluey Schulz.
(Many veterans are still haunted by memories of the Vietnam War. Vietnam Veterans Day is a chance to catch up others who've been through the same experience. The Cenotaph, Martin Place, Sdyney)
