Poignant trip for our Viet vets
Echuca-Moama’s Vietnam veterans may have just completed their last trip as an organised branch.
With remaining members approaching, or passing, 80, a combination of age and ill-health is taking its toll so this week those members boarded a minibus and headed for Canberra and the Australian War Memorial.
Where they were checking out the Memorial’s massive upgrade and its new Anzac Hall and Anzac Atrium.
Officially opened on June 23, this biggest redevelopment at the national heart of Australian military service and history, has taken years to complete.
It has been designed to honour modern conflicts, peacekeeping missions, and the stories of contemporary Australian veterans.
Key details of the expansion include:
- Focus on Modern Conflicts: The newly opened wing places a major emphasis on conflicts since the Cold War, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as modern peacekeeping missions.
- Design Features: The expansive new Anzac Hall and connecting Atrium provide climate-controlled, state-of-the-art space to display large, significant historical artifacts with depth and dignity.
Long-serving Moama RSL Sub-Branch and Echuca-Moama Vietnam Veterans president Ken Jones, who has been forced to step back from both roles because of his health, says he was not going to miss this trip.
“I was going even if it meant being on a stretcher,” an emotional Ken says.
“And when we get home I know I have at least one more surgery waiting for me,” he says.
The bus left town at 7.30am Thursday last week and was back home in time for this week.
