Lest We Forget The Vietnam War

Overview

The Vietnam War (1955–75) was fought between South Vietnam (backed by the United States) and the Viet Cong, the communist-led insurgent force supported by the North Vietnamese Army. The Viet Cong sought to unify the country after the partition that resulted from the First Indochina War (1946–54).

Australian support for South Vietnam was in the context of a desire by the United States and other nations to stop the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. While Australia didn’t enter the war until 1962, it was to become our longest conflict of the 20th century. More than 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, of which 523 were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded.

Australian forces were withdrawn in 1971, with the last arriving home in March of 1972. In January 1973, 50 years ago this year, Australia officially issued a proclamation to mark the end of Australia’s involvement in the war. However, in 1975, due to the fall of Saigon to the communists, elements of the Royal Australian Air Force returned to carry out evacuations and to assist refugees, before embassy staff were evacuated in April 1975.

The war, including the introduction of a selective conscription scheme, was the cause of significant social and political dissent, and many veterans were left with long-term impacts to their health.

To honour all Australians who served in the Vietnam War, the stamps in this issue present two key campaign medals. In the background of the stamps are locations that were main bases or areas associated with the units and other recipient classes for each medal.

Design of the Vietnam Medal

The Vietnam Service Medal was designed by Andor Meszaros, an immigrant from Hungary who arrived in Australia in 1939.

Meszaros had studied architecture in Vienna and sculpture in Paris, as well as medallic art in the 1920s and 30s.

The design was quite a radical one for a military medal, expressing a real philosophical thought about the war. Production of the dies and striking of the medals was performed by the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra.

Technical specifications