Vietnamese veterans commemorate Anzac day
Updated
It's not just Australian servicemen and women who take pride in ANZAC Day, hundreds of veterans from the former South Vietnamese Army live in Australia and feel a special bond with the ANZACs.
Presenter: Michael Edwards
Speakers: Dr Tien Nguyen,officer in the South Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War; Alice, whose mother was orphaned during fighting in Vietnam; Nick, whose family moved from Cambodia before he was born.
EDWARDS: Cabramatta is the hub of Sydney's Indochinese community. In some parts of the main street here, it's rare to hear a conversation in English.
But the lack of familiarity some might have with English doesn't stop them from appreciating the importance of Anzac Day.
(To woman) Do you know anything about Anzac Day?
WOMAN: Very good, very good.
WOMAN 2: Very good, Anzac Day.
WOMAN: Anzac Day, yeah.
EDWARDS: But for some in the Indochinese community, Anzac Day has its own personal significance.
Dr Tien Nguyen was an officer in the South Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War.
NGUYEN: I was a young doctor in the South Vietnamese Army, serving in the ranger regiment in the frontline, and when Saigon fell, I was already captured by the enemy forces and I spent three years in the concentration camp.
EDWARDS: That three years in a Vietnamese Communist re-education camp consisted of hard physical labour, political indoctrination, and a constant uncertainty about the future.
So like the veterans of Australia's wars, Dr Tien knows the sacrifice involved in serving one's country.
NGUYEN: I've seen things, I've done things that sort of, you know, in the war, you kind of mature very, very quickly. It's amazing how much you learn, you know, in such a short time.
EDWARDS: And every year, Dr Tien is one of many ex-South Vietnamese soldiers who either march in or attend Anzac Day parades.
NGUYEN: We experience firsthand the valiant fighting spirit of the Aussie soldiers during the Vietnam War, and we feel very honoured to sort of march alongside our mates during the Anzac Day parade.
EDWARDS: And the significance of Anzac Day doesn't seem to be lost on the younger generation of south-east Asians in Cabramatta.
18-year-old Alice was born in Australia, but she knows the cost of war. Her mother was orphaned during fighting in Vietnam.
ALICE: The main motto that I know is "Lest we forget", so I'm guessing that's a remembrance of all the soldiers that went to war in Gallipoli, and I am planning to join the navy, so I guess war is pretty important, and we've got to remember the people that sacrificed themselves on that day.
So I guess that's what Anzac Day means to us, it's just like Australia.
EDWARDS: Nick's family moved from Cambodia before he was born. He told me Anzac Day stirs up powerful emotions within him.
NICK: Proud to be Australian-Cambodian, proud to know that our soldiers will fight for the wellbeing of the world.
