A WA veteran of the Battle of Long Tan says a decision to recommend military honours for 10 of the battle’s participants is testament to the dedication of his commanding officer.

Neil Bextrum was a private in D Company 6th Battalion when it engaged a vastly superior force of Vietnamese soldiers in a rubber plantation near the village of Long Tan on August 18, 1966.

The 108-man D Company force lost 18 soldiers in the battle, but held off the 275th Regiment of the Viet Cong, estimated at up to 2,500 men.
About 250 enemy soldiers were killed.

The Minister for Defence Personnel Dan Tehan on Wednesday recommended 10 members of D Company be awarded military honours or have their existing honour upgraded.

Among the group is Lance Corporal Bextrum, who has been recommended for the Commendation for Gallantry.

Lt Col Harry Smith with his service medals. Photo: Supplied

But the 71-year-old, who left the Army as an Acting Sergeant in the years after Long Tan, said he had not thought much about the honour.

“You either get it or you don’t,” he said.

“But I’m more concerned about the CO Harry Smith, that chased it up, and kept on going, for 50 years.
“He’s the guy that’s done all the work.”

The commanding officer, who was a major at the time but left the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1976, initially recommended battle honours for D Company in the weeks following Long Tan.

Major Harry Smith firing a captured enemy gun during the Vietnam War. Photo: Supplied (Col Harry Smith)

Under the then-imperial honours system quota, many recommendations were either downgraded or rejected.

The president of the WA RSL, Peter Aspinall, said Lt Col Smith had fought for decades to have his men recognised.

Lt Col Smith penned an account of the battle, published last year, which detailed his anger at how his men’s courage was ignored following Long Tan, and accusing his superiors of embellishing their roles in the encounter.

“One of the things that comes through is his disappointment, and dare I say it his bitterness, in the fact his men were not adequately recognised and did not receive the due acknowledgment that he has been fighting for all those years,” Mr Aspinall said.

He said Wednesday’s announcement would be welcome news to the former D Company commander.

“I know it’s a cliche about being better late then never,” he said.
“And of course for those who’ve passed away it is too late.
“But Harry has been vindicated and rewarded for his efforts in getting his men recognised the way they have been.

“It is just regrettable that those who have subsequently passed away never got the satisfaction of being recognised for their courage.”

Mr Aspinall and Cpl Bextrum will travel to Canberra next week for the 50th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Long Tan.
The date also marks Vietnam Veterans Day, celebrating all Australian combatants and casualties of the conflict.

Cpl Bextrum said it would be a good chance to catch up with mates he now only sees every few years.

“I speak to them on the phone every now and again. From D company there’s a few passed away in the last couple years,” he said.

“But there’d probably be about 100 left.
“It’ll be an event for sure.

– ABC