Special Significance at Muswellbrook Vietnam Remembrance Day
BY DI SNEDDON
Dang Vu and Maihuyen Tran were clearly moved while unveiling a plague in honour of their father, Major Dang Vinh Tran, at Muswellbrook’s Vietnam Remembrance Day Service last Thursday.
The ceremony was part of the service at the Vietnam Memorial and Dang travelled from Cabramatta to attend while his sister travelled four hours by car from Kiama to be present.
Major Tran was a Major in the Army of The Republic of Vietnam Air Force and RSL Sub-branch president Tim Seymour described him as an excellent serviceman who fought and sacrificed for the freedom of the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War and since coming to Australia as a refugee, contributed to the welfare and wellbeing of Australian Vietnamese veterans.
Prior to the service, Dang said his father fought gallantly for south Vietnam before spending 10 years as a prisoner of war held by the North Vietnamese.
He endured hard labour, seven days a week, in a small concrete cell with no windows. His daily meal was a handful of rice and in 1985, when released, he weighed just 40kg. It took four attempts to escape to Malaysia and finally he was accepted as a political refugee in Australia.
It was back in 2007 that the late Greg Cole of Muswellbrook formed a friendship with Major Tran and invited the organisation to attend the Muswellbrook Vietnam Remembrance Service. Since then numbers have grown and on Thursday a bus full of Association members arrived at the memorial to commemorate the service.
Maihuyen spoke with strength and pride of her father, thanking the Muswellbrook community for welcoming her community so openly and for honouring him with the plaque.
Along with the Australian and New Zealand National Anthem, the anthem of the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnamese was sung loudly and proudly bringing many tears to the eyes of those in attendance.
The Sub-branch thanked Muswellbrook Council and Mark Evans from the St Heliers correctional Centre for assisting with the logistics of the event and others involved.