Vietnam War 1962 to 1975

The Vietnam War from 1962 to 1975 was one of the longest conflicts in the 20th century. Some 60,000 Australian defence personnel served in Vietnam over 10 years of the war. Our initial commitment of 30 military advisers in 1962 grew to include a battalion in 1965 and a task force in 1966. Australia's last combat troops came home in March 1972, about 3 years before the war ended. Some Australians returned to Vietnam in 1975 to help with evacuations and humanitarian work during the war's final days. More than 500 Australians died in the war. Over 3,000 Australians were evacuated with wounds, injuries or illness.

Our military commitment

Members of 5 Platoon, B Company, 7RAR waiting to be airlifted by US Army helicopters — One of the most famous images of the Vietnam War was captured by Michael Coleridge on 26 August 1967. The image which has been etched on the rear wall of the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra, shows members of 5 Platoon, B Company, 7RAR waiting to be airlifted by US Army helicopters from an area just north of Phuoc Hai. [AWM EKN/67/0130/VN]

Australia's military commitment involved each of Australia's armed services:

Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
Australian Army
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

After combat operations ceased in 1972, a few Australian personnel stayed in Vietnam with the Australian embassy. Some RAAF personnel returned in 1975 to help with evacuations and refugees, operating almost until the moment of South Vietnam's surrender.

Australians in Vietnam

A standard tour of duty for Australians serving in Army units lasted a year. Some national servicemen with less than a year remaining of their national service were in Vietnam for only a few months. Others had a tour cut short because of serious wounds or illness. Some had shorter tours when Australia's commitment began winding down in the early 1970s.

Opposition to the war

In the early years, Australia’s participation in the war was not widely opposed.

Public opposition to our involvement in the war grew over time due to:

Australia's increasing military commitment
more conscripts from the National Service Scheme being deployed and killed
more Australians believing that the war was being lost.

In the early 1970s, more than 200,000 people marched in the streets of Australia’s major cities in protest.

Withdrawal of troops

In the early 1970s, the United States (US) Government embarked on a policy of ‘Vietnamisation’. It was withdrawing its own troops from the country while passing responsibility for the war to South Vietnamese forces.

Australia too was winding down its commitment, with the last troops coming home in March 1972.

In the final days of the war, in 1975, the RAAF sent personnel back to Vietnam to help with evacuations and humanitarian work.

The human cost of war

The war continued for just over 3 years after the United States, Australia and other allies withdrew from the war. The capital, Saigon, fell to North Vietnamese forces in April 1975. This brought an end to the war, which had spilled over into neighbouring Cambodia and Laos.

The most immediate effect of the war in Vietnam was the overwhelming loss of life and social upheaval. More than 3 million Vietnamese people had lost their lives, and more had been wounded. Millions more fled the South as political refugees when the country was unified in 1976, including thousands who settled in Australia. Some people who remained in Vietnam were imprisoned in camps for re-education.

The effects of high-explosive bombs continued after the war because many failed to explode on impact, causing problems for decades.

Millions of hectares of forest and agricultural land destroyed by the chemical defoliant Agent Orange took years to recover. The chemical also compromised the health of local people for decades.

The aftermath of the war caused major changes to families, culture, society and industry in Vietnam and its neighbouring countries.