Repatriation ceremony held to remember 33 Australian war casualties
Australian Defence Force personnel carry coffins from a plane that contain the remains of 33
Australian service personnel and dependents at the Royal Australian Air Force base located in
Richmond, west of Sydney, Australia, June 2, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)
SYDNEY – The remains of Australian troops killed in the Vietnam War and their families have arrived for a private ceremony in Sydney, more than 40 years after being buried in Malaysia and Singapore.
Thirty-three bodies repatriated from Malaysia’s Terendak Cemetery and Singapore’s Kranji Cemetery – where they were buried five decades ago – arrived at Richmond RAAF base north-west of Sydney this morning.
The bodies of the 25 veterans, two spouses and six children were brought home in flag-drapped coffins on two Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft.
Each of the 33 will be buried by their families in ceremonies over the next three weeks in all states except Tasmania.
The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed last year to exhume and repatriate their remains following a concerted campaign by family and friends of those killed.
Almost 60,000 Australian military personnel troops fought alongside the United States during the Vietnam conflict between 1962 and 1975.
– TiVi Tuan-san
