Flag firefight

By Shaun Inguanzo
FLY IT boys, fly it.
State RSL president Major General David McLachlan this week threw his support behind local war veterans and Vietnamese Australians who want to fly the South Vietnamese flag instead of the official flag of Vietnam at remembrance ceremonies.
He said the Vietnamese Embassy’s protests would fall on deaf ears as Vietnam veterans proudly remembered the flag they fought beside.
But he stopped short of supporting a push by local Vietnamese Australians and war veterans to have Greater Dandenong council recognise it as a community flag.
Maj Gen McLachlan said the only community flag should be the Australian flag while the former South Vietnamese flag should be used as a historical symbol in remembrance ceremonies for the Vietnam War.
“I think people have got to see it in the context of being a memorial that represents something that happened in the past,” he said.
“As a consequence, the flag those people fought under should be erected to honour them appropriately.
“It is looking at something that happened in the past, and to that end I have no difficulty in the flag being flown at memorials deemed to be Vietnam War memorials.”
He said trade threats from the Vietnamese Embassy would not stop the RSL from using the flag at celebrations such as the forthcoming 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan.
“The RSL’s policy in regards to an embassy telling us what we can do and can’t do in our country means the threats are unacceptable,” he said.
“While it is the decision of the Australian Government as to what should be done, we believe the Vietnamese Embassy has got no right to tell our governments what they can and can’t do in this nation.”
The state’s RSL leader refused to respond to claims that Veterans Affairs minister Bruce Billson had asked Vietnam War Memorial of Victoria not to fly the flag as a condition of a $40,000 grant.
But he said the Australian Government must consider its position in foreign affairs of this type.
Shadow Veteran Affairs spokesman and Bruce MP Alan Griffin supported Maj Gen McLachlan’s comments.
“It is obviously a symbol of significance to many people in the Vietnamese community but it is also a historical symbol more than an official flag,” he said.
“I think it is a bit rich for the minister Bruce Billson to retrospectively offer money and to set conditions which are unreasonable given the very significant nature of that symbol.”
John Wells, co-chairman of the Vietnam War Memorial of Victoria said Dandenong RSL would fly the South Vietnamese flag regardless of grants and trade threats.
“We have got the choice between the principle or money,” he said.
“And in our hearts we’re still soldiers and we are brothers in arms.”