CARL: The 1960s is remembered for a lot of things.
But one of the biggest events of the decade was actually a war
in a tiny country called Vietnam.
The Vietnam War actually started years earlier
because the country was split on how it should be run.
North Vietnam was led by people
who believed in Communism.
That's a system where the citizens work for the government
and, in return, rely on the government
to provide for them.
Many in South Vietnam, on the other hand, didn't want to live like that.
Pretty soon, other countries became involved in this war
between the North and the South.
Communist countries
like China and Russia
started supporting the North
with weapons and ammunition.
But that worried other countries
that didn't like Communism,
like the US.
So they started supporting
South Vietnam with money, weapons and, eventually, troops.
Some US allies, like Australia, then decided to join the fight too.
Throughout the war, almost 60.000 Australians served in Vietnam.
But not all of them volunteered.
Many were conscripted, which means they were forced to go
through a giant nationwide lottery.
Any 20-year-old men in the country could be picked
if their birth date was drawn in the draft.
Some Australians were against that,
others were against fighting in Vietnam at all,
because they believed it wasn't Australia's war to fight.
So there were big protests across the country
and many young men refused to go.
Those Aussies who did go faced incredibly difficult conditions -
thick jungle, monsoonal rains
and an enemy that was very familiar with both.
All up, 521 Aussies died
and more than 3.000 were wounded in the fighting.
The deadliest battle for Aussie troops
was the Battle of Long Tan on August 18, 1966.
Around 100 Australian and New Zealand soldiers found themselves
fighting a giant force of around 2.000.
Pinned down, low on ammunition and at risk of being surrounded,
the Australian troops looked like they wouldn't survive the night,
but they did, holding off the enemy until reinforcements arrived.
The war in Vietnam dragged on for many years
after the events of Long Tan.
And when it did finally end, it wasn't because Australia had won.
In the early '70s, the US and Australia decided to pull out,
as public opinion turned against the war.
And by 1975, the North had claimed victory over the South.
We're going home! We're happy!
Afterwards, many Australian troops returned home to criticism
from those who opposed the war.
Not too many returned veterans in wars before or since
were sometimes booed or occasionally even reviled
by their own countrymen and woman.
But there was one positive
to come out of the aftermath of this war.
Tens of thousands of Vietnamese people fled here
to escape the North's rule and were taken in as refugees.
They brought the Vietnamese culture with them
and over time, made Australia a more multicultural place to live.
Today, memories of the Vietnam War are still very raw
for those who took part.
That's thought to be one of the reasons
why the Vietnamese government cancelled commemorations
for the 50th anniversary of Long Tan at the last minute,
disappointing more than 1.000 Aussie veterans
who had travelled there for the day.
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But that didn't stop them from coming together to quietly remember
what happened at Long Tan 50 years ago...
..and to reflect on how both countries have changed since.