Thursday, 18 August 2022

Battle of Long Tan commemoration

Ms WARD: Since the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan the Lower Plenty Bears have held a Vietnam veterans round in recognition and respect of the service of these veterans. Each year this day gets better and better, and the Bears are to be commended for all they do to make this day such a success. I want to acknowledge the hard work and kind heart of Grant Barden, who pulls this event together every year. I also want to thank Montmorency-Eltham RSL president Glen Ferrarotto and senior vice president Andrew Hall for passing on to me a sapling descendant of the Lone Pine, which I was able to donate to the Bears and is now planted near their oval. Thanks to the kindness of the level crossing removal authority both Lower Plenty and Panton Hill players were able to give 50 seedlings to the Diamond Valley Vietnam Veterans in recognition of the 50 veterans who have passed away since the DViets formed.