Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan

Today we pause to remember Australians Private Ben Chuck, Private Tim Aplin & Private Scott Palmer of A Company, 2nd Commando Regiment (2 CDO Regt), killed in action on 21 June 2010, when their United States Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed on insertion during a mission against the Taliban in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

One United States soldier was also listed as KIA, Staff Sergeant Brandon Silk, who had joined the US Army upon graduating high school after seeing the attacks on the twin towers in New York on the 11th of September 2001.

Private Aplin, 38, joined the Army Reserve in 1992 and transferred to the Australian Regular Army (ARA) three years later. He had previously seen active service in East Timor and the Middle East. He was on his second tour to Afghanistan.

Private Chuck, 27, was from Yungaburra in Far North Queensland. He joined the ARA in 2004. A patrol medic with a sniper team, he was on his third Afghanistan tour.

Private Palmer, 27, joined the ARA in 2001 and transferred to the commandos in 2006. He was also on his third tour of Afghanistan and had also seen operational service in East Timor and Iraq.

Staff Sergeant Brandon Silk enlisted shortly after graduating from Orono High School in 2003. Silk served with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Working on Black Hawk helicopters and accompanying pilots on missions was a dream come true. Silk loved his job so much he turned down a promotion to a desk job. He had previously served in Korea, Iraq and twice in Afghanistan.

Another seven Australian Commandos and several US Army aircrew on-board the helicopter were injured in the crash, some very seriously. Those seriously wounded were evacuated by aeromedical flights to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany for immediate treatment.

🌺 ‘Lest We Forget’ 🌺

Commando Welfare Trust (Official Page)
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#veterans #commando #australianarmy #specialforces #operators #military #neverforget #australia #unitedstates #afghanistan

25 Australian Heroes gone, but never forgotten.

You're 21 years old.
You're in Vietnam. A mortar man. A gunner. A signaller. An infantryman. A young conscript. You’ve been here six weeks—or six days.

It’s 13 May 1968. Fire Support Base Coral.
You’ve barely finished digging in. The perimeter isn’t complete. The jungle is still. Then it erupts.

At 3:30 am, mortars and rockets fall. Small arms fire rattles from all directions.
Then they come—North Vietnamese Army, 141st Regiment. Hundreds of them.
You're outnumbered. Outgunned.
They break the wire.

They overrun the mortar pit. They swarm the gun line. One 105mm howitzer is taken.
You're not supposed to be here like this. This isn’t a firefight—it’s survival.

But you fight.
You dig in. You call artillery on your own position. You reload under fire.
You hold. You counter-attack with grenades and bayonets.
You defend your mates. Your section. Your guns. Your base.

By dawn, the enemy is pushed back.
They leave behind their dead.

But 25 Australians would die in the weeks that followed, in what became the Battle of Coral–Balmoral—Australia’s largest, most sustained, and costliest battle of the Vietnam War.

Ten died that first night on 13 May 1968.
Others would fall in the assaults that followed, including at Fire Support Base Balmoral.

They were:

Pte E.J. Bailey – 1RAR

Cpl R.B. Hickey – 1RAR

Sgt P.E. Lewis – 3RAR

Pte R.L. McNab – 1RAR

Pte J.A. O’Brien – 1RAR

Gnr C.J. Sawtell – 12 Fd Regt

Gnr I.J. Scott – 12 Fd Regt

Pte L.R. Sheppard – 1RAR

Pte B.M. Trimble – 1RAR

Pte R.C.A. Watson – 1RAR

Cpl J.H. Whitton – 1RAR

Pte I.K. Dawson – 1RAR

Pte C.R. Nisbet – 1RAR

Cpl J.G. Pearce – 1RAR

L/Cpl W.H. Martin – 1RAR

Pte A.J. Wallis – 1RAR

Pte A.H. White – 1RAR

Sig H.W. Young – 104 Sig Sqn

Pte B.T. Young – 1RAR

Maj G.A. Constable – 161 Indep Recce Flt

Pte L.N. Brown – 3RAR

Pte J.W. Cooper – 3RAR

Pte J.W. Desnoy – 3RAR

Pte W.M. Thomas – 3RAR

Pte J.T. Morle – 3RAR

Pte D.E. Abbott – 3RAR

Most were in their early twenties. Some were 19. Many were National Servicemen. All were soldiers. All were mates.

Twenty-five Australians gave their lives during Operation Toan Thang I—Vietnamese for “Complete Victory”. For their courage and sacrifice, the men of Coral and Balmoral were later awarded the Unit Citation for Gallantry.

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Battle of Coral / Balmoral Roll of Honour.

For every name etched in stone, a lifetime was given - so ours could be lived in freedom.

With their hair a little whiter, their step not quite so sure
Still they march on proudly as they did the year before.
Theirs were the hands that saved us, their courage showed the way
Their lives they laid down for us, that we may live today.

From Gallipoli’s rugged hillsides to the sands of Alamein
On rolling seas and in the skies, those memories will remain.
Of airmen and the sailors, of Lone Pine and Suvla Bay
The boys of the Dardenelles are remembered on this day.

They fought their way through jungles, their blood-soaked desert sands
They still remember comrades who rest in foreign lands.
They remember the siege of old Tobruk, the mud of the Kokoda Trail
Some paying the supreme sacrifice with courage that did not fail.
To the icy land of Korea, the steamy jungles of Vietnam
And the heroic battle of Kapyong and that epic victory at Long Tan.

Fathers, sons and brothers, together they fought and died
That we may live in peace together, while at home their mothers cried.
When that final bugle calls them to cross that great divide
Those comrades will be waiting when they reach the other side.

- Ken Bunker

In image:
- 1913 Australian Slouch hat.
- 4th Light Horse Tunic worn at Beersheba, 1916.
- Poppy picked at home.

#Anzac #AnzacDay #AnzacSpirit #Australia #NewZealand #lestweforget

Awesome afternoon at Australian War Memorial for a special screening of our Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan movie to open their brand new theatre, part of their $400m extension.

Our lead actor Travis Fimmel, our Director Kriv Stenders, and two of our three producing partners Martin Walsh and John Schwarz did a pre-screening Q&A for the sold out audience. Unfortunately, Producer Mike Schwarz couldn’t be there.

Our Production Designer Sam Hobbs was also there along with one of our other Producers, Andrew Mann.

And, great to see ex-Australian Army veteran Tony Millers there as well who expertly managed our Australian Army APCs during production.

A privilege to screen our movie again and catch up with so many great people, and fans of the film.

And as Martin Walsh said during the Q&A, we couldn’t have done it without the continued encouragement and support of everyone who has followed this page over the many years it took to get this movie made. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 🙏

Shoutout to our great mate Damien Thomlinson 03 April 2009 - he almost died in Afghanistan when hit by an Improvised Explosive Device. 16 years later, he’s still going strong.

Damien Thomlinson is an Australian commando, swimmer, rally car navigator, para-snowboarder, actor and author.

He joined the Australian Army in 2005, and went on to serve in Afghanistan. While serving with the 2nd Commando Regiment in Tarin Kowt District in April 2009, the vehicle he was in drove over an improvised explosive planted by the Taliban.

Damien was severely injured, suffering wounds to his face, arms and legs; the damage to his legs was so severe that they were amputated. After undergoing extensive rehabilitation, he stayed with his unit in a desk job.

In June 2011, to honour the memory of a friend who died in Afghanistan, he walked the 96-kilometre (60 mi) long Kokoda Track on rubber prosthetic legs as part of a 25-man team of Australian soldiers.

Damien turned that fateful day in Afghanistan into the best thing that ever happened to him.

Check out his inspiring book, ‘Without Warning: A Soldier's Extraordinary Journey’ - https://www.amazon.com.au/Without-Warning-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Journey-ebook/dp/B00D5M7MMO

#veterans #specialforces #commando #australianarmy #afghanistan #operators #warriors #resilience