“Laid to Rest in Australian Soil”: The Legacies of Repatriation Policy Change during the Vietnam War

Abstract

For the first half of the twentieth century, Australia maintained a firm policy of non-repatriation. Military personnel who died overseas were buried in vast military cemeteries administered by the Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission. In 1966, however, the Australian government decreed that Australia's war dead could be repatriated, at public expense, for hometown burial or cremation. Focussing on the 18 soldiers who died in (and shortly after) the August 1966 Battle of Long Tan, this article examines the logistical, affective, and commemorative effects of Australia's Vietnam-era change to repatriation policy. In doing so, it reveals the new policy's practical and cultural legacies.