“We, to Them, Are Their Heroes”: Narratives of Rescue in White Australian Veterans' Memories of the Vietnamese

This article examines white Australian veterans' views and memories of Vietnamese people in three stages: during the war, after the Fall of Saigon, and upon return to Vietnam. Drawing on original oral histories with veterans who returned to Vietnam, this article shows that veterans' characterisations of Vietnamese were fundamentally about defining their own self-image as white Australian soldiers. Despite the historic prevalence of anti-Asian racism in Australia, most veterans claimed to have never felt animosity towards any Vietnamese. Yet wartime memories reflect caricatures, drawing on Cold War tropes and Orientalist themes to validate the presence of the Australian Task Force in Vietnam. After the Fall, veterans' memories of Vietnamese in Australia echoed longstanding narratives about legitimacy and worthiness in Australian immigration debates. Upon return to Vietnam, veterans continued to divide Vietnamese along wartime allegiances. They widely reported that all Vietnamese—enemies, allies, and civilians alike—welcomed them back because they loved and respected Australian soldiers during the war. Australian veterans' memories of Vietnamese were thus fundamentally about telling a story about Australian egalitarianism and humanitarianism. In so doing, veterans' memories work to validate the Australian military role in Vietnam and define white Australian national identity in the model of the Anzac legend.