NASHOS Commemorative Ceremony 2018

The Australian War Memorial once again had the privilege of hosting a gathering of former National Servicemen from across Australia on 7 September 2018. This year’s ceremony was attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Marise Payne, who delivered the commemorative address. Also in attendance was Mr. Allen May, a former National Serviceman who served in D Coy, 6 RAR. He fired the first shots during an engagement with North Vietnamese in a rubber plantation at Long Tan – shots that have echoed in Australian military history ever since. As part of the commemoration ceremony, Mr. May donated his service medals to the AWM.

The Nashos are proud to have a corner of the Australian War Memorial to call their own. Unveiled on 8 September 2010, the National Service Memorial is located to the right of the AWM main entrance. The Military Shop was honoured to be involved with this historic occasion and produced numerous commemorative items and a DVD documenting the dedication ceremony, which featured an extraordinary parade of 2,500 Nashos who served between 1951 and 1972. Captured through the lenses of four photographers and videographers, the DVD features two and a half hours of footage and 2000 still images, including sweeping aerial scenes of the occasion. 

Today, we once again paused to remember those 287,000 young Australians who were called for service – 212 of whom never returned.