He took part in a battle that killed Vietnamese soldiers, and buried them in a crater. More than 50 years later, Stratford resident and Vietnam veteran John Bryant has helped recover 20 bodies from that site, who were then honoured at a memorial in April this year.
It was 56 years ago during the Vietnam War that the Battle of Balmoral changed Mr Bryant’s life forever.
In May 1968, aged just 20 years old, Mr Bryant was part of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australia Regiment (3RAR) at Fire Support Base Balmoral, located 40 kilometres north-east of Saigon. Vietnamese soldiers he helped kill were buried near the base.
Vietnam veterans and their families, from both sides of the conflict, including Mr Bryant and fellow 3RAR veteran Brian Cleaver, along with Australian and Vietnamese officials, have for years searched for the buried Vietnamese fallen soldiers of 141 Regiment, 7 Division.
The story of these digs was detailed in The Crater: A True Vietnam War Story documentary (2015), which can be watched on YouTube.
“In March of 2019, I was at the last dig of my veteran mate Brian Cleaver. He had dug that same area on quite a few occasions, all to no avail,” Mr Bryant, now aged 77, told the Gippsland Times.
“I had been onsite with him on about four digs and I had told him and our embassy, plus Military 7 in the province of Bình Duong, that they will never find them there.”
Mr Bryant remarkably had both memories and battle photos from Balmoral, and worked with others after COVID restrictions eased to locate the crater, finding 20 fallen soldiers, with another 22 believed to be in the area.
“I knew full well that if we find the gun pit (at the Fire Support Base), we will find the bodies. In January 2020 I put a team together. COVID hit and it put things on hold,” Mr Bryant said.
“But when Vietnam opened up again I continued with various reports to Vietnam officials but I had no response. In November of 2023 I returned to Vietnam to weave a path through various contacts I had gathered from digs from before.
“The Vietnamese Government and the Australian Embassy were on the back foot from previous failed digs, but my new information was so correct that I had to overcome those little hurdles.”
In March, Mr Bryant along with two team members and personnel from Military 7 began their dig.
On April 1, the first body was discovered in a B-52 bomb crater, and more were uncovered. It was an amazing achievement for all involved, as the conditions during the digs were very challenging.
“20 martyrs were recovered in all, along with some equipment and personal items,” Mr Bryant said.
The Vietnamese refer to their war dead as martyrs. Mr Bryant said “the faith had been restored” between Australia and Vietnam over previous let downs for the Vietnamese families and Vietnam itself.
The remains and equipment were cleaned with the bones being placed in a coffin onsite.
On April 12, the casket was placed in a military truck and a one-hour procession with the military proceeded to the Bình Duong Martyrs Cemetery.
“Only myself as the veteran of that battle, including my partner Nhu were allowed to follow directly behind in a military car. They laid to rest there until April 26 when, according to the media and the army, they reported that it was the biggest burial of martyrs in the history of Vietnam,” Mr Bryant said.
Military, ambassadors, the Vietnamese President and the country’s media attended the ceremony. Australia’s Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski and his defence team were also there.
Mr Bryant described it as a great solemn spectacle.
“I was humbled by the respect given to me and the inclusion of being able to attend,” he said.
“After all, I was directly involved with the killing and burial of these soldiers of Vietnam 56 years ago. How ironic that 56 years later I was responsible for their return.”
It’s an odd experience to be a veteran of the Battle of Coral–Balmoral. Australia may have won the battle, but it didn’t win the war. And veterans weren’t exactly thanked for their service – in fact they were shunned by the public and even by some veteran organisations.
This came up multiple times during local commemorations for Anzac Day in the Wellington Shire this year, including in Stratford.
At the ANZAC Commemorative March and Service, Stratford RSL President, Ben Davis urged the public to support returning soldiers.
“When they come back, support them, because they need support,” he said.
“When the Vietnam vets came back, they were (treated like) maggots.”
Asked about this, Mr Bryant, who was in Vietnam on Anzac Day, agreed that Vietnam veterans were treated terribly. But he knows he was deployed to battle with a job to do, and is content with the public today forming their own opinions about that conflict.
Veterans of war often return to complicated lives after service. In Mr Bryant’s case, he has managed to build a great home for himself in Stratford – quite literally.
“I built this house. I came here (in 1998) and there was nothing here,” he said.
He had bought a block a land. He then went to Bunnings and bought a book for $19.95 that taught him how to build his own house. He first built a shed, and then lived in the shed as he worked on the house. He tiled, painted and plastered, receiving help every now and then.
To think, if he was standing at a different spot at the wrong moment in 1968, he may not be here to tell his story. He lost friends from his platoon in that battle.
Part of the healing process for him has been finding the mass grave of Vietnamese martyrs, and watching them be honoured at the ceremony.
Mr Bryant was nervous to meet families of Vietnamese martyrs, but has experienced nothing but kindness.
One of the fallen soldiers found was of Nguyen Van Ha. His two sisters, Nguyen Thi and Nguyenn Thi Khang were at the memorial ceremony. They embraced Mr Bryant when they saw him.
“They grabbed me by the arms and said thank you in Vietnamese, and I just hugged them.”
