On this day, August 18, in 1966, Australian singer Little Pattie was entertaining the Australian troops at Nui Dat in Vietnam.
Between 1967 and 1971, some 50 of troupes of entertainers left Australia for Vietnam.
The performers included Lorrae Desmond, who travelled to Vietnam five times, Col Joye, and The Delltones.
There was also Normie Rowe, who released his first record in 1965 and was named “King of Pop” in 1968.
In 1967, Normie was called up for national service, and from January to December 1969 he completed a tour of duty in Vietnam with A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, RAAC.
Normie rose to the rank of corporal and became the commander of an armoured personnel career before leaving the military.
When Patricia “Little Pattie” Amphlett first went to Vietnam, she was just 17 years old.
She was the youngest Australian artist to sing for our troops there.
When Little Pattie and Col Joye took to the stage in the Australian Task Force area on August 18 in 1966, the Battle of Long Tan had started just five kilometres away.
Little Pattie said they were doing three shows in Nui Dat on that day.
“We could hear the noise that we all knew was gunfire in a nearby rubber plantation, but it wasn’t until the third show in the afternoon that we could hear explosions as well as gunfire,” she said.
“We kept performing because no one had told us to stop, but I could see several officers leave the area, I knew instinctively something was going on. Our escort, Major Don Chappell, did the fingers-across-the-throat signal for us to stop the show and we were rushed off stage. Jeeps came in through the torrential rain with sirens blasting and all hell broke loose,” she told the Daily Telegraph in July, 2019.
“We were whisked away in a chopper. The next day Col and I visited the 36th Evacuation Hospital to chat with the injured from the battle and hear their stories. These boys reminded me so much of my brother, they were his age. But I still don’t think I realised the significance of that battle.
“The importance of Long Tan came to me later when I was in Iraq in 2005 or 2006. Every time I met a U.S soldier, they would put me up on a pedestal when I told them I was in Vietnam at the time of Long Tan. They told me they studied that battle in the military and that it was the best fought battle and that only Australians could have fought it. It made me feel so proud.”
Today, Little Pattie performed once more, singing “What a Beautiful World” during the Vietnam Memorial Service in Martin Place in Sydney.
