New Zealand and the Vietnam War

A DigitalNZ Story by National Library of New Zealand Topics

In 1963 Prime Minister Keith Holyoake agreed to send non-combatant troops into the Vietnam War. This topic covers the anti-war protests, defence forces, action in Vietnam, apology from the Crown, compensation for veterans, and refugees from Vietnam. SCIS no: 1907663

social_sciences, arts, english, history, health

Image: Infantrymen in Vietnam, 1969

Infantrymen in Vietnam, 1969

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Asian conflicts: Vietnam War

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Flag lowering ceremony, Vietnam

Flag lowering ceremony, Vietnam

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Dien Bien Phu memorial

Dien Bien Phu memorial

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Holyoake's reluctant commitment, 1964

Holyoake's reluctant commitment, 1964

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Vietnamese family

Vietnamese family

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Troops from Vietnam

Troops from Vietnam

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira

Image: D.W. Vietnam War Shots

D.W. Vietnam War Shots

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reluctant ally

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Vietnam War

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Vietnam War

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Vietnam war pictures

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Tribute08

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Image: Demonstrators at a sit-in at the Prime Ministers suite, protesting against the Vietnam War

Sit-in at the Prime Ministers suite

This anti-Vietnam War sit-in was staged in June 1965. It was part of years of protest against America’s (and later New Zealand’s) involvement in the Vietnam War. This was New Zealand’s first televised war. It also gave rise to scores of protests by well-organised university students who objected to New Zealand and America’s involvement in the war on ethical and moral grounds. In New Zealand at the time, people wanted the government to have a more independent foreign policy rather than being pressurised by the US into joining the war. As seen in the photograph, a sit-in is a form of non-violent protest.

Demonstrators at a sit-in at the Prime Ministers suite, protesting against the Vietnam War

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Vietnamese women and children awaiting treatment at the Bong Son district dispensary during the Vietnam War - Photographer unidentified

Vietnamese women and children at the Bong Son district dispensary

Along with the combat forces sent to Vietnam, the New Zealand Services Medical Team was deployed to provide humanitarian and civilian aid to the town of Bong Son province from May 1967 to December 1971. The team consisted of three medical officers, eight medics, a laboratory technician and two administrative staff. Lieutenant-Commander A. Green shown in the picture was in charge of the unit. They were armed for their own safety, and for the safety of their patients. The camp provided medical assistance to anyone injured in the war. This included civilians and also soldiers from both sides. The team worked hard. It is recorded they treated some 46,000 outpatients and 200,000 patients overall

Vietnamese women and children awaiting treatment at the Bong Son district dispensary during the Vietnam War - Photographer unidentified

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Bill Rawiri, Vietnam war veteran - Photograph taken by Craig Simcox

Bill Rawiri, Vietnam war veteran

This is a photograph of Vietnam war veteran Bill Rawiri. The Online Cenotaph lists him as William Ernest Rawiri. Service number 388570. He was a Lance Corporal in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, who served in the Vietnam War. Around 35% of the New Zealand forces serving in Vietnam were Māori, as a result, there was a need for greater Maori cultural integration into the armed forces. The haka, karanga and wero all became part of the battalions’ cultural activities routine.

Bill Rawiri, Vietnam war veteran - Photograph taken by Craig Simcox

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: To the War! Any War. Boer War. The Great War. WWII. Korea. Vietnam. "Afghanistan!" 14 Aug 2009

To the War! Any War

Loyalty to the British Empire was one reason that New Zealand soldiers fought in the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. Then in 1950 when communist North Korea invaded South Korea, the New Zealand government sent New Zealand soldiers to join an allied United Nations force formed to fight against North Korea. In the 1960s it was the Vietnam War where New Zealand (through the ANZUS treaty) found itself pressurised by America into joining the war. The soldiers in this cartoon are on their way to Afghanistan. This is a result of the government’s decision to send Special Air Service troops (at the request of the United States) to fight in Afghanistan.

To the War! Any War. Boer War. The Great War. WWII. Korea. Vietnam. "Afghanistan!" 14 Aug 2009

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: "Vietnam was hell!" "We were poisoned... despised.. harassed... neglected... abused.." "and that was from our own side!" "Okay.. okay... We're very sorry!" 23 May, 2008

"Vietnam was hell!"

The health of some New Zealand Vietnam War soldiers suffered after they were exposed to the herbicide called ‘Agent Orange’. This was used by the US military to clear forest cover in the Vietnam war. A different form of suffering occurred when returning war veterans were harassed and despised by some fellow New Zealanders who disagreed with the government’s decision to send troops to the Vietnam War. To make matters worse, the government (and successive administrations) did not officially recognise their service in Vietnam Some 40 years after the war, then Prime Minister Helen Clark on behalf of the Crown, made an apology to the war veterans in Parliament.

"Vietnam was hell!" "We were poisoned... despised.. harassed... neglected... abused.." "and that was from our own side!" "Okay.. okay... We're very...

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Jane Fonda. 5 March, 2006.

Jane Fonda, Vietnam war activist

This is a caricature of Jane Fonda, American actress, fitness guru, and once a famous anti-Vietnam War activist. America’s involvement in the Vietnam War generated huge protests in America. Many public faces joined the anti-Vietnam war movement and Jane Fonda was one of them. In 1972, the actress accepted an invitation to visit North Vietnam. She visited American POWs in Hanoi and toured areas bombed by the American forces. A photograph of her sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun earned her the name ‘Hanoi Jane’. This photograph and her visit resulted in some American lawmakers wanting her to be prosecuted as a traitor.

Jane Fonda. 5 March, 2006.

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Photographic poster of Ho Chi Minh

Portrait of Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh or ‘Uncle Ho’ as he was also known was inspired by Russia’s communist revolution. By the late 1880’s, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, collectively known as Indochina were controlled by the French. Ho headed one of the most significant anti-colonial movements that started in Asia post-World War Two. Ho Chi Minh was president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 1945 to 1969.

Photographic poster of Ho Chi Minh

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: William and Hoa Awatere with a photograph of their uncle and brother who was killed serving in the Vietnam war - Photograph taken by John Nicholson

Willy Awatere killed in the Vietnam war

William and Hoa Awatere hold a photograph of William's uncle and Hoa's brother, Willy Awatere, who was killed by a landmine in the Vietnam War. American landmines used in the war (like the M16 landmines) caused extensive casualties and amputees. When triggered, the mine shoots up from the ground then explodes sending metal fragments in all directions causing fatal injuries. The M16 was known as the ‘jumping jack’ among Australians and New Zealanders. After the war, the Vietnamese government was left with a legacy of remnant active Vietnamese and American landmines which still cause havoc today.

William and Hoa Awatere with a photograph of their uncle and brother who was killed serving in the Vietnam war - Photograph taken by John Nicholson

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: D.W. Vietnam War Shots

Vietnam War shots

The Media (especially TV) played a very important role in the Vietnam War. Stories, interviews and photographs of the suffering, destruction, and cost of human life polarised and often outraged people. Most people remember the image of the ‘Napalm Girl’ running down the road naked and screaming in terror. Images like these captured the terror of the war and shocked at home in America. This image shows an injured Vietnamese child being carried from a military vehicle to (one hopes) a hospital. The man carrying her could be her relative. The people looking on seem deeply saddened and all too familiar with the casualties of war.

D.W. Vietnam War Shots

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: National mobilisation against Vietnam war demonstration

National mobilisation against Vietnam war demonstration

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Image: Māori artillerymen in Vietnam

Māori artillerymen in Vietnam

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Anti Vietnam war demonstration

Anti Vietnam war demonstration

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Image: National Liberation Front flag

National Liberation Front flag

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Image: Medical aid to South Vietnam

Medical aid to South Vietnam

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Lest we forget

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