FORTY-three years after the Battle of Coral-Balmoral, Vietnam veteran Tony Jensen will receive the “Medal for Gallantry” from Governor-General David Hurley this afternoon (May 13). 

Moments after wreaths were lain for his former servicemen during a commemorative ceremony at the Vietnam memorial on ANZAC Parade this morning, Mr Jensen, the former Lieutenant in the RAR Mortar Platoon, is pleased to finally be receiving the medal, saying it will be a tribute to the mortarmen and the gunners that stood with him.

The federal shadow minister for veterans’ affairs, Shane Newman, spoke at the ceremony and acknowledged that the medal being awarded to Mr Jensen will mean that an historic wrong will be rewritten.

“There was a great injustice in the failure of our country to show our appreciation for [Vietnam veterans’] service, [and] looking after them in terms of compensation, rehabilitation,” he said.

The Battle of Coral-Balmoral began on the night of May 12, 1968, after the First Australian Task Force in South Vietnam were deployed to an area north of the then-capital, Saigon.

Their task was to counteract the Tet offensive – a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam.

Their five week operation was, and still is, the only Task Force/Brigade operation since World War II. It involved about 3500 troops.

Mr Jensen’s 1 RAR Mortar Platoon of 18 men became desperately outnumbered after they came under mortar and RPG fire from the 400-strong, 141 Regiment of the North Vietnamese Army.

Those troops overran their position, after which the young lieutenant, Mr Jensen, helped coordinate retaliatory fire. By the time the dust had settled and the enemy had been beaten back, Mr Jensen’s regiment had lost five men, while another eight were wounded, with 52 members of the North Vietnamese Army dead on the battlefield.

Forty-three years later, the veterans of the Battle of Coral-Balmoral, will be recognised through this medal, Mr Jensen said.

“We stood our ground and fought and came through. And [after the government didn’t] recognise any of the mortarmen because it would have made them look bad,” he said.

Ben Jensen, Mr Jensen’s son, was at the ceremony and said he was proud that his father will receive the recognition he’d earned in the battle.

“I’m really just honoured of what he’s done for our country,” he said.