A CHEERIO at Armidale Railway Station was the last Patricia saw of her younger brother Billy.
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The year was 1966 and within a year, William John Brett, 21, was killed in an ambush while serving in Vietnam.
Billy had been engaged to his sweetheart, Helen and was a keen footy fan, Patricia Young said. But a call-up to the war on September 28, 1966, put an end to all that.
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So Billy cast aside his civvies and on that fateful day, boarded the train to Sydney.
August 3 marked 60 years since the arrival of the Australian Army Training team in South Vietnam and 50 years since the withdrawal of combat troops in 1972.
A national commemorative service will be held later in August to mark the anniversary.
Since many veterans are too old or frail to attend the service in Canberra, a Service of Remembrance was held at every grave or commemorative plaque site across the nation on August 3.
At Billy's grave in the Anglican section of Armidale Cemetery, more than 30 serving and women, along with ex-service personnel, their friends and family, gathered to remember their fallen son and pay their respects.
Among them was Ms Young, who remembered her brother fondly.
"I remember Billy as a happy fellow, he loved footy and he liked cricket," Ms Young said.
Brett, who went to Armidale High School, also served as a special constable at The University of New England, and worked as a car salesman.
But he was one of 15,300 men conscripted to serve in Vietnam.
He served for just over a year before being killed in the ambush.
Private Brett enlisted with the 2nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.
As the dawn sky lightened on September 30, 1967 Private Brett, along with four other Australian soldiers, was ambushed by the Viet Cong as they were driving from Dat Do to a nearby check point.
His body was returned to Armidale and his family, including older brother George and younger brother Allan.
It would be another 20 years before Vietnam veterans finally marched through the streets of Sydney in a welcome home parade.
In October, 1987, crowds lined the street, in some places 10 deep, as 32,000 veterans marched.
In the parade waved 521 Australian flags, each representing an Australian soldier killed in the Vietnam War.
One of those flags had Private Brett's name written on it.
At the service in Armidale on August 3 Max Tavener, President of the Armidale RSL sub-branch, presented Ms Young with an Australian flag.
"This was an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way ... in recognising the individual loss and to pay their respects to those who were killed in action and to show solidarity with their loved ones for their loss," Mr Tavener said.
Lest we forget.
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