HALF a century after being shot dead at 21 in the Battle of Long Tan, Tamworth's Gordon Sharp is finally receiving the recognition he has been denied for so long.
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After the news this week that a tribunal had recommended the Governor-General approve Second Lieutenant Sharp for a Commendation for Gallantry, an Australian military honour for Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp is merely a formality away.
Not only this, but the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on Thursday will be dedicated to the young man.
It’s a daily ceremony during which the story of a fallen soldier is told, but 2Lt Sharp’s inclusion on the calendar is on a greatly significant date: the 50th anniversary of the battle.
This all might seem like just a bit of good news to the casual history buff.
But 2Lt Sharp and several other soldiers missing out on official recognition has been a matter of outrage to many veterans and supporters, and a decades-long fight for his brother Tony and Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Smith SG MC (retired).
Colonel Smith was a major at the time of the Battle of Long Tan - the officer in command of D Company 6RAR, including 2Lt Sharp, which saw most of the fighting.
The three-and-a-half-hour battle on August 18, 1966, in a rubber plantation in monsoonal rain left 18 Australians dead and about 20 injured. But despite numbering just 108 men and being engaged on three sides by the enemy, the Anzacs had managed to hold off an estimated 1500-2000 Viet Cong, killing about 245.
Of course, this only skims through the events of those hours, and there are many more details of collective assistance and individual heroics.
But when it comes to Tamworth-born-and-raised Gordon Sharp, according to official records, the 11 Platoon commander called in artillery support at 4.12pm that day.
At 4.26pm, NZ artillery shells fired from Nui Dat missed their target, and when 2Lt Sharp stood to redirect the fire, he was shot and killed.
Colonel Smith soon after recommended awards for his men, but for a long time thought they’d been ignored.
When the 30-year secrecy rule on 1966 government documents expired, he learned there was no paperwork on some of the proposals he discussed with his superiors, and other proposals had been downgraded.
So began 20 years of government lobbying, reviews, media interviews and even the writing of a book.
Now, the independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal has recommended an earlier decision to deny 2Lt Sharp an honour be overturned, and that he and nine other soldiers receive either medals or commendations for gallantry.
Sadly, Tony Sharp is unwell in a nursing home and not capable of attending the war memorial ceremony or possibly even understanding the significance of it or the tribunal’s ruling, but son Andrew will attend on Thursday and lay a wreath for his uncle.
LIFE OF PARTY CUT SHORT
FRIENDS’ memories of Gordon Sharp are of him being a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving bloke – and very much a ladies’ man.
“He didn’t drink, which is very, very unusual,” Christian Brothers College classmate and Vietnam War comrade John O’Halloran said.
“We’d go to a party and he’d be rolling around the bloody floor and honestly, you’d think he was pissed – we’d all be on the syrup.
“This was mainly when we were in Brisbane - all the single officers out of the mess, knocking around with nursing sisters or airline hostesses.
“He’d say, ‘Hey, can I borrow your car? I’m going to take someone home,’ and we’d say alright – but it was normally someone else’s girlfriend he’d take home. He was the biggest pantsman you’ve ever known.”
A MOTHER’S HEARTBREAK
No matter what the conversation ... ‘my dear Gordon’ would always be spoken of by her. Roma's heart broke the day Gordon was killed at the Battle of Long Tan; it took 30 years to the day to stop beating.
- Di Schofield
Family friend, Tamworth woman Di Schofield, said she remembered “vividly when this terrible tragedy happened to this beautiful family”.
“They arrived home from being at Mass on the Saturday night, to find the priest, [a policeman and an army officer] waiting for them. They knew exactly what they were to tell them.”
Mrs Schofield said the Sharps had terrible trouble getting their son’s body home, as it was looking to cost them £500 - about $15,000 in today’s money.
“Eric and Roma fought this decision with a vengeance, with the help of the Catholic priest and the local member.”
They won, and their son had a large military funeral. The coffin was taken through Tamworth’s CBD on a gun carriage and hundreds of residents turned out.
Mrs Schofield said she saw Mrs Sharp regularly for many years after. “No matter what the conversation ... ‘my dear Gordon’ would always be spoken of by her.”
Mrs Sharp spent her final years in a Queensland nursing home and died 30 years to the day after her son, Mrs Schofield said.
“Roma's heart broke the day Gordon was killed at the Battle of Long Tan; it took 30 years to the day to stop beating.”
Gordon, Eric and Roma Sharp are buried side-by-side in the Lincoln Grove cemetery.
THE LAST POST CEREMONY
ON THE 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan – Vietnam Veterans' Day – the Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial will feature the story of 2Lt Sharp.
“The person reading the speech is Mark Donaldson VC, and that is tremendous as far as I’m concerned,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“It always is a serviceman in uniform and it can be a major-general or general or anybody, but a Victoria Cross winner is just magnificent.”