The 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam) gathers in Tongala for the annual Remembrance Day on October 24 each year.
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The Light Horse Memorial is a commanding tribute, on the corner of Henderson Rd and Mangan St, Tongala.
Follow the sand coloured pathway to the War Memorial for Cavalry (Vietnam).
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The footprints on the pathway represent a Light Horseman, symbolising the journey over the years from the former Light Horse, leaving the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East to arrive in the modern day of mechanised Cavalry.
3rd Cavalry Regiment honorary life member Michael Thompson built the Australian Light Horse Memorial in Tongala.
“The Light Horse Memorial was built in 2003 and then the national avenue of honour to the armoured corps, Vietnam, which is a national memorial that cannot be built anywhere else in Australia,” Michael said.
“That is our link, because the light horseman, the horse, the equipment used in battle, we ride into battle.
“With the Centurion Tank or the APC in the park, that is our modern day horse.”
Each year on October 24, the community gathers to honour the fallen, for the annual Remembrance Day for 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam).
At the 2023 Remembrance Day, a mural was unveiled acknowledging the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam), reflecting the humid conditions servicemen fought in, with a rain feature down one side of the painting.
In 2024 the memorial will be expanded to include a cenotaph.
“It is all about remembering the ones we lost and not just in the Vietnam war, but we go through all the conflicts right back to the Light Horse,” Michael said.
“It is a proud transition that if you belong to a regiment, that you always remember the fallen.”
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