Allen Evans was no stranger to battle when he was posted to the Vietnam War in 1966.
The former jackeroo and drover had already seen action in Korea and Malaya, and like those tours, he came unscathed through Vietnam as well.
"They never made a bullet fast enough," he would later say wryly.
Vietnam Veterans Day is held on the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan - August 18, 1966.
At this year's local service, Gordon Taylor from the Glen Innes RSL sub-branch will speak about Allen Evans, who is a previous president of the local sub-branch, and served more than 20 years in the military.
The army veteran had arrived in Vietnam as a company sergeant major with 6 Battalion, and took part in the Battle of Long Tan where vastly outnumbered Australian troops, including national servicemen, defeated attacking Viet Cong forces.
"It was dark and raining, 3.30-4pm when D company was attacked," Allen later recalled.
"My support company went to assist - we all hit the ground running."
His most enduring memory was finding young soldiers from his battalion dead the next morning.
Eighteen Australians were killed at Long Tan and another 23 were wounded.
But Allen recalled they buried 250 enemy bodies with the string of graves found later suggesting the death toll could have been as high as 500.
He would spend another nine months in Vietnam, patrolling and in contacts with the enemy.
The Glen Innes service for Vietnam Veterans Day will commence at 11.30am next Wednesday, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Anzac Park.
