How Seymour RSL worked with students to save Vietnam Veterans Day
In 2024 Vietnam Veterans in the regional town of Seymour, 90 kilometres north of Melbourne, believed they had conducted their final Vietnam Veterans Day service. With very few people attending the service, and most veterans entering their 80’s, they no longer felt they had the capacity to continue with the service.
But as the 2025 service approached, they contacted Kelly Quigg, Defence Mentor at the local high school, Seymour College, to see if the students would like to take over the running of the service.
As the wife of a current serving member, Kelly is passionate about telling veterans stories and jumped at the chance for the students to be involved.
With Puckapunyal Army Base located nearby, many students are the children of current serving members with a direct connection to military service. While the students were keen to be involved Kelly knew that they would need assistance in putting together a formal commemorative service.
She invited Seymour RSL Sub-Branch President Matthew McLaughlin to come to speak to the students. Along with other members of Seymour RSL Sub-Branch he taught the students how to run a commemorative service, reciting the ode, the role of the catafalque party and other formalities.
Students from Seymour College’s vocational major and defence students took on the role of organising the event as part of their Planning and Implementing a Community Project unit. The students undertook extensive research into the history and role of Australian servicemen and women in the Vietnam War and were able to tap into their own family’s service to understand what the ceremony meant.
The students were able to organise for the School of Armor catafalque party to attend the service at short notice which Kelly Quigg said added significant formality to the ceremony.
The ceremony was highly successful, attracting coverage on ABC Radio and Channel 7 news. More than 200 people attended the event, including a significant number of veterans, residents and children from Seymour College and Puckapunyal Primary schools.
The service demonstrated how incorporating the community into commemoration ensured the Vietnam veterans service and sacrifice would be remembered for many years to come.
