VIETNAM war veterans have discretely paid their respects to those who never came home in small ceremonies across Bendigo.
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Small groups of no more than two paid their respects at four sites across the city on Tuesday morning for Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day.
All followed strict social distancing rules that had forced the cancellation of bigger services.
The important thing was that the day was acknowledged, Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Bendigo president Paul Penno said.
"It's important to our members that we make that effort to ensure they are remembered," he said.
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Bendigo's VVAA sub-branch currently has 130 members, many of whom meet weekly for coffee when COVID-19 social distancing restrictions allow.
"It's just to catch up. We tend to talk more about our grandchildren and footy than we do the war," Mr Penno said.
Many also see their role now as one of education about the war, so that the lessons learned are passed down through the generations.
Veterans never want a repeat of the hostilities they witnessed in Vietnam.
Yet many are convinced it was right to challenge communist powers' spread through Asia, Mr Penno said.
"Regrettably, the threat of communist influence still hangs over our region with the Peoples Republic of China with its current demands of ownership over the South China Sea, the undoing of the conditions relating to the British handover of Hong Kong, its long standing threatening stance taken towards Taiwan and its support for the communist North Korea," he said.