Private Graham Griffiths of Westmead, Sydney, NSW was called up in the first intake of national servicemen. He joined 5RAR on 8 May 1966 and travelled to Vietnam with the first combined 'nasho' and regulars combat unit on 12 May 1966. [AWM CUN/66/0432/VN]

Private Griffiths was involved in action in Operation Hardihood north of Vung Tau just days after his arrival in country. The operation, designed to clear the perimeter around the new base being built at Nui Dat, began on 24 May 1966. A fellow conscript, Private Errol Noack from Port Lincoln in South Australia was killed by friendly fire on the first day of Operation Hardihood.

Australia’s national service scheme was introduced in 1964, and although it was not brought in to enable Australia’s participation in the Vietnam War, large numbers of people believed this to have been the case. Opposition to the scheme, which grew increasingly widespread once national servicemen began to be sent to Vietnam, became the catalyst for broader opposition to the war.

During the early years of the war, when Australia’s contribution was limited to members of the regular Army, the public were largely disinterested. Only when the commitment increased to include national servicemen, and particularly after the 1968 Tet Offensive, did widespread opposition to Australia’s participation in the war develop. After 1968 both the United States and Australia began to withdraw combat troops from Vietnam, the period of major protest in Australia – the moratorium marches of the early 1970s – occurred at a time when Australia was disengaging from the war.

Anti-war groups existed in Australia long before the war became widely unpopular. Organisations such as Save Our Sons and Youth Campaign Against Conscription were at the vanguard of the protest movement fighting, in the early days, a lonely campaign against Australia’s involvement in a war that had yet to attract widespread opposition.