Service honours Vietnam veterans

Beechmont’s Anzac Day Service will focus on the Vietnam War this year.

In addition to a display depicting Australia’s involvement in Vietnam, the service will honour two local men who served.

Lance Corporal Allen Francis Duncan served in Vietnam from 1968.

Private Robert (Bob) Phillip McCallum who served from 1965.

During the Second World War Japan invaded the French colonies of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

In 1945 the French re- turned, but Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party, saw an opportunity for his country to become independent.

A bitter war ensued that ended with the French being defeated in 1954.

The Geneva Accords peace agreement in July that year saw the country divided between the communist north and a quasi-democratic (though corrupt and dictatorial) south.

In 1956 North Vietnam began trying to seize control of the south. From the late 1950s, the United

States committed troops to help South Vietnam defend itself, rapidly escalating its deployments under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations through the early and mid-1960s.

On 29 April 1965 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced in parliament that Australia would send a battalion of combat troops to Vietnam.

By the time Australia withdrew its forces almost eight years later, 521 Australian service personnel would be dead.

- Keer Moriarty

By Christine Tod, Beechmont Landcare

Ragweed

A lot of Landcare is about identifying the good plants from the bad plants. This can be a challenge for people who are new to the plateau because there as so many new plants to learn about.

Controlling weeds allows room for the native plants to grow which in turn allow the native fauna to thrive. Also, any action that we take helps reduce the infiltration of weeds into our neighbour, Lamington National Park. Virtually every month there is a weed that is coming into flower and to our attention.

This month we are focussing on Ambrosia artemisiifoli or Ragweed.

It grows to up to 2m tall and has a leaf that looks a bit like a fern. The flowerhead is an elongated spike up to 20cm long.

It likes to establish itself in disturbed sites and pasture and it can be seen around Beechmont Pioneer Reserve where we are working to get rid of it. It is also seen on residents’ gardens and properties. Initially it can be mistaken for a fern because of its leaf.

It is best dealt with when young as it can be easily pulled out. As it ages though it becomes deeply rooted and needs to be cut and poisoned. It can set up large patches and is a curse for farmers. Early intervention is the best.

If you see ragweed on your walks around Beechmont, pull it out.

Ragweed.