First Australian memorial to Vietnam nurses unveiled in Morven

The permanent photographic exposition was opened by respected remote area nurse and educator Professor Sabina Knight AM, who said her own work in trying rural conditions amplified her appreciation for what the nurses working in a theatre of war had experienced.

"You were crouched for hours beside patients on the floor of RAAF planes," she said.

"Your ability to innovate inspires me.

"You were on high alert 24/7, and you were all a long way from home.

"Your stories deeply move me and make me so proud to be a nurse."

The 16-photograph display in a small building that's part of Morven's historical precinct was initiated by local Annabelle Brayley, the author of Our Vietnam Nurses, published in 2016, and she told those gathered that the stories of what the nurses experienced would always have a home now.

"It's been more than half a century since the war finished - the nurses needed to know their service was valued," Ms Brayley said.

She highlighted former Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce's words in the exhibition summary, that it's terrific it's sited in Morven.

She explained it had been created in her hometown of Morven because somebody, somewhere needed to build a lasting testimonial that would acknowledge their service and secure their stories for future generations.

"A building became available here and we embraced the opportunity," she said.

Warrego MP Ann Leahy, also speaking on the afternoon, added that 80 per cent of the nurses who served were from rural areas like Morven.

"Some of them were as young as 22," she said.

"As the shadow minister for volunteers, it's a great privilege to be here at a memorial to volunteers, created by volunteers.

"You can hold your head high Morven, to have this lasting memorial in your town."

Four of the former nurses featured in the exhibition were in town for the occasion, including Janet Glasson, whose family moved from NSW to Cunnamulla when she was a child.

She did her nursing training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, where colleagues joined a civilian surgical team to Vietnam, that she was often in contact with.

"I thought, this is me," she said. "I did an interview and two weeks later I was having injections."

Ms Glasson said she'd always wanted to help people more needy and felt called to offer her service to the diplomatic mission that trained local personnel and treated South Vietnamese civilians and soldiers, Australian and American service personnel, and even prisoners of war.

"After 12 months I was a very tired Janet," she said.

"We were continually at work.

"I remember Christmas Day, we were having an aperitif before dinner when an ambulance arrived plus a truckload of casualties - that was the end of our dinner."

Ms Glasson, who later served as matron at the Cunnamulla Hospital, was in Vietnam when the Tet Offensive, the largest military campaign of the war, took place on January 30, 1968, and she remembered that they had to take M-16 rifles into the operating theatre, in case there was a need to defend themselves.

"I felt safe though, and I loved the people of Vietnam," she said.

"We looked after Viet Cong but to us, they were patients with injuries.

"We were neutral and we had to wear special badges so they could identify us that way and be reassured."

Ms Glasson said it was wonderful that the exhibition was situated in Morven, Ms Brayley's home town, because she had done so much for the recognition of nursing over the years.

The other nurses attending on the day were among the 106 female members of the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service deployed to Butterworth, Malaysia, from where they flew medevacs into South Vietnam evacuating Australian casualties.

A number were seconded to the United States Air Force for 60-day rotations flying daily medevacs from Clark Air Base in the Philippines down through South Vietnam where they evacuated American casualties back to Clark, Japan or Korea.

It took until 1993 for the Australian government to recognise the service of the RAAFNS, and surviving Civilian Surgical Team members were only granted access to Veteran Gold Cards in 2020, 50 years after the last of them returned to Australia.

The exhibition images were sourced from the Australian War Memorial, from nurses, and from the family of war photographer Denis Stanley Gibbons.

At this stage, the memorial will be open from 10am to 4pm on weekdays.

Ms Brayley said she was now working on a second stage, which could include statues being placed around the building.