text: It is a little known fact that Australia was just as involved with the Vietnam was as the U.S.  Their involvement almost exactly parallels U.S. involvement because they were a part of a coalition of countries who stepped up to try to stop the spread of communism in that region of the world. Australia sent several brigades of service men to fight, or rather contain, communism in Vietnam. Australia probably had very good reason to do so. \n\nIf communism spread through Southeast Asia, it would leave Australia in a very vulnerable economic, military and political position because of the distance from any ally or friendly country. A worse case scenario would entail one or several Southeast Asian countries joining forces and invading Australia. Just the Vietnamese could have overwhelmed Australia’s armed forces because Australia's military was very small and not well equipped at that time. \n\nLike in the U.S., the Vietnam War became very unpopular in Australia. They had lost many servicemen in a conflict that seemed like it could continue forever. Furthermore, there had been other countries near Australia that successfully pushed back communism because of the fighting in Vietnam, which gave the impression that the original reason for Australia to be involved had been accomplished and there was no further need for Australia to be there. There had been major protests and anti-war movements paralleling the timeline of similar issues in the U.S. \n\nThe big difference between Australia and U.S. involvement is how the Vietnamese communist government reacted to the two countries after the war ended. There was a lot of hatred of America by the communists, but hardly a mention about Australia. In fact, Australian news reporters were on the ground in Saigon when the NVA forces took over the city and ended the war. They were allowed to leave without issue. \n\nThat in mind, Australia was able to rebuild a relationship with Vietnam much quicker than the U.S. Commerce and trade between the two countries have been very strong for many years, with tourism from Australia to Vietnam being one of the major industries between the countries. \n\nAustralia has become a favorite country for Vietnamese immigration because of being much easier than immigrating to the U.S. There is a large population of Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians now living in Australia. \n\nMy information comes from years of studying Vietnam, and I don't recall exactly where I found this information. I suggest you Goggle it and find more information for yourself. I've given you enough information to have a good head start.\n\nGood luck!