Veterans from across the region set to participate in march and service as Vietnam War end in 1973 is recognised with rituals

The president of the city's RSL sub-branch Graham Docksey has organised an array of rituals to commemorate the 1973 end to the Vietnam War.

They include a march involving the former service personnel exercising their right to freedom of the city.

It will start in Swift Street, near the entertainment centre, and then head west and turn south onto Kiewa Street before entering Dean Street and ending in QEII Square.

The veterans will be challenged on their right to enter the city by Albury police near the post office prior to entering the square while flanked by a guard of honour consisting of navy, air force and army cadets.

Mr Docksey has been contacted by RSL colleagues from as far away as Seymour, Bendigo and Narrandera and is hopeful of sizeable number of participants.

"With Vietnam veterans themselves it would be nice to have about 100 and other veterans are more than welcome to attend and families are welcome to attend too, it's a community event," he said.

It is the first time the end of the Vietnam War has been commemorated with such pageantry in Albury and Mr Docksey believes it is very opportune.

"It would have been a missed opportunity for the veterans' community because most of them aren't going to be around for the 60^th, they're already aged 70-plus," he said.

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The march, which steps off at 10.30am, will be preceded by a flyover of a helicopter that was used to evacuate staff from the US embassy in Saigon in 1975 and was operated by Air America which was part of the CIA spy organisation.

Following the parade, a service will be held from 11am in the square.

It will include the reading of the 14 names of fighters from the the district who died in the war, an address by Albury mayor Kylie King and the Ode and Last Post.

Kapooka's army band will play the national anthem.

The 50^th anniversary of the withdrawal of Australia from the Vietnam War fell on January 11, 1973.

It was on that date that the governor-general of the time, Sir Paul Hasluck, issued a proclamation declaring that Australia's participation was at an end.

It had begun with an Australian Army Training Team entering Vietnam in 1962 and more than 60,000 combatants, including conscripts, would be involved.

Mr Docksey had a year in the infantry in Vietnam and turned 20 in May 1967 during his posting.

He joined the army at 17 and gave 46 years of service.

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