00:0458 years ago today on May 14th 1968, 19-year-old Richard Norton ran into enemy fire three times
00:11to save a fellow soldier and recover the body of another during the Battle of Coral Balmoral in
00:16Vietnam. He and the battle have been commemorated with a statue in his hometown of Gundagai
00:22depicting the heroic actions which earned him the Victoria Cross posthumously in 2024.
00:28In the statue is his unit commander Joe Kelly who Richard Drag carried back from
00:33enemy lines. His son Scott Freeman said today at the unveiling it's incredible to
00:38see so many people turn out for his dad. It's amazing to see what he means to the
00:44country you know and to all of these other people who served with him in the
00:49army and the police force. The statue unveiling is a celebration for everyone
00:55else and Gundagai itself it's yeah it's amazing. The statue will also serve as the
01:01only memorial depicting the Battle of Coral Balmoral considered to be the
01:04bloodiest of the Vietnam War in which 26 Australian soldiers were killed and 109
01:09were wounded. Addressing the crowd in Gundagai today Governor General Sam
01:14Mostyn referred to the statue as a gift to the Australian community here in Gundagai.
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