It's hard to celebrate a famous victory if you've spent five decades contesting any and every suggestion many of those who took part, including some who gave their lives, didn't do anything to write home about.

That was literally the case with Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp, a conscript from Tamworth who graduated from Scheyville's accelerated officer training course and was sent to Vietnam as a platoon commander.

In death Lieutenant Sharp was the subject of a poignant photograph showing him lying face down, head towards the enemy, his M16 still in his right hand, among the rubber.

He had been fatally shot while directing artillery fire.

Sharp's commander, Major [later Lieutenant Colonel] Harry Smith put him up for a posthumous "Mention In Dispatches". The battle saw 105 Australians and three New Zealanders drive off a North Vietnamese force estimated at more than 2000 men on August 18, 1966. 17 Australians were killed in action and an 18th died as a result of wounds.

Sharp's MID, like many of the other nominations Harry Smith put forward, was ignored. Until last week, when he was recommended a Commendation for Gallantry by the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal the 21-year-old's courage was not recognised by any formal gallantry award.

The army brass of the day had set quotas on guts and glory. It was just tough luck that on this occasion there were more heroes than medals.

That didn't stop Nui Dat base commander, Brigadier Oliver David Jackson, and Smith's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Colin Townsend, receiving Distinguished Service Orders, awards specifically for gallant leadership in the field, in the wake of the battle however.

Jackson never left the base and Townsend didn't arrive on the scene until it was all over.

Sharp was one of 10 Long Tan heroes either recommended for an award or who had an inferior award upgraded by the DHAAT last week.

The case, which has been allowed to drag on for far too long, is clear proof that like all bureaucracies, defence is reluctant to ever admit an error.

There have now been four separate probes into the post Long Tan honours and awards debacle.

While some injustices, such as the denial of the DSO to Harry Smith, had been addressed previously the majority were left untouched.

This was most famously the case with the so-called "General's Review" led by Major General Peter Abigail [ret] with the assistance of then Australian War Memorial director, Major General Steve Gower [ret] and Brigadier Gerry Warner [ret] in 2008.

In 50 years the facts have never changed. The only variable on this occasion appears to have been the imminence of the anniversary.