From a rubber plantation in Vietnam to the white walls of the Australian War Memorial, the Long Tan cross has found a new home.
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Almost 50 years after it was dedicated as a commemorative cross by members of the 6RAR on the site of the 1966 battle against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army force, the cross has been given to Australia permanently.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull thanked his Vietnamese counterpart for a "great act of generosity" that followed behind-the-scenes negotiations.
"It is remarkable that older men who fought against each other during that war bear no grudges against each other now," Mr Turnbull said at the war memorial in Canberra on Wednesday.
"They understand that each of them, as young men, were doing their service in accordance with directions from their leaders."
The concrete cross, a tribute to fallen mates, now becomes a symbol of wounds healed and a friendship forged between Australia and Vietnam.
"In its rough simplicity it speaks of values that are eternal," Mr Turnbull said.
War memorial director Brendan Nelson said a new chapel-like area would be created to house the cross in time for the 52nd anniversary of the battle of Long Tan next August.
The cross was reportedly used as a memorial for a Vietnamese Catholic priest until the 1980s when it was restored and placed in the Dong Nai Province Museum.
AAP
