Nick Grimm reported this story on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 08:16:00

ASHLEY HALL: After a drawn out campaign longer than the war in which they served Australia's Vietnam veterans have finally won an important battle in their fight for proper recognition of their service and sacrifice.



The Australian War Memorial has decided that the official history of the conflict should be re-written to provide a more accurate account of the use of Agent Orange, the chemical herbicide blamed for a range of cancers.



Graham Walker was an Australian infantry commander in Vietnam and he's now a member of the Vietnam Veterans Federation.



He's speaking to Nick Grimm.



GRAHAM WALKER: Look, we're very grateful to the War Memorial, to the War Memorial Council for agreeing to having this new book written.



And we, of course we hope that now the real story will be told. It's something that we've, the Vietnam Veterans Federation's been lobbying for, for 20 years now.



NICK GRIMM: Exactly why?



GRAHAM WALKER: The original official history version of the Agent Orange controversy was flawed and it also was very insulting to the veterans who campaigned to have Agent Orange acknowledged as being harmful.



NICK GRIMM: Okay, you refer to this as the Agent Orange controversy. Just, let's step back for a moment - can you just explain to us what Agent Orange was and how its use has created such a terrible legacy for so many people as a result of that war?



GRAHAM WALKER: Yes, the American air force was very frustrated because during the Vietnam War they were unable to be used to their full potential because they couldn't see the ground. The jungle canopy hid the Vietcong, hid the enemy.



And so the American solution to that was to remove the jungle canopy and so they sprayed millions of gallons of the toxic chemical, or a mixture of toxic chemicals known as Agent Orange and other agents onto the jungle canopy to kill it and remove it.



However, the mixture had a deadly impurity called dioxin, which is one of the most dangerous carcinogens that exists.



The Vietnamese themselves were, a lot of them were heavily exposed, and the servicemen to one degree or another.



NICK GRIMM: And what sort of health impacts did that have for them?



GRAHAM WALKER: Well for the service people the potential for a long list of cancers, and that's now recognised and accepted.



NICK GRIMM: So what was wrong with the account in the official history of that conflict?



GRAHAM WALKER: Well the previous account basically says the chemicals were harmless, that the veterans had no case, and their motivation for their campaign was simply greed to get compensation.



And of course it was far from that .In fact the veterans concerned with the campaign were simply, their motivation was simply looking after their sick mates.



The official history on this issue came out in 1994 and since then we've been trying to have a new history written which tells the truth.



ASHLEY HALL: Graham Walker, an Australian infantry commander in Vietnam, speaking to Nick Grimm.