This Saturday, Vietnam Veteran’s Day, the Austinmer resident will give the address at the service, at 11am at the Vietnam memorial on Flagstaff Hill, Wollongong.

And as an officer, his recounting the Battle of Coral-Balmoral, one of the biggest actions Australians saw during the war in Vietnam, takes in the big picture.

This battle was no accident. Two battalions of the Royal Australian regiment were deployed right in harm’s way to obstruct North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops withdrawing after the Tet Offensive, and the May Offensive, on Saigon.

They landed on May 12, 1968, to set up a “fire support base” which was named Coral, and within hours they were under attack. They dug in and prevailed. At this stage Hori, a company commander, was further west conducting ambushes.

But by May 24 his battalion was ordered to set up a new fire support base, Balmoral. Within days a two-battalion attack came their way. The attacks were always at night, because if the NVA was still out in the open come morning, American air power would destroy them.

Over 26, the NVA was repelled with heavy losses – 26 Australians died and 99 were wounded, against an estimated 300 NVA casualties. The Australians’ bravery earned them a Unit Citation for Gallantry, awarded this year at the 50^th anniversary service.

“How they didn’t overrun it, I will never know,” Hori said. “It must have been that close.

“The most surprising thing about Vietnam, when you consider the level of the battles and the operations, was the extraordinary low casualties that we had.

“I know that doesn’t help people whose loved ones were killed, but over the ten years we were there you could expect to lose thousands. We lost 521. How? We were the best prepared troops that had ever left this country.”

While the Americans flew in and out individually, Australian units trained, prepared, deployed and left together.

While he doesn’t have kind words to say about the Viet Cong guerillas, the NVA was a different story.

“Goodness me these blokes were damn good,” he said. “I’d say it out loud. I didn’t like them very much, but they were good. They were professional soldiers … and I’ve got nothing against them.”

Unlike some veterans, Hori hasn’t made a return trip to Vietnam to see what the country has become.

“No, I couldn’t go back. I would say something wrong and get in real trouble.”

Hori missed the hostility that was directed at many Australian soldiers after the unpopular war in Vietnam. His unit was welcomed warmly in Adelaide – “the soldiers told me they couldn’t buy a beer for days” – and soon afterwards he was off overseas again, missing what he called the “nonsense” post-war.

But as patron of the Vietnam Veterans Association Illawarra sub-branch, he knows there is still some bitterness, and said the unit citation meant a lot for these veterans.

“They’ll never forget,” he said. “Anything that can be done to recognise their service helps.

“Many of them are getting old and frail.

“Me, I’m just old.”