Sunday featured a historic reunion between Vietnamese refugees and the Royal Australian Navy officers and sailors who rescued them in the South China Sea.
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"A lot of the things you seem to forget over the 40 years," Navy leading seaman John Tregoning said.
"But being here today, looking at photographs and talking to people, it brings back memories again."
The Royal Australian Navy tracker aircraft, the Tracker 851 rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees off the HMAS Melbourne in the South China Sea on June 21, 1981.
The floundering and then lost 13.7m Nghia Hung, known officially as MG-99, was adrift for three days when it was sighted and rescued.
The Tracker 851 has been housed at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Museum for several years.
The Tracker 851 was based on the HMAS Melbourne aircraft carrier at the time of the rescue.
The Melbourne was on its last patrol of the day when it spotted an illumination in the distance, and the tracker flew over and found the MG-99 in distress.
All onboard survived, and after their rescue, the Vietnamese refugees settled successfully in Australia.
News of Tracker 851's discovery at HARS led to an emotional visit by more than 40 MG99 refugees and family in March, and plans for a larger reunion at HARS on Sunday, also World Refugee Day.
The reunion took place at the HARS Museum at Albion Park Rail.
HARS volunteer Carl Robinson tracked down sailors, air crew and officers from the HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Torrens, and invited them to attend on Sunday.
For many of them, Sunday's reunion was the first time they'd seen the refugees since the rescue.
Mr Tregoning, now 62, was a radar operator on the HMAS Melbourne at the time.
He travelled from the Ballina area to attend.
"It was absolutely fantastic, a real celebration," Mr Tregoning said.
"The welcome from the refugees was just overwhelming.
"One refugee that I helped has (since) passed away, but I met her family today. I've got their number and we're going to catch up sometime in Sydney."
Mr Robinson said 200-250 people attended Sunday's event. "Everyone's excited and happy - it's been like a mini RAN reunion," he said.
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Brendan Crabb
I'm a member of ACM's national property team, covering the Illawarra and South Coast. Based in Albion Park, NSW, I write about exciting, interesting or just downright quirky properties that have been listed for sale, major sales, market trends, auctions and more. One of my favourite aspects of being a journalist is I believe everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
I'm a member of ACM's national property team, covering the Illawarra and South Coast. Based in Albion Park, NSW, I write about exciting, interesting or just downright quirky properties that have been listed for sale, major sales, market trends, auctions and more. One of my favourite aspects of being a journalist is I believe everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
