Photography exhibition: Stories of the Dat Do Dogs

In mid-1962 the first Australian soldiers arrived in Vietnam, and over the next decade more than 60,000 Australians served there. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War officially ended on 11 January 1973, with the last troops leaving in June 1973.

Stories of the Dat Do Dogs is a photographic exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the final withdrawal of Australian troops from Saigon. The exhibition features the photographs and stories of 50 veterans and nurses who served in Vietnam.

From Bourke to the Blue Mountains, veterans from across New South Wales volunteered to be featured in this exhibition. There are photographs and stories of those who served in the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force, and as nurses on the front line in the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service.

The exhibition has been delivered in collaboration with artist Jack McLain, an American special forces veteran of the Afghanistan conflict. He gave each of the veterans the time and space to tell their story and has created one-of-a-kind portraits using a wet-plate tintype technique to accompany their words.

The exhibition is located in the Anzac Memorial’s auditorium on the lower ground level. The memorial is open every day, 9am to 5pm. Please note that access to the exhibition is dependent on the auditorium’s availability, so we encourage you to call the memorial in advance on (02) 8262 2900.

Entry is free.