Vietnam Minefield (ATOM Study Guide)

Vietnam Minefield is a film suitable for senior secondary students* that tells the true, untold story of a major military blunder that killed scores of Australian soldiers and wounded hundreds. Based on the book The Minefield by Dr Greg Lockhart, the film tells of a moment in history through its survivors and covers both sides of the Vietnam War, drawing on interviews with the Australian Vietnam veterans and the Vietnamese resistance fighters directly involved. The story follows the 1967 decision of Brigadier Stuart Graham, the Commander of the Australian Task Force in Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam, who took the controversial decision to lay an eleven-kilometre minefield to secure the position he was charged with maintaining. His decision had terrible consequences and haunts those who survive to this day. The film is a tribute to ordinary soldiers who were resourceful and brave in dealing with a weapon that has no friends – the landmine.

Curriculum Links:
This film will be of interest to teachers and students from senior secondary school in the following subject areas:
• History
• Geography
• Social and Cultural Studies
• Studies of Society and the Environment
• Health and Human Development
• Media Studies

* Some scenes in the film are graphic and may be disturbing to some students.