More than half a century after risking his life to save his mates in Vietnam, Richard Norden has finally received the nation’s highest military honour: the Victoria Cross.
It’s a moment veterans, families and history-lovers have long hoped for: recognition for a young man from Gundagai whose extraordinary courage in 1968 helped save lives and left an unforgettable mark on those who served beside him.
Norden was only 19 when his platoon was ambushed during the Vietnam War. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, he ran straight into enemy fire – killing two enemy soldiers, rescuing his wounded section commander Joe Kelly, and retrieving the body of his mate Chris Nisbet with grenades in hand.
“If it wasn’t for Dick, there would have been more of us coming home in body bags that day,” fellow veteran Stan Barrett told A Current Affair.
At the time, Norden was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. But even Sir Roden Cutler, himself a VC recipient and then-Governor of New South Wales, felt the recognition didn’t go far enough.
For decades, friends, comrades and advocates continued the fight to have his bravery properly honoured. One of them was veteran George Hulse, who took on governments and the military until 2022, when the case for a Victoria Cross was finally accepted.
“And (Cutler) said the words, ‘What does one have to do these days to get the Victoria Cross?’” Hulse recalled.
In a cruel twist, Norden never lived to see the moment. After surviving Vietnam, he joined the Australian Federal Police, but tragically died in a motorcycle crash in 1972. He was just 24.
On behalf of a grateful nation, Norden’s widow Robynn accepted the long-overdue medal in an emotional ceremony, honouring the love of her life and the hero he always was.
For the men who served beside him, the recognition is bittersweet. But finally, Richard Norden’s name takes its rightful place in history.
Images: A Current Affair
