Army Combat Badge awarded to Vietnam press officer David Brown

David Brown will receive the Army Combat Badge in 2021 following two rejections and a public fight to have the decision overturned.

Mr Brown was a cadet at The Canberra Times when he was conscripted to serve as a public relations officer in Vietnam. From 1964, he was one of 34 who recorded and reported the Vietnam War until Australia withdrew its forces in 1972.

Defence previously rejected the public relations officers' applications for the Army Combat Badge sighting that personnel must have been assigned to a combat team for 90 days or deployed to their location.

Defence said the reporters were assigned to a headquarters in Saigon and therefore ineligible. This was despite Mr Brown's application detailing the more than 300 days he spent with combat units on operations in Phouc Tuy Province.

This week, Defence said the decision to overturn the rejection was based on the provision of additional evidence provided, as well as further analysis of Australian Army doctrine.

Defence failed to answer a question asking what the additional information was.

Asked whether the two-year battle could've been avoided and whether Defence acknowledged the application process was convoluted, Defence said no.

"The onus for the provision of evidence always rests with the applicant," the spokesperson said.

"Army retains confidence in its policy for the Army Combat Badge."

Now living in Thailand, Mr Brown said it was never about the right to show off the medal, it was about rightly writing history.

"It corrects what I believe was a historical inaccuracy," he said.

Fellow veteran Peter Thomas reached out to Mr Brown this week to congratulate him on recognition of his service and advise he, too, would be resubmitting his application for the Army Combat Badge in the New Year.

"Your perseverance and provision of supporting evidence finally paid off," Mr Thomas wrote to Mr Brown.

Asked what message Defence had for the family members of deceased public relations officers who'd had their applications for the Army Combat Badge rejected, Defence offered the following: "Army has the utmost respect for our veterans, particularly for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in serving their nation. Those who believe they are eligible for the Army Combat Badge should submit their individual application to Army to be assessed on merit."

Mr Brown said there would only be three or four living Vietnam press officers eligible to apply.

Mr Brown said he was grateful to the Australian Army for what he called a win all-round.

"The few old-timers left living know very well that we spent a lot of time on operations with infantry, with armour, with artillery, with engineers in the jungles climbing up the bloody mountains in Phouc Tuy Province which were infested with our own mines," he said.

"We were under the same circumstances as the combat soldiers and we were there to support them and that has now been recognised."