Keith Payne Keith Payne VC , OAM ( born 30 August 1933 ) is an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest decoration for gallantry " in the face of the enemy " awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces . Payne ' s VC was awarded due to his actions during the Vietnam War . Born , he is the last living Australian recipient of the original " imperial " Victoria Cross . Early life . Keith Payne was born at Ingham , Queensland , on 30 August 1933 , the son of Romilda ( Millie ) Hussey and Henry Thomas Payne . He attended Ingham State School and later became an apprentice cabinet - maker . Dissatisfied with working as a tradesman , Payne joined the Australian Army in August 1951 and was posted to the 1st Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment in September the following year . Military career . Payne served with his unit in the Korean War between April 1952 and March 1953 . He married Florence Plaw , a member of the Women ' s Royal Australian Army Corps , in December 1954 , and was promoted to corporal the following year . Payne served in Malaya with this unit and in 1965 , now a sergeant , he joined the 5th Battalion . In June 1965 , by now a Warrant Officer Class II , Payne was a fieldcraft instructor on the staff of the Officer Training Unit , Scheyville , established to commission national servicemen . In February 1967 he was posted to Papua New Guinea where he served with the 2nd Pacific Islands Regiment . He remained there until March 1968 when he returned to Brisbane . On 24 February 1969 he was appointed to the Australian Army Training Team in Vietnam . Victoria Cross action . In May 1969 he was commanding the 212th Company of the 1st Mobile Strike Force Battalion when it was attacked by a strong North Vietnamese force . His company was isolated and , surrounded on three sides , Payne ' s Vietnamese troops began to fall back . Payne , by now wounded in the hands and arms and under heavy fire , covered the withdrawal before organising his troops into a defensive perimeter . He then spent three hours scouring the scene of the day ' s fight for isolated and wounded soldiers , all the while evading the enemy who kept up regular fire . He found some forty wounded men , brought some in himself and organised the rescue of the others , leading the party back to base through enemy dominated terrain . Payne ' s actions that night earned him the Victoria Cross , which was gazetted on 19 September 1969 . He was evacuated to Brisbane in September suffering from an illness , receiving a warm reception at the airport before entering hospital . In January 1970 Payne was posted to the Royal Military College Duntroon as an instructor . Payne received his VC from the Queen aboard the Royal Yacht , " Britannia " , in Brisbane . He was made a Freeman of the city and of the shire in which his hometown was located . A park in Stafford , Brisbane , where Payne lived was also named after him . He also received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star from the United States of America and the Republic of Vietnam awarded Payne the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star . Later life . Payne retired from the Australian army in 1975 , but saw further action as a captain with the Army of the Sultan of Oman in the Dhofar War . He joined the Legion of Frontiersmen in 1975 and holds the rank of an Honorary Chief Commissioner . Payne returned to Australia and became active in the veteran community , particularly in counselling sufferers of post - traumatic stress disorder . Payne and his wife raised five sons and are now living in Mackay , Queensland . He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia ( OAM ) for his service to the veteran community in 2006 . In September 2012 he became a Patron of the Victoria Cross Trust . In the media . Payne was interviewed for the 2006 television docudrama " Victoria Cross Heroes " which also included archive footage and dramatisations of his actions . Honours and awards . The mental health ward at Greenslopes Private Hospital in Brisbane is named the Keith Payne Unit ( KPU ) , in his honour .