By Casey Neill
Yarra Valley Vietnam Veterans opened up about their service and post-war experiences for a new book – some for the first time.
Mount Evelyn RSL secretary Anthony McAleer wrote Yarra Valley Vietnam Veterans, launched at the sub-branch on Sunday 19 August.
“In the past I’ve interviewed veterans from different campaigns, basically from World War I through to the Gulf War,” he said.
“As it was the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War we decided we would have a look at that and talk to residents of the Yarra Valley who had served in Vietnam.
“I was able to track down 16 veterans that I interviewed.
“Some of these were talking for the very first time about their experiences.
“These guys telling it in their own words will give people a better understanding of what Australians went through during that period.”
Two served in the Navy and the others with the Army.
“One I interviewed who was in the Navy was on HMAS Hobart when that was attacked,” he said.
“He was wounded in that attack.
“On that particular night, two navy fellows were killed in action on the Hobart.”
Mr McAleer said Australia was involved in Vietnam from 1962 through to 1975, and his interviews covered 1964 to 1972.
“They were all very different experiences that they had because the nature of the war changed so much during that period,” he said.
“All of them surprised me at some stage with what they had been through and what they had experienced.
“Vietnam has really been a bit of an unknown quantity because a lot of these fellows didn’t talk about it and weren’t encouraged to talk about it.
“We talked about what life was like for them before Vietnam, during their time in Vietnam, and after Vietnam.
“Some of them found it hard to readjust, some suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
“Some of them were abused and vilified by a lot of the anti-war movement people as well.
“They served their country and risked their lives to come back to be abused for doing that, from people they thought they were defending.”
He said some of the interviews were quite confronting and emotional.
“They’re an extraordinary group of men,” he said.
“They’ve all been quite honest in what they went through.”
Visit www.mountevelynrsl.com or the Mount Evelyn RSL Sub-Branch at 49 Birmingham Road, Mount Evelyn, to order a copy of the book.
