It was the second and, hopefully, last conscription war in Australia.  Australia committed nine battalions to the war between 1966 and 1972. The 2nd, 4th and 6th Battalions were “Anzac” Battalions integrating with New Zealand Regiment “Victor” and “Whisky” Company.
 
Total casualties were nearly 6 million, of which 521 were Australian military personnel killed, with nearly 2,500 wounded. Australian Infantry soldiers saw an average of 314 days in combat areas in one year. In WWII the average combat time was 40 days in four years.  The average age of a World War II soldier was 26 years.  The average age in Vietnam was 22 years.
 
The war in Vietnam defined my generation. Every casual meeting seemed to skirt around the “for” or “against” question and friendships foundered on it. I marched against it. My friend's brother was conscripted and died in action.  His father fled Australia for New Zealand in case another son met the same fate. Others volunteered and served.  Over 18,000 National Servicemen saw service in Vietnam. None were unscathed.
We're older now. More inclined to understand. Less inclined to judge.
 These are the stories of people from Hornsby Ku-ring-gai who experienced the war in Vietnam first hand.  Many now live their lives supporting and helping others.
Produced with the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation, the co-operation of the Hornsby RSL Sub-branch and the Vietnam Veterans Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Association of Australia.
  • Episode 1: Kick the Moon – David Sturmer
The day that man first landed on the moon, an Australian patrol in Vietnam was devastated by a landmine explosion. The incident was made famous by the Redgum song “I was only 19”. This is an eyewitness account of what really happened that day and how, for one soldier David Sturmer, that detonation echoed over the next forty years.
  • Episode 2: Bad Moon - Binh Ba– Terry James
Modern warfare has distanced us from the trauma of battle. Returned soldiers go quiet on their experiences. Terry James spent three continuous days in battle in Vietnam. He relates what it is like inside a firefight in the battle of Binh Ba, and what is was like returning to Sydney after his tour.
  • Episode 3: Over the Moon – Operation Babylift – Ian Getley
War is about killing people and breaking things. But some people spend their war saving lives. Ian Getley was a pilot who flew missions in the dying days of the war in Vietnam  evacuating civilians from war zones, including a plane load of orphans some of them only a few weeks old. This was known as Operation Babylift.
  • Episode 4: Incident at Xuyen Moc – Phillip Chin Quan
Phillip Chin Quan was conscripted into the Australian Army in 1970. It was the first time he had ever left home. He became part of Psychological Operations, working closely with Vietnamese villagers to identify enemy infiltration. This often put him in harms way, but gave him a deep understanding of the people they were fighting a war amongst.
  • Episode 5: Tough Luck, Pal – Bill Roberts
Bill Roberts is from a military family, and volunteered for the army in 1963. He served in Borneo during the Konfrontasi and then was posted to Vietnam, a very different conflict. He recounts three dramatic episodes, and then his return to civilian life.
  • Episode 7: No Guns, No War - Minh Tuyen Hoang (Joseph)
Minh Tuyen Hoang is known to his friends as Joseph, and he runs a successful bakery and restaurant in Hornsby Mall. What many of his friends don't know is he was born near Ha Long Bay, was conscripted into the North Vietnamese Army at the age of 16, spent six months on the Ho Chi Minh Trail under constant attack from American B52 bombers, had his hand blown off by a mine, and then fled Vietnam through Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia to Thailand where he was accepted as a refugee by Australia.
  • Episode 8: Let me Go - Tri Hanh Hoang (Helen)
​Part 2 of the story of Helen and Joseph, who met after the fall of Saigon.  Helen escapes from the communist regime with eight other members of her family. After trials few of us would survive, she is re-united with her husband in Hornsby.
Picture
Credits:
Produced by Neil Ashworth.
Original compositions by Clive Lane.
Script consultation by Harry Kolotas.
Subject research and recommendations from Mark Parrott and Lucy Dahill.
Web page by Hugh Mulgrew.
Graphics from an original by Patrick Crawford
Original photos by Michael Bianchino