It was largely by chance that Garry Casey was not among those killed when an armoured personnel carrier he was originally supposed to be driving was hit in a rocket propelled grenade attack, which also ignited its cargo of claymore mines.
All the crew and five of the six infantry soldiers sitting on the roof were killed.
It was during his service in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in 1970-71.
Garry’s job when the APC was recovered was to clean out the remains of his comrades.
He remembers it as probably his worst experience of the Vietnam War.
It was during an operation carried out in the Long Hai Mountains, recorded in the book he co-authored, Rice Paddies and Rocket Fire.
“The squadron wanted as many vehicles in the field as possible and I was offered the chance to drive one of the APCs.
“I didn’t have the required experience or time in the field so another guy, who was also due to go home, was substituted for me.
“On this particular day, I was listening to the radio traffic when it became apparent the APC had been hit.
“Word soon came back that the crew and four or five infantry guys had been killed.
“I broke out in a cold sweat, thinking it could so easily have been me.
“The remains of the APC were returned the next day and I was given the job of cleaning it out. It was a mess.
“This was the first time I had come face to face with death. It is something that you can never forget.”
Conscripted in 1969, he returned home to Darwin and joined the Northern Territory public service and later the police, serving 34 years as a police officer.
He became heavily involved in the NT Branch of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia and recalls the lack of understanding in the public mind of what he and his mates had gone through.
“The public did not accept the war or us and some old diggers referred to it as a ‘police action’ and said we weren’t veterans,” he said in another book, “Vietnam our war – our peace”.
A Welcome Home event in 1987 was the start of the healing process and the public’s bad attitudes had changed by 2002, when he was among 500 veterans marching in Perth on Anzac Day.
“The crowd reception was fantastic. Words of encouragement came from everywhere, with kids wanting to touch our hands and people holding signs saying ‘Thank You’ and ‘Welcome Home’.
“I am proud to be identified as a Vietnam Veteran and to wear my medals,” he said.
“My grandfather did not talk about his war and my father only started telling of his shortly before he died in 2001.
“A lot of my Vietnam mates have passed on also and more are ill, and each one tears a little more from you.”
Gympie will mark Vietnam Veterans’ Day at a service in Memorial Park on Monday, 18 August at 10.30am.
