By Abbey Cannan
A Noosa veteran has recalled his chilling experience at war while paying respect to his mates who didn’t make it home for Vietnam Veterans’ Day.
Australians who served in the Vietnam War, including Tewantin Noosa Sub Branch’s Dean Harlow, have been honoured at ceremonies across Wide Bay on Thursday 18 August.
Almost 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, with 521 losing their lives in the war and some 3000 wounded.
Noosa resident Dean Harlow spent 10 months in Vietnam from July 1969 to 7 May 1970, and recalled it as “quite a harrowing experience at times“.
“I wasn’t in the regular army, I was conscripted into National Service,“ he said.
“I was posted to an infantry battalion which was 6RAR and that’s where I spent my whole time in the country.
“Like all the other Vietnam veterans, we were involved in a lot of skirmishes and contacts with the enemy.
“Lives were lost and good mates went before our own eyes, which was a chilling experience, but we learnt a lot from that.
“We learnt that life can be very short and you have to make the extreme most of it.
“You go into it as a lad, I was only 20 years old, and you come out as a man after the experience.
“Other fellows might have different tales to tell regarding the effect it had on them, but that was how I felt about it all.
“The disappointing part was when we came home, all the mates you made were spread far and wide over the country, and unless they were close by, you lost contact.
“Another one of the things that I’ll never forget is our involvement with the Vietnam War was to no end. When the Australians and Americans pulled out, it was just back to where it all started.“
Mr Harlow said Vietnam Veterans’ Day was a day of reflection for him.
“It’s a day to remember the experiences, reflect upon memories, and give thanks to those who served,“ he said.
“It’s the day where I stop and think of the close mates that I went through training with, and I came home, but they didn’t. I think of them on that day.“
Federal Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien said the Vietnam War was the longest conflict in which Australians were involved in the 20th century. The first Australians arrived in South Vietnam in 1962 as Australian Army training team Vietnam members, leaving a decade later.
“Vietnam \veterans are an important part of the ex-service community here in Wide Bay,“ he said.
“We thank them for their service and courage and honour their bravery.”
Department of Veterans Affairs data tells us 621 service pensioners, who likely have been in danger from hostile enemy forces, live in our Wide Bay communities with an average age of 75.62 years.
“These veterans have had incredible experiences and have compelling recollections about their service and I encourage all Australians to engage with those who served in Vietnam in what were overwhelmingly challenging circumstances, and learn about our nation’s war history,“ Mr O’Brien said.
