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Vietnam

Veterans

Association

of

Australia -

Geelong &

District Sub

Branch

31 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont. 03 5243 3700

Email: gdvvaa@gmail.com

Website:

https://geelongvietnamvets.com

“The Slouch haT”

- Newsletter

MAY 2021

Welcome to the May issue of the

Geelong and District Vietnam Veterans

Association of Australia Newsletter –

“The Slouch Hat.”

Your “Vietnam Veterans Centre” is

located at

31 Mt. Pleasant Road, Belmont.

Telephone: 03 5243 3700.

DATES TO Remember

“Pay Day” Lunches:

** All lunches at 12.00noon, at the

Geelong R.S.L. (Newlands Room), Belmont

or at a mystery location to be revealed.

Contact the Veterans Centre Monday,

Wednesday or Friday to make your

bookings, or telephone the Centre on 03

52433700 and leave a message. Bookings

must be made no later than the

Wednesday prior to the lunch date for

catering purposes.

Ladies Lunch Dates:

Ladies, please keep your eye out for

regular emails outlining the Ladies

Lunches, held on the third (3rd) Thursday

of each month, at various venues in the

Geelong area. If you require further

information please contact the Centre (03

52433700) or Sue Ryan (0413 743900) for

details.

‘Pako BBQ’: Our monthly BBQ outside

Heritage Meats in Pakington St is being co-

ordinated by the Vietnam Veterans

Motorcycle Club, under the leadership of

Rod Tilley. The proceeds will be shared

with the G & DVVAA. Heritage Meats, 200

Pakington Street, West Geelong

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President and Peter Hemsworth at the

Portarlington Cenotaph for Dawn Service.

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The main focus of our attention has been preparing for ANZAC Day in Geelong.

The Committee decided to support the following:

Dawn Services in Lara, Portarlington, Geelong, Torquay, Ocean Grove, Leopold, Inverleigh, Camperdown, Norlane, Queenscliff & Anglesea.

The Geelong ANZAC March to Johnstone Park.

Laying of wreaths at the North Geelong VV Memorial.

The ANZAC GFL St.Joseph’s vs South Barwon Football & Netball games at McDonald Reserve.

The Association had a representative (s) at each of these events.

While ANZAC Day was significantly curtailed this year Geelong still managed to attract a big turn out of veterans, serving Defence personnel, families and supporters for the March down Malop St.

Sandra and John Pepperdene prepare for the March.

Vietnam veterans form up behind banner.

The Greater Geelong Councillors and local politicians also supported veterans in many services across the Geelong Region. We thank them for their support.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park prior to ANZAC Service.

Due to COVID restrictions many veteran members have kept to themselves and have not ventured too far from home.

It was really good to catch up with guys we haven’t seen for awhile.

We thank Cr. Eddy Kontelj (Veteran Affairs CoGG), John Eren MP, Christine Couzens MP and Richard Marles Member for Corio who laid wreaths at the VV Memorial.

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Ron & Mary Brandy, Eddy Kontelj and Robyn & Ken Baker at Vietnam Veterans Memorial – ANZAC 2021.

Frank Cunningham represented the Association at the ANZAC GFL Match of the Day at McDonald Reserve.

Later in the day David Sikorski presented the ANZAC Medals to the players judged best on court and best on ground.

David Sikorski, Vice President, announces winners of the ANZAC Medals at the GFL Match of the Day.

Other members represented Vietnam Veterans at various services around our region.

Thank you to all for their contribution.

Camperdown member, Allan Fleming , was also busy in the Camperdown cenotaph.

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Replica of the Light Horse parade down Camperdown street for ANZAC March.

Geelong Veterans ANZAC Luncheon

Close to a hundred veterans and their families gathered at the City of Geelong Bowling Club for lunch.

Thanks to our Social Committee, under the leadership of Neil Smith, there were two Raffle draws with really substantial prizes. Many people walked away with something worthwhile.

The kids also had the opportunity to ‘look in the bucket’ and grab some great gifts.

The meals were of good quality and at $15 /head very reasonable.

A contingent of members attended the pre-ANZAC TPI Black Tie Dinner at the Geelong RSL Reports suggest it was a great night and enjoyed by all.

MERCHANDISE

We have many different types of car stickers, caps, polo shirts, number plate surrounds, waterproof jackets for sale at the VV Centre. Come and have a look at what is available.

Drop in and get new car stickers or a new cap.

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2021 executive & committee

President Rieny Nieuwenhof

Vice President David Sikorski

Secretary Gary Ryan

Treasurer Mick Hoare

Wellbeing Neil Smith

Aivar Mikelsons Minute Secretary

Andy Treffry VV Centre Rosters

Nigel Wilson Tennis

Frank Cunningham Raffles/ Pako BBQ

Kevin Benson Catering

David Sikorski Merchandise

Neil Daw Webpage

David Weeks Memberships

Chris Schaper

Jocelyn McMillan

Vietnam Veterans Centre

Fence Repair We thank Vline for repairing the fence along the Vietnam Veterans Avenue of Honour prior to ANZAC Day. While not a big job it took several emails to Vline to get any action. We are now waiting for them to re-attach the shade mesh along the fence. Small steps!

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Extract from a

presentation to Rotarians

BY President Rieny

I think all present today know the ANZAC

story and how the 25th April has become

Australia’s day of remembrance for all those

killed and wounded in all wars, conflicts and

peacekeeping operations.

We also take the opportunity to thanks pay

tribute to all men and women who served in

any campaign from the Boer War to the

present day.

In this presentation I wish to focus on the

medical impact, both physical and

psychological, of war.

Research has shown that the medical and

psychological legacies of war are major

and continuing issues for veterans, their

families and the community. The facts

about the impact of shell shock, nerve

gas, agent orange, post-traumatic stress

disorder and long term health aspects

are still little understood.

I am a Vietnam veteran having been

called up for national service and serving

in Vietnam in 1971. Whilst in Vietnam I

was exposed to contingent danger,

pesticides and while i am unsure if I was

exposed to herbicides. Many of my

comrades weren’t so lucky.

The Vietnam war began for Australia in

1962 when the Australian training team

were deployed to Vietnam to train south

Vietnam soldiers, over the next eight

years the number of Australian and New

Zealand troops increased steadily. The

first battalion royal Australian regiment

and two artillery regiments were sent to

Vietnam when the threat from the

communist north began to increase.

From then on various regiments and

logistic supports transitioned through

Vietnam during the 1960s.

The Australian population was initially

supportive of prime minister Menzies

decision to support the Americans in the

fight against the ‘yellow peril’.

Consecutive Prime Ministers continued

their support of the war in line with the

domino theory and treaty obligations.

But in the late sixties public attitudes

began to shift. The Vietnam war has been

described as Australia’s most unpopular

war.

There were protest marches and

moratoriums in each capital city. The

pressure mounted and in 1969 the

decision was made to withdraw.

The Vietnam war for Australia ended in

1972 and the final troops were gone by

1973. For America the war ended in 1975

when the north Vietnamese army

captured Saigon. Who will forget the

tanks rolling into the American embassy.

For most people the Vietnam war was a

failure and the sacrifice of so many

young Australians had been in vain.

Australian soldiers were mainly ignored

when they returned home. Veterans had

to wait until 1987 for the welcome home

parade in Sydney.

In the aftermath of the war Vietnam

disappeared from the public

consciousness. In 1977 the term ‘Vietnam

veteran’ was rarely seen – the phrase

appeared only eight times in the

Melbourne age and the Sydney morning

herald and most reviews were in

reference to American films.

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By 1980, just three years later, the two

newspapers had 139 references to

Vietnam veterans, with most being about

agent orange, birth defects, veteran’s

health and a new organisation called the

Vietnam veterans association.

Here in Geelong the Vietnam Veteran’s

association was formed in 1979, although

the Geelong Vietnam veterans had been

established in 1975. The two bodies

amalgamated to become the Geelong &

district Vietnam veterans association of

Australia. Today, while our numbers have

dropped we still have over 250 members.

Our Vietnam veterans centre is in

Belmont. An off-shoot is the Geelong

Surf Coast Veterans Centre, which

handles veteran claims to dva. It serves

not only Vietnam veterans but also

veterans from more recent conflicts.

We have seen the effects of brain injury

or post traumatic stress disorder and a

range of other physical and psychological

conditions that continue to manifest in

the lives of our returned servicemen and

women.

The long shadow, written by peter yule,

sets the record straight about the health

of Vietnam veterans and reveals a more

detailed and complex picture.

The facts of the use of chemicals by

American and Australian forces in

Vietnam are largely uncontested.

Herbicides were widely used for jungle

defoliation, crop destruction, and around

the perimeter of military bases such as

Nui Dat, HQ for the Australian task force.

The use of herbicides started in 1961 and

over the next ten years about 73 million

litres were sprayed over 2.4 million

hectares in south Vietnam. Several

different mixtures of chemicals were

used. The most common was agent

orange, a mixture of 50/50 2,4,5 t and 2,4

d. There was also agent blue, agent white

and agent green.

The jury is still out on the effects of

exposures such as pesticides and

herbicides, and other carcinogenic

agents. The Evatt royal commission in the

1983-4 in Australia exonerated agent

orange saying that “agent orange was

not guilty” of causing birth defects, much

to the anger of Vietnam veterans. But

there have been other conditions that

have emerged as the result of exposure

to chemicals during war service in

Vietnam.

Thanks to the sustained campaigning of

Vietnam veteran groups the dva

recognise a multitude of medical

conditions related to war service. The

severity of these conditions ranges from

hearing loss from firing rifles without ear

protection to ptsd, caused by

experiencing a traumatic event.

Categories of compensation range from

between 10 – 100% disability to total and

permanent disability (tpi). However, it

may take many years and many doctor

appointments for a condition to be

accepted as being due to war service.

Modern warfare is no less debilitating

with weapons capable to massive

destruction unexploded remote devices,

which can cause terrible injuries and

death. The department of defence is not

much interested injured soldiers and

medical discharge is common, even when

soldiers wish to remain in the army.

The other problem is the multiple

deployments our modern soldiers are

expected to complete, six rotations are

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not unusual. In Vietnam there was

usually one twelve month tour of duty.

The impact on the psychology of modern

soldiers associated with this kind of

repeated exposure to warfare is still

being assessed, but most studies show

significant impact.

Most disturbing is the high number of

veteran suicides. Depression and anxiety

are common signs of trauma. After

numerous inquires and studies the

federal government has finally given in

to calls for a royal commission into

veteran suicide.

We will await the outcome of this inquiry

and hope greater resources will be

allocated to finding how we can prevent

more suicides in the future.

While Australian veterans have a raft of

entitlements available through various

acts of parliament, the body created to

assist veterans, the Department of

Veteran Affairs (dva) , has been

described by the recent productivity

commission inquiry as ‘not fit for

purpose’ and continues to make

veterans jump through many

bureaucratic hoops to have their

diagnosed conditions accepted by dva.

Speaking to veteran advocates, who

present claims on behalf of veterans, the

waiting list for the settlement of claims is

over 16 months. Meanwhile the veteran

has no income if disabled and suffering

psychological illness. No wonder some

choose suicide to end their suffering.

Most veterans, prior to more recent

conflicts, were covered under the

veteran’s entitlement act. And while for

too many the process of accessing these

entitlements was often a long and

frustrating process most who have

applied are receiving a service or

disability pension.

However, despite what the dva say, the

process of accessing entitlements

remains adversarial and far too

complicated.

A further complication is that the federal

government changed the definition of

‘veteran’ two years ago. Previously a

soldier who had had overseas

operational service was classified as a

veteran and eligible to apply for dva

support for war related conditions.

The definition of veteran has changed to

anyone who has served in the military for

one day. There is no doubt that non-

operational service can have detrimental

effects, but the consequence of changing

the definition is that more ex-soldiers are

trying to access dva services placing even

greater pressure on the dva without an

increase in its funding.

This decision has had a significant impact

on dva service provision. For example,

access to counselling services, beds at

the repatriation hospital, physiotherapy

services etc. Has been inundated by

increased requests for assistance placing

even greater strain on an already

stretched dva . Hence the waiting lists

have blown out and more urgent cases

are being pushed back even further.

Veteran groups themselves have stepped

in to help their mates. Organisations such

as soldier on, carry on and mates for

mates provide practical assistance such

as accommodation and family outings.

The RSL also provides welfare support via

food vouchers and payment of debts

while awaiting settlement of dva claims.

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Here in Geelong Vasey RSL care provides

aged care and housing through its Vasey

independent living units village.

However, the proposed sale of Vasey RSL

care assets has put the future in doubt,

causing significant uncertainty for

residents.

The work of advocacy groups such as

the Vietnam veterans association, TPI

association, RSL and other ex-service

organisations must continue.

This year ANZAC day will again be

impacted by covid with ceremonies being

modified and restricted. But I know that

the significance of the remembrance for

our veterans will not be diluted as a

consequence.

Thank you

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is a publication of the Geelong and District Vietnam Veterans Association of

Australia, and material contained in this newsletter is

general comment only and neither purports nor is intended to be advise on any matter. No person should act based

on any matter contained in this newsletter without considering, and, if necessary, taking appropriate professional advice upon his or her own circumstances.

The V.V.A.A., the authors and the editor expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by any such person

in reliance, whether whole or partial, upon the whole or part, of the contents of this newsletter. You may find some errors in this Newsletter. This is in

keeping with our policy to have something in the newsletter for everyone.