,Those who would like to hear from Fellow ADG's.
Alan Atherton...........02-66875920
Paul Tuck....................02-49911964
Mick Brodie................ 02-99404340
Paul Pannowitz...........02-49500306
Bushy Bill Trevethan..02-68290177
Trevor Nye...................07 41256279
Mr Ian (Shortie), Lee
I believe Shortie is back home ?
======================================
G,day Pom,
Regarding the no1 Adg.course photo, i reckon the bloke 4th from the left back row sure looks like George Edwards who tragically took his own life a few years back now, I hope this helps?.
Also the person you identify as f/sgt Cliff Evans front row first left to right I don’t think is correct!, I served with Cliff at Phan Rang 69-70 and even thought the memory cells are fading I am not convinced it is him in this photo??, as a matter of interest two of the members in that photo were to later become my instructors, Barry Dahl (recruit course Edinburgh) and Tony Nibbs (no 10 Adg course Amberley).
Cheers for now Klaus Wendt.
"some war scholars have their way."
Jonathan King reports
JUST six months after the death of the last Anzac, Alec Campbell, a group of academics has called for a revision of the Gallipoli story. After touring the battlefield, dodging enthusiastic Australian backpackers as they went and debating the issue over four days, they've concluded it is time to dispel the myths that have inspired many young people to make the pilgrimage.
Instead of commemorating the heroism of Australian soldiers who landed on that fatal shore in 1915, the conference in October concluded that Australians should reframe the landing as an unmitigated disaster and apologise to the Turkish Government for invading their country.
"The landing was nothing but an unjustified invasion of foreign soil like the British invasion of Aboriginal land in 1788," says John Lack of the University of Melbourne. "And we should put the two coves together - Sydney Cove and Anzac Cove - because both invasions were just as bad as each other and cost a lot of lives."
Lack addressed 40 scholars from around the world at the plenary session of the conference, Australia in War and Peace, which was convened by the Australian War Memorial and Curtin University and held at Canakkale, the nearest town to the Galllpoli battlefields.
Now that the last living link with Gallipoli has gone, the conference agreed, it is time to r~frame the history books and correct the interpretations that ~have become part of the public perception.
But this is not a betrayal of the legend, according to Australian War Memorial principal historian Peter Stanley. "We are just rediscovering Galllpoli and what it means to Australians today," Stanley says. "We cannot get sucked in by the patriotic propaganda. We cannot keep calling Gallipoli a landing as if it were a picnic outing to the beach - it was an invasion of another country."
1-'~'
Stanley says, because ~Gallipoli is the single most important place Australians believe their national Identity comes from - so it is time to tell the truth so we know what that identity is based on".
Academics at the conference said they have "a great responsibility to interpret Gallipoli properly" because they are the prism through which the public understands the Gallipoll story. Just as the arrival of European settlers in Australia has been reinterpreted and accepted by the mainstream as an invasion, many of the scholars believe the Gallipoli landing must be labelled an invasion, too.
"If we take an Aboriginal point of view," says Shane Breen of the University of Tasmania, "we would appreciate Galllpoli from the Turks' point of view, seeing it as the invasion it really was."
John McQuilton of Wollongong University says Australians should look at the story of Gallipoll from the Turkish angle to see how they feel about it, a view that has been neglected for too long. The Turks lost 86,000 soldiers compared with Australia's 8709. "It is now time to embrace our old enemy Turkey," he says.
Stanley also warns Australians against monopolislng the legend, saying: "It was not Australia's battle. There were thousands more British and French soldiers there, along with soldiers from India and Newfoundland as well, and we do not have exclusive rights."
Claiming that Gallipoli has become"just a country of the mind", Jenny MacLeod, from the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College, says "myths about Gallipoli are based on ignorance. People say 'Lest we forget', but they have forgotten what it is they are trying not to forget".
Lack claims Australians know very little about the campaign despite its high profile.
Some even think it was a victory, according to McQuilton. On winning the 1983 America's Cup, Perth businessman Alan Bond claimed his yachting triumph was "the greatest victory since Gallipoli".
Lack says scholars must "stop politicians from perpetuating the myth, let John Howard invokes them again to justify sending troops into Iraq "in the spirit of Anzac".
He also urges teachers to start teaching pupils about the mistakes instead of heroes. Blair says schools should be prohibited from commemorating what
Perpetuating the myth: The Beach at Anzac (1919) by Frank Crozier, top;
dawn services at Anzac Cove, middle and bottom
Main picture: Australian War Memorial
was essentially a disaster and that the November 11 one-minute silence should be banned because it is passing on the wrong values. "We have to grow up, stop blaming the British for mistreating Australian soldiers and take some responsibility for our own mistakes as Australians," he says. "Otherwise this whingeing just reinforces the myth of the hard-done-by diggers."
Freelance war historian Martin Ball says it is also time to stop worshipping heroes that do not exist. "We must stop calling the Anzacs heroes and repeating the same old story. Those Anzac soldiers were not all heroes, nor were the Anzacs all country boys either. It is time to dismantle the monolithic images of Anzacs and update the reality."
Breen aJso says it is time to spare a thought for the working class, which was used as cannon fodder by British upper-class officers at Gaflipoll, and Australlans should fOcus on that tragic injustice.
In his paper Gloves Off, Blair claims the so-called heroic Anzacs were not even particularly good fighters but were often cowards who sometimes killed defenceless prisoners of war in cold blood when they did not have to.
"Whether these bushmen carried their frontier mentality into battle or
'We cannot keep calling Gallipoli a landing - it was an invasion of'another country'
Peter Stanley
Australian War Memorial principal historian not, they were as brutal as Germans or any other race," Blair says. "Some of the more bloodthirsty Australian soldiers had a particular love of 'ratting', where they repeatedly smoked enemy soldiers out of shelters in order to kill them, even if they had their hands over their heads. And this defied prevailing rules of warfare such as the 1907 Hague Convention and 1914 British Manual of Military Law, which forbade killing the enemy once they surrendered and laid down arms."
Blair blames government propaganda for "reducing the enemy to animals in the eyes of Australian soldiers" and the promotion of the bayonet as the preferred weapon by the military authorities because this "cultivated bloodlust among the troops".
McQuilton says Australians should stop going to Gallipoli and claiming rights over Turkish soil for their commemorative activities. "This land belongs to Turkey and the reason they are building so many memorials of their own is they want it back," he says.
Says Stanley: "All this criticism showed the old Anzac legend has life in it yet. We are not destroying Gallipoli but updating the interpretation and enriching our understahding of it."
There may have been widespread agreement at the conference, but with Anzac Day parades reaching record numbers and backpacker bookings at an all-time high, it is doubtful whether any of these views will be able to stop the juggernaut of the Galllpoli industry. Politicians and tourist operators are planning an extravaganza for the 2015 centenary, when organisers predict a record 25,000 visitors.
=======================================
MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS
MINISTER ASSISTING THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
Mr Joel Fitzgibbon MP
Member for Hunter
P0 Box 526
CESSN0CK NSW 2325
Dear Mr Fitzgibbon
Thank you for your representation of 3 April 2002 on behalf of Mr Ian Wheat of 24 Kline Street, Weston, concerning service badges.
In regard to eligibility for the award of the Infantry Combat Badge (ICB), the ICB was instituted for the recognition of infantry service in warlike operations. Department of Defence policy defines service as an infantryman as service as a member of the Royal Australian Infantry Corps (RA Inf) in an infantry posting in an Australian or Allied Infantry Battalion, Independent Rifle Company, Commando Regiment, Special Air Service Regiment or such other Australian unit as may be designated by the Chief of Army. The ICB may only be awarded to a serving member of the Australian Army who has given, either continuous or aggregate, 90 days satisfactory service as an infantryman in warlike operations.
The Head of Corps RA Inf is’the delegate for the approval of all retrospective and non-Infantry corps applications. He has some discretion in approving the award of the ICB to non-Infantry corps members of the Army who can establish that they were posted to an Infantry unit and performed service that was indistinguishable from the RA Inf members.
Many applications are received from non-Infantry corps members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) who believe, for various reasons, that their service should be recognised for the purpose of being awarded the ICB. However, it is rare that a non-Infantry corps member meets the criteria to be awarded the ICB. The provision of defence or security at a headquarters or base is considered to be an all corps responsibility very different from the wide range of tasks undertaken by infantrymen. Infantry service in warlike conditions tends to include periods of longer intensive duty than that experienced in other corps or services.
The decision not to grant the award of the ICB to Mr Wheat in no way demeans the outstanding contribution that RAAF members have made to the ADF and to Australia in times of need.
In summary, the ICB is an Army award to members of the Infantry corps, who have fulfilled the eligibility criteria, in recognition of their service as infantrymen in warlike operations. The ICB is one of the most prized awards to an Infantryman and, as such, must be awarded in the most judicious manner. The service of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel does not meet the criteria for the issue of the award.
Thank you for bringing Mr Wheat’s concerns to my attention.
Yours sincerely
DANNA VALE MP
23 MAY 2002
By Richard Sproull
January 15, 2003
THE first Australians to join the coalition of forces preparing for the looming war against Iraq started to say their goodbyes yesterday.
Two P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircract and members of Number 92 Wing will fly out this week to join coalition carrier groups in the Persian Gulf.
Their families gathered for a ceremony at Adelaide's Edinburgh airbase attended by Defence Minister Robert Hill and senior military leaders.
Five year-old Daniel spent much of the ceremony in the arms of his father, Jann, a flight lieutenant with 92 Wing.
Daniel's mother Justine said their son understood his father would this week fly into a theatre of war.
"He's been away before but this is the first time the kids are aware he's going to be a long way away," she said.
"I try and teach them a bit but it's difficult. Daniel knows, but Katrina doesn't understand."
Senator Hill said the men and women of 92 Wing would be the coalition's "eyes and ears" and would identify threats from land or sea against vessels in the Gulf.
Despite a successful campaign in Afghanistan, he said, much still needed to be done in the region.
"The al-Qai'da leadership has been broken up, many have been either destroyed or captured, the training bases have been largely destroyed, many weapons caches have been destroyed and Afghanistan has a chance of a better future," he said.
"On the other hand, although what's left of the leadership has been dispersed throughout the region, it's still active and operational.
"It's important we continue with that conflict until the threat has been removed."
Asked later whether the aircraft could be used in any future action against Iraq, Senator Hill said there was "always a chance".
Defence force officials refuse to detail how many personnel would be deployed in the Persian Gulf or where they would be based, citing security concerns.
The surnames of squadron members have also been kept confidential.
Defence Force chief General Peter Cosgrove said he understood the time taken to complete the mission, expected to be up to 12 months, would prove difficult for the crew members and their families.
"This is hard for you, we know that," General Cosgrove said. "But they are doing enormously important work for their country."
Glen, a sergeant with the squadron, said he held some concerns about the dangers of flying in the Gulf, but had been well briefed.
His family was also finding it difficult to accept his departure, he said. "It's fairly hard for them, but they are very supportive. It's tough to leave."
Aviation technician Corporal Daffyd said the excitement of the challenge outweighed any nervousness.
"It's what I've been training for," said Corporal Daffyd, whose last name cannot be revealed for security reasons.
"There is an inherent risk but when we joined up, we signed on knowing that there is a risk we may do something like this one day, so it's all part of the job."
======================================
The following article appeared in the Melbourne Herald Sun!! Now this guy and this paper are way off line. Let's rip it into them. ESOs you have an obligation here to stand up for the sick Veterans of this Nation. Contact the Sun and put 'em straight!
This sad clown of a Reporter and office chair expert needs to be put in the picture. I wonder if he is of "age" and has volunteered for the so called War on Terror?
I wonder if this article is part of any Government propaganda campaign...nothing is impossible.
The Herald Sun can be contacted at
http://heraldsun.com.au
The article follows:-
Veterans 'fabricating illnesses'
By Tony Rindfleisch
January 05, 2003
THE cost of caring for Australia's war veterans and widows has blown out to more than $8.8 billion a year amid controversial claims of rorting and fraud.
Compensation, income support and health-care payments for more than half a million ex-service personnel or their families will this year be equivalent to half the nation's defence budget.
More than half of the 50,000 Australian Diggers who served in Vietnam are receiving lifelong disability pensions of some sort.
About 14,000 Vietnam veterans - more than one in four - are totally and permanently incapacitated and 2000 veterans are added to this category every year.
Almost 500 defence force personnel who went to East Timor are being paid pensions for more than 900 disabilities - with 330 still serving.
About 160,000 army, navy and air force veterans are receiving disability pensions for war service dating back to World War I.
The cost of disability pensions to the Federal Government was $1.2 billion last year - and the figure is increasing by tens of millions of dollars.
This week a doctor of many years' experience with military staff, but who declined to be named, made controversial claims of widespread and deliberate rorting totalling tens of millions of dollars.
Among his extraordinary claims are that some RSL advocates coach claimants in what to say to psychiatrists to fabricate claims for mental disorders that are difficult to disprove.
Critics also claim the Veterans' Affairs Department uses a "tick and flick" assessment process that is not stringent enough to identify fraudulent claims.
Some senior department staff and honest claimants are angry that corrupt servicemen are abusing the integrity and generosity of the pensions scheme.
They say fraudsters are hiding behind the Australian flag because their honesty is rarely questioned in a nation which honours its war heroes.
It has been revealed that:
SERVICEMEN on disability payments can continue working in the force and be deemed fit for duty in an overseas war zone. They can claim their war duty worsened their condition and seek additional compensation.
THE defence force hierarchy cannot be told of individual disabilities suffered and pensions paid to their staff under the Veterans' Entitlement Act.
MORE than 100 reports of totally and permanently incapacitated veterans working more than eight hours a week have been made to the department in the past three years. In two cases payments were reduced. None was cancelled.
THE burden of proof used in the pensions claims is the reverse of that used in criminal justice, that the department must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the claim is not true.
MORE than 23,300 veterans have been awarded new pensions in the past three years. Almost a third were for total and permanent disabilities.
Australia has more than 25,700 recipients of pensions for total and permanent disability from war service. Each is paid $742 a fortnight.
Of 50,000 Vietnam veterans, more than 27,500 receive pensions for disabilities ranging from 10 per cent incapacity. More than a quarter of Australia's total Vietnam force is totally and permanently disabled,
meaning they are unable to do any work for more than eight hours a week.
The Veterans' Affairs department's 2000-01 annual report shows more than 2500 claimants were awarded total and permanent incapacity pensions that year.
"Most of these grants were cases where post traumatic stress disorder was the dominant disability," the report said.
"This is believed to be due to the numbers of Vietnam veterans reaching an age where their disabilities are becoming more manifest and are affecting their ability to remain in employment."
Of 2100 who served in the Gulf War, 305 people have 576 disabilities accepted as due to Gulf War and other service.
Sunday Herald Sun
======================================
5 January 2003 ref:va.ms01/03
Government Must Act on Alleged Veteran Compo Fraud
Media revelations on fraud by ADF personnel and veterans, and shortcomings in the administration of veterans' compensation, must be investigated by the Government as a priority, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs Senator Mark Bishop said today.
Australians have never begrudged the generosity of benefits paid to veterans where they have served in dangerous and life threatening deployments, but allegations such as these bring that system into disrepute. They must be investigated and stamped out.
If the Privacy Act is working to conceal fraud by personnel on compensation for permanent disabilities, claiming to be fit for service, then it must be amended.
Equally, if claims are being accepted or rejected because of inadequate investigation by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, then the Department must also be investigated.
Representations by veteran organisations to the ALP for some time have complained about the dramatic reduction of staff in the Department, and that claims are not being investigated adequately. This is borne out by the fact that the veteran jurisdiction has the highest level of appeal both to the Veterans Review Board and the AAT by dissatisfied veterans than any other. Claims can simply take years to be settled, and the common deficiency is lack of information, which eventually is found.
Claims should be properly investigated and got right the first time. There should be no room for doctor shopping and untested assertions. Valid claims should not be rejected simply because staff have imposed performance indicators to meet.
The Government must act immediately and stop the rot.
Media details; Senator Mark Bishop 0419 959 892 or Peter Reece 0414 677 441
Parliment House (02) 6277 3101
======================================
National Patron
RADM Neil Ralph AO DSC RAN
VIETNAM VETERANS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA ®
ABN 19 068 073 450 NATIONAL COUNCIL INCORPORATED IN NSW
Web Site: http://www.vvaa.org.au
President Secretary
Brian McKenzie OAM Geoff Trevor-Hunt OAM JP
16 Elinga Street PO Box 8108
HOWRAH TAS 7018 WARNBRO WA 6169
Phone (03) 6247 7778 Phone (08) 9594 0429
Fax (03) 6247 7778 Fax (08) 9594 0429
eMail vvaanatpres@bigpond.com eMail vvaasec@bigpond.com
MEDIA RELEASE - 6 January 2003
WAR VETERANS TARGETED BY MEDIA REPORT
The National President of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, Brian McKenzie,
said today ‘that a recent report in the Melbourne Herald Sun on 5 January 2003 that
insinuated that there was wide spread fraud and rorting of the compensation system by
veterans was a fallacy and should be ignored.
Mr McKenzie said; the report quotes an unnamed doctor and sources close to the
Department of Veterans Affairs but fails to define any clear source of the allegations and
therefore no credence should be given to the claims at all.
The report also makes the point that the cost of caring for Australia’s war veterans has
blown out to more than $8.8 billion.
Mr McKenzie said that the cost of looking after our veterans and their families damaged
by the effects of war will continue to be an ongoing expense and needs to be factored in
before any government commits troops to any future conflict.
Mr McKenzie said; it’s particularly disturbing that these claims have surfaced ahead of a
soon to be released report by Justice John Clarke and his committee into the ‘Review into
Veterans Entitlements’.
Mr McKenzie said; the veteran community are anxiously awaiting the report which will
address issues of eligibility for entitlements and the inadequacy of compensation paid to
our disabled veterans and their dependants.
Mr McKenzie said; with the dramatic demise of veterans from the First and Second World
Wars, leaving smaller veteran groups, who served in smaller conflicts, we are now starting
to become targets and fair game for the bean counters that seem to be focussed toward
trimming the budget and denying veterans their rightful compensation and entitlements.
The Australian community has a long and valued record in meeting its moral obligations to
ensure that our disabled veterans are looked after. Unfortunately, we have from time to
time, those political opportunists who appear to delight in ‘sinking the slipper in’ to
denigrate the very people who have put their ‘lives on the line’ on behalf of the Australian
people at the whim of the government of the day, Mr McKenzie said
Mr McKenzie said; ‘what we are seeing here is an attempt to vilify all veterans but for the
sake of the probable actions of a few and I call on the people who are making these
libellous and unsubstantiated allegations - to put up or shut up.
I suggest that the ill informed reporter and the nameless doctor should contact me or the
Department Veterans Affairs with the evidence to substantiate their claims, Mr McKenzie
said
Media Contact: Brian McKenzie 0439 030 429
HONOUR THE DEAD BUT FIGHT LIKE HELL FOR THE LIVING
=======================================
ESO LEADERS.....you need to move quickly on this one.
Get out there and put paid to the lie that widespread rorting is going on.
You also need to ask yourself why these reports are suddenly appearing at a time when the ex Service community is waiting on the Report of the Clarke Review and also at a time when the buzz word in Canberra's isolated cloisters is : REHABILITATION.
From: Bill Dobell
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 9:27 AM
Subject: Many claims 'easily falsified' (http://heraldsun.com.au report)
Bill Dobell (billymar@bigpond.com) suggested you might be interested in this http://heraldsun.com.au report and added this note:
I wonder why the good doctor wishes to remain anon??
Many claims 'easily falsified'
By TONY RINDFLEISCH
05 January 2003
THE doctor who made the claims against some servicemen said he was convinced hundreds were involved in rorting.
"I've had enough people tell me to my face to know that there is significant rorting," the doctor said.
"I would often say to them, 'How disabled are you?' and they would laugh and say, 'Not much'.
"Many claims for psychological conditions are exaggerated, if not fabricated."
The doctor, who declined to be named, said claimants "shopped around" for sympathetic specialists who would endorse their claims for payments.
"Several have told me how easy it is to bluff the civilian psychologists and psychiatrists, who just regurgitate the story told to them by the claimant," the doctor said.
"There is often no due diligence conducted and no effort to substantiate the story."
He said service personnel knew that the Privacy Act prevented the Department of Veterans' Affairs informing the Defence Department of their claims.
This meant soldiers, sailors and air force personnel could receive a significant disability pension and continue working in the defence force.
"I am amazed at how servicemen with 100 per cent disability pensions still serve in the ADF (defence force), fit for full service in an overseas war zone – with the ADF health system having no right to this information," he said.
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======================================
Sen Bishop.
The news report below has been circulated WIDELY into the Australian and overseas Veteran communities.
I suggest that instead of you wasting your time with this sort of pronouncement and call for an enquiry you commit yourself fully and URGENTLY to formulating a Labour Party policy which FULLY COMPENSATES all Veterans and ex Servicepersons who have been disabled because of their SERVICE to this Nation.
Rorting goes on across the board...not least among Politicians. Remember the likes of Leo McLeay and his $60,000 for falling off a bike and Big Mal Colston.....who is still at large and still thieving from the Australian taxpayer.
You do neither yourself nor the Labour Party any good within the Veteran community by making these sorts of unneeded and frivolous pronouncements.
Keith Tennent.
From: Bill Dobell
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 9:24 AM
Subject: Senator urges veteran rorting inquiry (http://heraldsun.com.au report)
Bill Dobell (billymar@bigpond.com) suggested you might be interested in this http://heraldsun.com.au report and added this note:
Bishop needs a rocket, if he has evidence he is morally and duty bound to release th accusers names.
Senator urges veteran rorting inquiry
05 January 2003
THE Federal Opposition spokesman for Veterans' Affairs, Senator Mark Bishop, has called for an urgent, top-level inquiry into the claims of rorting.
Senator Bishop said he had received written allegations of fraud. He said most claimants were genuine and the integrity of the pensions scheme must be maintained.
"A small minority need to be investigated as a mater of urgency to establish the veracity and scale of the claims," he said.
Senator Bishop said the privacy barriers, which prevented the defence force from knowing what disabilities had been accepted by veterans' affairs, must be removed.
There should be full disclosure of accepted claims if personnel remained in the force.
A spokeswoman for Veterans' Affairs Minister Danna Vale said she was not aware of widespread rorts. Mrs Vale was seeking information on whether privacy laws caused problems.
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From: Bill Dobell
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 9:21 AM
Subject: Casualties of war (http://heraldsun.com.au report)
Bill Dobell (billymar@bigpond.com) suggested you might be interested in this http://heraldsun.com.au report and added this note:
More from the clown, why did he not explain this as well.
Casualties of war
By TONY RINDFLEISCH
05 January 2003
GREG Mead was 21 and athletic when he was sent to war in Vietnam.
He returned with high blood pressure, anxiety and his back damaged by parachute jumps. He has received a disability pension for 20 years.
Of seven other men who served with him in the air force, one died from cancer, five were totally and permanently incapacitated and one is still working, but suffers lifelong health problems.
Mr Mead, 56, deputy state secretary of the RSL, knows of no Vietnam veteran unaffected by the war experience or the chemicals used in the conflict.
He says the number of Vietnam veterans on pensions is horrific, considering up to 10,000 have died. That leaves 40,000, of which 27,500 are on disability pensions.
Mr Mead believes only a few are rorting the system.
He believes veterans make claims only when their disabilities become too debilitating to work.
"Many are too proud to come forward," Mr Mead said.
"It's not Australian to be weak.
"Vietnam veterans seldom relate their symptoms to non-veterans because they can't be expected to understand what they are going through after being subjected to chemicals.
"Anyone who puts their life on the line for their country deserves all the help that they can get."
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From: Rocky
To: news@heraldsun.com.au
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 8:47 AM
Subject: Veterans Fabricating Illnesses
Mr. Tony Rindfleisch obviously has his head where the sun doesn't shine. I wonder if he has ever, or would ever put his life on the line for his country as did the Australian Diggers, and Vietnam Veterans of the United States and other parts of the world. Does he have any clue what is it like to be immobile, or to be slowly dying, all as a result of dedicated service to one's country. Does he have any idea what the veteran's pay was while on active duty? Does he even have a clue about reality? Someone needs to rattle his brain housing cage and hopefully he will get a different perspective. Does he know Hanoi Jane Fonda?? I think Tony is a fabricator of true, honest journalism.
Frank "Rocky" Ray, HMC, USN, Retired
Proud Disabaled Vietnam Veteran
PO Box 4045
Middletown, RI USA 02842
BroRat2@earthlink.net
======================================
Author:
Mike Wellington
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date Posted: 21:15:54 01/09/03 Thu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G'day Fellas,
as a long time soldier of 34 years - six years Brit Army RMP, RAAF SGuard (69-75) and soldier RACMP 75-96) I served a number of postings with RAAF ADGs - and respected their competence. Although I must admit to wondering why these very efficient blokes had not joined the army in the first place.
Foremost amongst my RAAF postings was B'worth '71-'73 where as a 'doggie' I counted as a good mate Jimmy 'Boomer' Soames (door gunner SVn) and footy play with the Butterworth Wallabies. I also counted as friends Sgt Fred Holtman (who demonstrated how one man could lift and move a jukebox in the Railway Bar, Penang (long closed) - and Peter Vidler who I met in '69 but who, I believe, was tragically killed in SVn.
Following my transfer to the Army in '75 I lost touch with ADG mates. But no worries. Good to make your acquaintance again and I hope to make contact with one or two blokes from that long-gone era.
Regards
Mike Wellington
A double header of 2, No 2 Section leader Course plus No 2 ADG Basic Course next week we will have No 3 & 4 ADG Basic Course.
Heck how time fly's.
Thanks again to Gordon for sending in these pic's.
The Pom.
AC'S .
WALKER . / CICHOWSKI. / SMITHERS. Don / MACARTY. Tank / PANNOWITZ. Paul / ARMSTRONG. / WEBER. / NELSON. Wiz / MARTIN. /JAVENS. Barry / MOORE. /LOVELL. Ken / FLORENCE. CONNELL./ KAY. / FUTCHER./ McKENZIE. /TREVETHAN. Bushy Bill
COURSE STAFF
Sqn Ldr MEACHAM. Flt Lt BRAZIER.
W/OFF SIEBOLD.
SGT DEAN. SGT BUCKLEY. CPL REEDS. CPL DAHL.