Sick or not,Those who would like to hear from Fellow ADGies.
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
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Well it might be ten years late but the Pom missed the origional dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and now if all goes well Pom will attend and post a report on his return.
The Dawn Sevice 4-10-2002
Absolutely great complete with Huey Gunship flyover.
Well fellas as promised here are some of the photo,s taken by the Pom at the rededication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
A Quick Report is as follows,
4-10-2002 Friday morning I set off to meet up with two other scoundrels ( note the lack of use of the word mongrel ) of Newcastles Peter Beckwith and Alan Brazil, meeting at the home of the very imfamous mongrel Peter Beckwith at about 8am ( note in hindsite this should have been at about 5pm just to upset this mongrel by disturbing his blissful sleep again Beckwith you'll keep shit i owe this mongrel some ) anyway more of Peter,s escapades later, the 3 adgieteers departed Newcastle and after a nimandering bewildering tour arrived at Quakers Hill to meet up with the rest of the moterly crew they are John King Col Davies Barry Hogan (Down from Tin Can By QLD ) and after recieving a warm welcome and heaps of Hand shaking we departed John,s home bound by some mystical magical course ( I,m sure it took in half of bloody Sydney or so it seemed to the Pom who was shitting himself it he happened to become separated from the main convoy the Pom,s grey matter or whats left of it had no friggen idea where he was at any given point in time or space, so living in fear of what has just been explained,I firmly attached my vehicle to the exhaust pipe of Alan Brazil,s car which was attached to John King,s car it was John who lead the convoy of ex-adgies out of the confusion which is Sydney, three cheers from the Pom i can see cow pastures again and the smog is left in our wake.
We stopped for light refreshment at some roadhouse to enjoy it,s cruisem Bechwith again stood in the limelight complaining that his $6-00 packet of sandwiches was indead made of rubber and not very ediablemaybe Pete you should sharpen your teeth before trying their food again, amid much rumbling and cursing the crew again remonted their trusty steads and continued at a frighting pace for our Nations Capitol Canberra over hills and dales we drove along and past dried out Lakes viewing sheep and bunnies by the score till we at last arrived tied and looking forward to the faces that might be waitng to greet us as lost brothers, John and Col had us booked in to the Carotel on the main imput road to Canberra the accomodation was great with the Carotel suppling us with bunk house style accomodation great when the group comprises of six ADGIES and an ex-grunt called Cliff god bless his cotten picking soul.
Now after a bit of a quick lick behind and around the ears we proceeded to the Canberra Club again with straining eyes we managed to locate one Larry Searle again with introducions and a bit of hand shaking Larry was presented to the group, Tea was arranged and the group waited but alas no faces of the ADGie kind materialised but there was always tomorrow. So after food and beveridges had been devoured it was back to the Carotel, now comes the good part can you imagine what six adgies and 1 ex army grunt sound like all contained for better audio reprodution well fellas it was,nt very pretty, sounded discusting, if only i had the opportunity to fall asleep first, remind me in future to book my own single room. Now back to this ex Army grunt called for the lack of a better discriptive word proceeded to make some very mind rendering observations of typical ADGie behaviour mind you we learnt a few more bad and devious things from Cliff for future use, don,t worry Cliff we still love ya.
After a noisey and harrowing night of broken sleep we arose for day 2 the 5-10-2002 The Dawn Servce was fantastic and very much admired by all who witnessed it and I,m sure will be remembered for many years to come.
Amongst the sea of heads and bodies there appeared this here Blue Beret and upon identification Don Scott was under it accompanied by his beautiful wife Rosie, Gerry Mapstone spoke as part of the service but alas i couldn,t find him after and i missed the opportunity of saying g-day, to top off the service was something all Vietnam Vets are overcome with when the sound for Huey,s thunder onto the scene i,m sure that hearts raced and many a memory was recalled as two Gunships appeared and overflew the Dawn Service.
After the completion of the service the crowd dismisswed and adjoned to the oval below the War Memorial for a Gunfire Breakfast of hot Bangers and eggs followed with coffee or tea, may stands with items to recall this weekend were on offer and as usual the Pom obtained a souvenier, as i was walking away from the area i noticed a portable barrier wall in rememberance of those who where not with us, on it was placed charactitures of those who never made it back kinda made the eyes swell as it helped remind us of why we were there, sad very sad.
"Lest we Forget"
The rest of the morning was filled in with a trip through the War Memorial what a mighty place, Both myself and Alan Brazil checked out the names on the Honour rolls inside and paid two short a time reflecting on those whose names we know from Vietnam.
We also payed a visit to the Shrine containing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, personally this was an experiance that i will never forget what a magestic place, our Country has done our War Dead Proud.
At about 11am we started to gather at the top of ANZAC Parade for the March down to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, amongst the growd i found the faces i had waited so long to see,
Jason Brown. Harry Fridd, John Paine, Jerry Fliss and missus, Larry Seale, Don and Rosie Scott and later during the service i found Ron Sheriff all had not been lost for i had had the opportunity of meeting many who i had not seen for more than thirty years, kinda puts a lump in the throat take care fellas till we catch up again.
The march itself was delayed by officals who chose to turn up late in this case i'll not mention names, but a few of the boys finished up with sunburn after waiting so long, I would like to thank the crew of the Salvation Army for drinks and bickies as like old times they are there when you need them the most, three cheers for the Salvo's.
In all a top day with us ajurning back to to motel to freshen up and rest those rotten thing call LEGS and FEET, shit was they ACHING, mind you i wasn't the only one winging or in need of a bloody stretcher. And Where was them bloody Slicks when you needed them most?
Now back to BECKWITH who took me on a guided tour of Canberra after dark ( look Pom theres the lake what bloody lake bit hard to see in the dark oops forgot to take my night vision glasses ) mind you he redeemed himself by guiding me around again under the pretense of looking for Mc Donalds but that was this morning the 6-10-2002 beside that it cost me a figgen fortune in gas.
Sunday seen the need for speed and a safe return to our homes so after saying farewell to our brothers thanks fellas for the pleasure of your company i look forward to seeing you again take care and we were on our way home.
The Pom
Top Row L to R
Ron Sheriff, Alan Brazil seated ......Centre...Barry Hogan, Jerry Fliss, Don Scott, The Pom....Right... Jason Brown and Harry Fridd.
Below John King and Larry Searle at the Cannberra Club.......John Paine.
The crowd and Veterans gather in front of the Vietnam Memorial
Well fellas the photo on last weeks page of the course 02/02 is without names something Jim has offered to correct as soon as possible.....The POM.
'Fake' war hero charged
By Nick Lenaghan
27 September 2002
A 48-year-old Tasmanian man who marched with medals in this year's Anzac Day parade faces fraud charges for allegedly posing as a Vietnam war hero.
Police allege the man falsely represented himself as a retired Lieutenant Commander from the Royal Australian Navy and decorated war veteran.
It is alleged that although he told friends and associates he had fought in Vietnam, where he survived being a prisoner of war, as well as in neighbouring Cambodia, the man had never enlisted nor seen combat.
It is also alleged he had been passing himself off as a war hero for up to ten years before using his false service history to defraud a veterans' welfare organisation.
Over the past three years the man, from suburban Hobart, had become a regular at clubs for returned servicemen in the city.
This year he attended Hobart's Anzac Day parade wearing a number of medals that had never been conferred on him, it is alleged.
The man also allegedly fabricated a fake academic history, claiming to be a doctor with both Masters and PhD degrees from a university in the US.
Police today charged the man on summons with 24 fraud-related counts, including forgery, falsely representing to be a returned soldier, false assumption of rank and improper use of service decorations.
He is due to appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court on November 8.
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VA127 Wednesday 2 October 2002
STORIES OF THE DEFENCE OF AUSTRALIA - 1942
In 1942, the people of Australia were called upon for the first time to
defend our own shores. Throughout that year, supported by their allies,
Australians fought to turn the initial defeats of 1942 into the beginnings
of victory in the Pacific. This series, issued by the Minister for
Veterans' Affairs, Danna Vale, to mark the 60th anniversary of the defence
of Australia, highlights some of the key events of those 12 momentous
months.
EL ALAMEIN
Throughout 1942, Australians at home were largely focused on the growing
threat to the north, following the Fall of Singapore, the bombing raids on
northern Australia and the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea. But in
the deserts of North Africa, Australian forces were about to become a part
of another chapter of wartime history.
On the night of 23 October 1942, Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, General
Officer Commanding, 9th Australian Division, wrote to his wife from Egypt
'that in exactly two hours by far the greatest battle ever fought in the
Middle East will be launched'. During the following 12 days, Morshead's
soldiers and other British, New Zealand, South African and Indian divisions
engaged a German and Italian force, led by 'The Desert Fox', Erwin Rommel,
in a struggle that decided the outcome of the war in North Africa - the
Battle of El Alamein.
Since July, the opposing forces had fought out a stalemate at El Alamein,
about 110 kilometres from Alexandria on the northern coast of Egypt.
'Operation Lightfoot', under the new Allied commander Lieutenant General
Bernard Montgomery, was to be the plan that broke the stand-off.
The 9th Division, transferred to Egypt from Syria the previous June, took
the northern front of the Allied assault on 23 October. Despite initial
success, the enemy line was not fully breached and British tanks were unable
to break through. The focus of the offensive now switched towards the coast
to cut off a German division. Between 25 October and 4 November, virtually
every element of the 9th Division became involved in this assault, designed
to pull the full weight of the Germans upon the Australians.
Despite being weakened by their own attacks and in the face of powerful
enemy counter-attacks, the 9th Division held their positions. Rommel,
however, was forced to remove key units from other parts of his line. The
next Allied thrust, 'Operation Supercharge', broke through on 4 November.
The Axis lines collapsed and Rommel began a retreat that ended in final
German defeat in North Africa the following year.
Of the British Eighth Army's 13,560 killed, wounded and missing at El
Alamein, 2,694 were from the 9th Division. General Morshead said: "I do not
believe you have ever fought with greater bravery or distinction ... you
broke the German and Italian armies in the Western Desert."
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