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"I didn't talk about my experience in Vietnam for nearly 10 years. We
sort of slinked home full of experiences of war we tried to bury.
I thought I was unscathed but have realised over time that there were
issues I had to work through. I find myself completely unable
to watch imitations of violence and death on television,
having witnessed the real pain and destruction of war.
Other men I talk with, their families paid the price, they have a string
of broken marriages and bad relationships behind them."
Msgr John Carde Armed Forces
Padre
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"By the time I was 20 I had done my OE thing and joined the Territorials.
I enjoyed the life so much that I thought I might as well
become a full-time officer. The trainers had done an extremely good 'mind
job' on all the officer cadets and convinced us that the communists in
Vietnam posed a severe threat to New Zealand. When we left NZ to go
to Vietnam we were considered heroes when we got back people thought we
were 'arseholes'. There was an appalling lack of understanding of our
role by the NZ public. It was their vehement opposition to the war and
that lack of understanding that has caused a lot of the pain and anguish
experienced by the vets. Parade '98 has been a long time coming. I think
its outrageous that they didn't give the vets their just 'welcome home'.
I think Parade '98 will be a cathartic experience for many of vets."
David
Lackey 161 Battery Artillery Unit
"I enlisted as a career soldier in 1967 when I was 18. I trained
in Burnham for six months and Malaya for two months then was fighting in
Vietnam. It was real jungle fighting, most of the time you couldn't
even identify your enemy. Carnage was everywhere. There wasn't a day
during my one year tour when I wasn't 'shit-scared'. When I returned to
NZ I had to wear civilian clothes because the anti-war climate was
so strong. Unlike the soldiers who served in Bosnia we received
no debriefing. The public was hostile but so were the veterans of other
wars who saw Vietnam as a mere sideshow. You got no medals for saying you
were a Vietnam vet. My local RSA told me to 'piss off'.
I haven't had a good nights sleep since the war and war movies give
me recurrent nightmares. I swear I will never let a relative of mine ever
be involved in something like Vietnam again. I don't think of Parade '98
as a glorification of war. I went
to Vietnam because the New Zealand Government sent me. If I'd known
then what I knew after I came
back from Vietnam I would've sided with the protesters too."
Paddy Driver Victor Three Coy
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Today there are exsoldiers out there who are stuffed between their
ears and from head to toes with psychological or physical wounds.
There is a lot more known about Agent Orange now. Our guys were
in areas where it was used. You'd be walking or laying about and a plane
would go overhead with a boom and a spray on it. Now our guys are sick or
had kids that were born wrong. The death rate among vets is very
high.
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"I think the Parade '98 has come as a bit of an embarrassment
to the Government, I believe they would like to think that Vietnam
didn't actually happen. If we all went away they would be happy. I was a
career soldier so I trained, trained and overtrained for Vietnam. I went
in May 1970 and spent a year in the country. It was probably the greatest
and worst experience of my life. We were in some pretty awful
situations from time to time, things I won't forget in a hurry. The basic
difficulty with Vietnam was that it was a war run by politicians not
soldiers. When NZ withdrew its troops the trauma for many of us was
just beginning. We were brought back on a civilian aircraft in civilian
clothes and were told to get off the aircraft and go away. The official
word from the army was not to tell anyone you'd been in Vietnam. We
were aliens in our own country. A march down Queen Street in Auckland
turned into a riot. We were pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables.
People were screaming out 'baby killers!' That wasn't much
good for the psychological state of the soldiers who had just returned
from a war zone. Some returned soldiers suffered
physical and psychological injuries.
I would think the problems (for vets) have been created out of neglect.
Neglect on the part of the government, neglect on the part of society and
to some extent neglect on the part of the army."
Rick Thame Victor Five Coy
"The war was never going to be won, it couldn't be won. It was fought by
politicians and overseen by the media. It was beamed into
households every night and people threw up their hands in horror.
What did people expect? War is never pretty. It is the ultimate act
of violence and it's the women and children and civilians who suffer the
most."
Rick Thane Victor 5 Coy.
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"People keep asking why did I volunteer? As a
professional soldier war was what I was trained for.
I believed it was my duty to go. I have no regrets about serving this
country and given the same circumstances I would have no hesitation
in doing so again. After I returned from Vietnam I was confronted head on
by people's attitudes to the war. There were protest type people who were
sending hate mail to guys that had been injured or killed. Three of the
company I served with were killed and the anti-war movement sent hate mail
to their relatives. I only ever talk about my experience in the war to my
mates who served there too. It's something that other people don't want
to talk about. Even the RSA did not make me welcome. I decided to join
up but was made to feel like 'shit', like I didn't deserve to be there.
I belong to the Vietnam Veteran's Association and I think the
Parade '98 will be a 'healing process' for many of the Vietnam vets. I
hope that those who protested against the war will leave the vets alone so
they can have a commemorative, non-political gathering with other people
that served in Vietnam."
Nigel Clifford Whisky Three Coy.
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