Chelsi+Cook

Topic: Australia at War Group members: Cate Falconer, Mel McMillan, Chelsi Cook

Redgum- I Was Only 19

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal It was a long march from cadets. The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card. We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean. And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens. God help me, I was only nineteen.

From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat I'd been in and out of choppers now for months. But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil can't get to sleep? And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16? And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means? God help me, I was only ninteen.

A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs It was a war within yourself. But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.

Then someone yelled out "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon, God help me, he was going home in June.

I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real. I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel God help me, I was only nineteen.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep? And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet? And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means? God help me, I was only nineteen.

Our group chose this image as it tries to convince men that being a part of the war will make them more masculine and receive more honour and respect. This advert represents our text as our topic of focus is ‘Australians at War’. I think that this image represents our focus as it symbolizes the war, encourages men to go to war and tries to tell people that the war is something that would possibly make Australia better after the war is done.

The song ‘I Was Only 19’ is famously known by an Australian folk group ‘Redgum’. The song ‘I Was Only 19’ was released in 1983. The message this song is trying to convey to the audience is that the war was not fun for the men; it was scary, traumatizing and stressful. “And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears”, this quote implies that the true voices of the men sent off to Vietnam were home sick, scared of death and just wanting to get back home and away from the war.
 * Analysis one - I was only ninteen **

The message the song is trying to convey to the audience is how Australian men felt at war; it lets the audience know that the men were not confident when sent out to fight, for the majority of young men they all dreaded and worried about the physical and mental consequences of going to war. No stereotyping has been used to make the Australian men at war sound like the stereotypical Australian guy, though slight slang has been used. “I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.” This quote has used slang, instead of using the word ‘helicopter’ the writer has chosen to use the word “choppers” as it is less formal sounding and is what many Australians would say instead of ‘helicopter’. In the song it silences the perspective of the local people of Vietnam, nurses, doctors and men who were looking forward to going to the war with confidence.

Repetition is used to remind the audience this song speaks for the young men fighting as the quote “God help me, I was only nineteen”, this quote shows that the men fighting had second thoughts about being in Vietnam and really wanted to be home. “But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers”, in this quote slang is used to show the men were very fond of Australia as VB is a beer that is local in Australia, if someone who were not familiar with the Australian slang or culture they would not understand what VB is. One of the strongest techniques used in this song is the rhyming. The repetition if “God help me, I was only nineteen” reminds the audience constantly that the young soldiers suffered emotional and physical trauma, it also makes the audience feel sorry for the soldiers.

In conclusion this song gives the audience an understanding from the Australian men who were not happy about going to war, it does not show the perspective of Australian men confident about going to war. It makes the people who gather the men for war sound like forceful people, making every young man to fight.

 Jungle Green the young men now wore and for the first time this strange land they saw. A land oiled by sweat from brow from people struggling to survive, in this land called Vietnam. Here they stood so proud to be these Aussie lads, to fight the enemy so hard to see, In a land filled with grief and misery. Children playing by the roads and women carrying heavy loads, Some dressed in black and carried straw,upon this land now torn with War. Our life is now in each others hands each day we fight and make a stand, The Enemy is so hard to find, in this land with it's jungles and hidden mines. We shut out the thoughts of humanity and continue searching for the hidden Enemy. The Jungle thick with trees and vines through tearing bamboo the Mountains we climb. We search in tunnels some rigged with Mines. Our thoughts of loved ones far away now nourish our soul night and day. Bonds grow more solid between young mates,and the living hell they now tolerate, For each depends upon each other our bond becomes strong like for a brother and we fight on so proud to be Australian.Then returning home to abuse and riddicule, from the people that we new,. So we drank and hid themselves to dull the pain and shame that now we new. The years went by and wev'e now grown old, and many a tale has been heard and told, Of the War in that place they called Vietnam. Some survived the memories of what we had seen and done, The ridicule and heckling from a War that wasn't won.
 * Jungle Green - poem**
 * By Peter Orlinski, 1968**

But in my restless sleep I still can see, those young Aussie mate's, mate's who never came back home with me. Mate's dressed in jungle green.

This poem assures the audience that when the Australian men went off to war in Vietnam it was a complete struggle for survival, it was stressful and overall was a miserable experience. "Bonds grow more solid between young mates,and the living hell they now tolerate, for each depends upon each other our bond becomes strong like for a brother and we fight on so proud to be Australian." This quote explains how the Australian men were shocked and overwhelmed when arriving in Vietnam, mentally not prepared for war. The young men did not have positive feelings about the war as they were taken out of their comfort zones and placed in a battle field, they had to depend on each other and work together. Orlinski has expressed the emotions and feelings very deeply as he was one of the men at war.
 * Analysis**

**Analysis 3** Chelsi,


 * Where is your third analysis? This task is not completed
 * This is a good start but you haven't put much detail into your analysis
 * You do look closely at some literary and poetic devices but you need to do this in more detail
 * You needed to discuss at greater length the representations of Australia depicts by the authors
 * You need to improve the structure of your paragraphs
 * You should also always describe the intented effect on the reader and link these discussion back to the overall respresentation of Australia the author is trying to convey

A fair effort

Chelsi you started your analysis well but the detail in it was not that much and you have not done your third analysis, the visual text. The task is not yet complete and you have to complete it. You use some good literary and poetic devices but again the detail is not a lot and you have to expand on the detailing. You need to discuss the representations of Australia by a greater length that is depicted by the authors. The structure of your paragraphs are also not really well done and you have to improve it. You should think description about the effect on the readers and link the discussion back to the overall representation of Australia the author is trying to convey. It was a fair effort and it was pretty well done.

Janan