Melissa+McMillan

I am in a group with Cate Falconer and Chelsi Cook and the topic we have chosen is Australians at war and the aspect of that topic we have chosen is the Vietnam War. Bellow is the first text that we have found which is the song and my analysis of that text.


 * 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.


 * I WAS ONLY 19**

I was only 19, written by the Australian Band Redgum in and released as a single in 1983, is a song about the Vietnam War. It is an extremely moving song, as from what we gather from the title, the name of the band, the genre of the song and the time it was written, we presume the song is about a young lad who was only 19 when he went off to fight in the war.

In the song, there is a lot of alliteration used such as the phrase “passing-out parade at Puckapunyal” and “Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon”. A passing out parade is a sort of graduation ceremony for Australian Soldiers once they have completed their training and Puckapunyal is an Australian Army Base in Victoria. This signifies that a soldier is ready to be sent away and is qualified to fight in a war. “Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon”, man landed on the moon on the 21st July 1969 and on the very same day, Platoon 3, a military unit, was deployed on operation on Mundinburra, to the mine-infested Long Hai Hills of South Vietnam. When a radio signal had been passed on that the Americans had landed on the moon, the historic news was passed onto the men. That day, two mines were tripped. Skipper Hines and Corporal John Needs both lost their lives. 23 soldiers were wounded and of these, 11 were wounded badly enough to be repatriated to Australia, one of which was Frank “Frankie” Hunt. Although in the song it gives the impression that he had died, he actually didn’t, but he was 11 months from going home and to a soldier, going home because of injury can make you feel like you have let down your country, and they will never be able to forgive you. 11 months seems like a long time to us, but to a soldier to be able to defend his country for that little bit longer, it was all they could ask for.

Flash back is a rather large technique used as in the fourth and the last paragraph, the character telling the story seems to be talking to a doctor and the way the song is written is in past tense suggest that he is in fact, reminiscing about the war rather than the audience actually being there on the journey with the him. The entire song seems to be a memory from one man’s perspective and it talks about the obvious picture that we all see as outsiders looking in, but also from the inside out, especially the lines in the fifth paragraph that say “it was a war within yourself but you wouldn’t let your mates down till they had you dusted off, so you closed your eyes and thought of something else”. This says that although these men were at war, they were risking and fighting for their lives, that any minute could be their last, they continued on and would not give up until the very end, until they had achieved what they had set out to do, no matter what it cost them and not only is he mourning for the loss of the men he knew and the friends he made, but also for the loss of his youth, after all, he was only 19.

Subtly, the entire song is an Allusion, a reference to an historical event. The Vietnam was one of the darkest times of Australian history, something that will never be forgotten. In the song, the protagonist is talking to a doctor, a professional about things from the war that still haunt him to that very day. Things such as the Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant used during the war to destroy the foliage of the jungle but a side effect is that would cause a rash that would come and go and would just persist until you died. And at night, all he can hear is the sound of the M16, a rifle, because he is so mentally scarred. Fighting in the war did many things to one’s mind, they see things that they will live with for the rest of their lives and they did things that they may not ever forgive themselves for. But they did it out of love and loyalty for their country.

I was only 19 is a very, very powerful song. Not only does it show the worst traits of war but it also describes it in a rather confronting manner. The idea of war seems to only result in the senseless killing of young and old men, and those who survive are only left with questions that not even experts can answer. People are left and born with deformities and heart, skin, liver conditions due to a poisonous substances that never intended to do such things, and innocent men are left with the guilt and murder of war resting on their shoulders, and only once others begin to accept them for who they are and forgive them for all their sins, can they finally move on and begin to forgive themselves. We stand together, we fight forever, we are Australian.

We share a dream and sing with one voice, I am, you are, we are Australian!


 * Jungle Green**

The next source we have found is a poem called Jungle Green. It was written by Peter (Ollie) Orlinski who was a veteran of the Vietnam war. This poem was written in 1968 and expresses the thoughts and feelings of the writer.

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 we've 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.

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.

Melissa,


 * Where is your third analysis? This task is not completed
 * This is a good start
 * 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 your expression and vocabulary
 * 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