Jon+Chow

Welcome to this wiki, by Jon Chow and Greg Miller :) This wiki will be about Australians in Vietnam.

This photo is a snapshot of Australians in Vietnam. The helicopter is in the background, and the infantry is in the foreground. The helicopter is coming in to land, and it looks like is is not hostile. There is a guy on the right, which looks like he is welcoming the helicopter in.

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I WAS ONLY NINETEEN 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 Agent 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 nineteen.

<span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">It was a war within yourself. <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.

<span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">Then someone yelled "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon, <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">God help me, he was going home in June.

<span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.

<span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real. <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">God help me, I was only nineteen.

<span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep? <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet? <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means? <span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 20px;">God help me, I was only nineteen.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“I Was Only Nineteen” is sung by the Australian folk band Redgum. It was released in March 1983 as a single which got to the top of the Kent Music Report music charts and stayed there for about two weeks. However, it stayed in the top forty for four months. It was composed by Redgum’s lead vocalist-guitarist, John Schumann, who wrote the song based on the experiences shared with him by the veterans that returned from Vietnam. The song was sung from the view of a regular Australian infantryman, and spoke of his experiences in Vietnam. It was directed at the next generation of young Australians, the ones who did not go <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">to Vietnam.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 115%;">I Was Only Nineteen – Commentary **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The dominant reading in “I Was Only Nineteen” is that the war was horrifying, that the Australian soldiers were treated very poorly. They had nightmares, were very young when this happened. It tried to allow the audience to experience the war from a different point of view, as most of them did not go to Vietnam. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;">The resistant reading of that would be that the person lived through it, and that he came back home a hero. It implied that he would get over it with time.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This poem used a first person point of view, which brings us into the soldier’s head. The composer of this musical piece did not use a lot of rhyme, however, he did use some alliteration, “passing-out parade at Puckapunyal”. It gives it a sense of rhythm. He also used many words which were very specific to the Vietnam <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">war, like "Puckapunyal, choppers, Nui Dat, and Agent Orange".

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The text helps understand the horrors of that horrific war. It shows the war in a very negative light, it says that the person longs for another person, a friend who was lost in the war. It was very effective in showing us what the war was like.



"MY PLACE"

I have a special place I go Whenever I feel all alone A very special place That I can call my own

IT stops me feeling lonely Away from fear and dread A place that makes me feel in control If only in my head

THIS place is a very big rock At least in my mind Where I can go and be with friends That I knew once upon a time

SOME times when I am in there The door will stay ajar Just enough to still feel safe And insulated from the world afar

AT times people think i'm crazy When they look upon my face But then they just assume That i'm in my own space

TO let them in would be tragic For they couldn't understand The Demons that I am fighting still From long ago in a far off land

THE WAR that we were fighting That left so many DEAD Still rages deep inside me It's really messed up my head

I hope that the WAR I am fighting Will one day come to an end And I can just live in PEACE With the understanding of when I meet up with fellow WARRIORS

Beyond the Pearly Gates And once again by where I belong Surrounded by mates

Copyright 2008. Phil Kadow.([])

This photo, which was found on google images says a lot of Australian pride and courage. The photo shows a man as he is looking out onto the world, thinking all the brave things he has done. The photo shows him saluting with dignity and valor and honor. The picture also shows that he has many medals resembling that he has done many a battle and has been brave and has fought courageously many times. The man is also dressed in full uniform showing that he is willing to fight for his country whenever and that he can wear it with pride and honor. This text definitely supports the stereotype of Australian soldiers being brave and tough and valiant. Since the man in the picture is in the background, the text makes us think that he is important and that he is superior to others.

The poem, "My Place", by Phil Kadow, is a poem about how the horrors of the Vietnam War have affected this former soldier who needs a special place to go when he feels down. In the line, ‘Its really messed up my head’, the author is explaining that the man in the story has some really dark demons that are hiding inside of him and this subverts the whole stereotype of brave Australians as the man is not that brave and is really scared and tormented by the war. The first text of the image and this text about this man contrast each other in many ways. In the first text, the man is seen as valiant and gallant with all the medals he possesses. The second text contrasts this with the man in the text forced to go to a special place where he can forget all the horrors that the war has done to him.


 * ©** 2011. Jonathan Chow.