ANZAC Day

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https://twitter.com/DVAAus/status/994783145856815104

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https://twitter.com/DarrenChesterMP/status/1002437439930003456

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Friday, June 29, 2018

Ex-HMAS Tobruk becomes world-class dive site

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2018/6/29/exhmas-tobruk-becomes-worldclass-dive-site

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https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/1012754148771577856

https://twitter.com/JohannaMarie_/status/1012519309904523264

https://twitter.com/JohannaMarie_/status/1012519350039805953

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https://twitter.com/marinamaral2/status/1012715830998720513

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'An inspiring example to all'

https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/harry-dalziel



https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/1018365304966004736

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https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/1020162443073368065

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http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2018/7/21/monument-honours-first-anzacs

Media Release
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

Monument Honours First Anzacs

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has unveiled a $3m high tech interactive monument to the Anzacs.

The Fraser coast memorial trail in Maryborough pays tribute to the first ashore at Gallipoli, Maryborough's Duncan Chapman but also tells the story of the First World War.

'Banjo Patterson said the Anzacs are the reason all Australians walk taller,' the premier said.

'Knowing the first ashore at Gallipoli we're Queenslanders just make us all the more proud.'

The premier paid tribute to those who built the memorial trail.

'This monument is a testament to the people of Maryborough who worked tirelessly to see it come to fruition,' the premier said.

Member for Maryborough Bruce Saunders gave credit to the local committee that raised its own funds for the Trail especially Nancy Bates and Greig Bolderrow.

The premier said Bruce would not rest until $1 million was secured from the state government.

The monument was unveiled in Maryborough by the prime minister as well as representatives of the government's of New Zealand, Britain and Turkey.

It uses he sounds of Maori hymns and marching as well as an oral retelling of the experiences of war.

It is hoped it will be considered a national monument, a rare honour outside Canberra.

The premier urged all Australians to visit Maryborough and learn about this vital part of our history.

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https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1020501427003711488

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https://twitter.com/AWMemorial/status/1020828297649901568

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Brisbanetimes --> 'Very emotional': Australian War Memorial opens Long Tan Cross display


Dave Sabben MG, Commander of 12 Platoon, D Company, 6RAR, stands by the Long Tan Cross.
Photo: Karleen Minney

It was Delta company's first contact of the Vietnam War and they would never see another like it.

The battle began in the mid-afternoon on August 18, 1966, and didn't finish until after dark, the company fighting off a force estimated to be at least 10 times their size in monsoonal rains and under heavy fire.

By the time it was over, one in three men were dead or wounded, with soldiers returning to the site of the Battle of Long Tan three years later to plant a cross.

The cross came to embody Australia and New Zealand's experience in the Vietnam War, which saw 521 Australians dead and 3129 wounded.

On Friday, the Australian War Memorial unveiled the permanent display of the Long Tan Cross in a ceremony attended by Governor General Peter Cosgrove and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Saturday marks the 52nd anniversary of the battle, with August 18 originally Long Tan Day before becoming Vietnam Veterans' Day.

Dave Sabben's company found Vietnamese forces and fired the shots which would mark the start of the Battle of Long Tan at about 3.40pm on August 18, 1966.

Mr Sabben, then a 21-year-old platoon commander, described Australian artillery landing about 22 metres from where he was, shells bursting at least once a second.

The Vietcong were closer still, their bodies being blown toward Mr Sabben and his fellow soldiers, half of which were conscripts in their early 20s.

"The noise, the flashes, the gun smoke, the gun fire ... it was deafening. Most of us wear hearing aids nowadays," Mr Sabben said on Friday.

Adding to that was the monsoon rains which began to bog the rubber plantation in which the battle was taking place.

Mr Sabben's command had unknowingly attacked a force estimated to be at least ten times the size of their 108-strong company.

Another man at Long Tan, Terry Burstall, described Vietcong orange tracer rounds -  visible bullets which glow  - flying overhead.

"That meant you could see these rounds coming towards you and hopefully going over you," Mr Burstall said.

One hit a medic in the arm, the phosphorous burning through the man's bone.

Mr Burstall, then 24 and who had willingly joined the Australian Army for an adventure, crawled into a pool of water to stay below the gunfire.

He didn't think he'd get out alive as the battle went into the night.

At night, Australian reinforcements arrived, forcing the Vietcong back.

Eighteen men were dead and 24 wounded, but it's likely the Australian forces had unwittingly repelled a major attack on a nearby base.

Three years later, then-Major Leonard Johnson oversaw the installation of what is now known as the Long Tan Cross.

It was a huge operation, with 1000 soldiers involved to install a memorial to the 18 dead in the middle of enemy territory.

After a small ceremony, the soldiers left.

Mr Johnson remembers looking at the cross as they drove off. Sunlight struggled to break through the dense canopy of the rubber plantation, but Mr Johnson said suddenly a ray of sunlight burst through, lighting up the white painted cross.

The cross was built by corporal Barry McAvinue, who built it with concrete and with steel he'd found by the roadside.

He didn't know what his construction would come to represent.

Mr McAvinue said it was very emotional to see the cross on Friday.

"When I left the cross there, I expected it to be blown up in about two or three days by the Vietcong," Mr McAvinue said.

"A bit emotional today to see it here and what they've done to it."

The memorial will hold a last post on Saturday at 5pm for an Australian air crewman, O'Brian Cedric Ignatious Phillips, who died in 1968, to mark Vietnam Veterans' Day.

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https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/1030574478000971776

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https://twitter.com/AustralianArmy/status/1035814707989340160

Well deserved.  Well done!!

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https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/dchester/media-releases/australian-army-547-signal-troop-awarded

Australian Army 547 signal troop awarded

1 September 2018

Minister for Defence Personnel, the Hon Darren Chester MP, today announced Australian Defence Force members who served with the Australian Army 547 Signal Troop during the Vietnam War had been recognised with the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation (the citation).

The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), has formally approved the awarding of the citation in recognition of the military assistance provided to the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) while under the operational command of the United States Military Assistance Command (MACV).

Mr Chester said 547 Signal Troop was raised in 1966 and deployed to Vietnam as Australia's contribution to the United States intelligence network.

"The troop's primary role was to locate and monitor enemy radio signals in order to identify their strength, location, capability and future intentions," Mr Chester said.

"To achieve this the troop was in direct contact with the enemy forces from the first day that they arrived in Vietnam to the day before all Australian forces departed that country.

"Throughout their deployment to Vietnam, the troop was credited with providing early warning of imminent large scale enemy action against Australian, US and Thai forces, and were directly credited with saving hundreds of lives.

"Due to the extreme secrecy surrounding the troop's operations their presence in Vietnam continued to be a closely guarded secret.  Even today the troop does not appear on many maps drawn up by the Australian Task Force or on a model at the Australian War Memorial showing the locations of all Australian units at Nui Dat."

547 Signal Troop was under operational control of the United States Army Security Agency's 509th Radio Research Group and was assigned to the 303rd Radio Research Battalion. The troop's deployment to Vietnam included responsibility for direct support to the Australian Task Force and American units operating under the US II Field Force Vietnam command.

Mr Chester encouraged Veterans and family members of deceased veterans of 547 Signal Troop to apply through the Directorate of Honours and Awards at the Department of Defence for the citation. 

"The extraordinary courage and bravery of this troop is now being formally acknowledged and I hope family members of the deceased come forward to receive this well-deserved recognition."

To be eligible for the citation insignia members must have served in Vietnam under the command of MACV and posted to 547 Signal Troop during the eligible dates, 13 June 1966 to 23 December 1971.

More information is available at - www.defence.gov.au/medals.

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https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/1040639771838763009

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https://twitter.com/AWMemorial/status/1040752172722479104

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https://twitter.com/MarkBaileyMP/status/1050202085218639872

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https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1050305274458779648

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Couriermail --> War veterans to get discount card under national recognition plan

A US-style military card that gives discounts on petrol, food and even weddings will be rolled out to Australian veterans under a Federal Government national recognition plan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will today unveil a proposed joint venture with business to reduce the cost of living for those who have served their country, whether they have retired from the Australian Defence Force in their 30s or 90s.

The new veterans' card is part of a four-pronged strategy to better acknowledge former ADF members, and coincides with the final day of the Invictus Games in Sydney.

The plan has the potential to dramatically reduce hip-pocket pain for about 300,000 Australian veterans, including more than 80,000 in Queensland.

The new card, which could be also be in digital form to store on personal devices, will be created to make it easier for businesses or organisations to identity who is a veteran when they are not wearing their uniform.

In the US, thousands of businesses offer former military personnel discounts on wedding rings, flowers, university fees, cars, utilities and groceries.

Mr Morrison's blueprint includes:

* $7.6 million over four years to expand the Kookaburra Kids Defence Program, which holds camps for kids whose parents are being treating for a mental health illness. It will be open to 250 kids in Queensland.

* A new veterans' lapel pin.

* $6.7 million to develop a SoldierOn facility at the Concord Repatriation Hospital in Sydney for families who have a loved one requiring medical treatment.

It is on top of the record $11.2 billion the Commonwealth provides to veterans each year.

"Australians want to acknowledge and show respect for our veterans who have given so much in their service,'' Mr Morrison said.

"To further enable this culture of respect we are introducing a veterans' card and pin that will make it easier for businesses to show their appreciation by offering special discounts and offers for our veterans.

"As a country we can always do more to recognise and back in our veterans.

"As the Invictus Games come to an end and we mark the Centenary of Armistice, we want to set Australia up to support the veterans of today and tomorrow."

Veterans' Affairs Minister Darren Chester said the home front was just as important as the front line.

"Australians recognise the unique nature of military service and the covenant supported by a veteran card will allow businesses and individuals to practically demonstrate that support every day of the year," he said.

Woolworths, Coles, Kmart, Bunnings, Westpac and Clubs Australia are all understood to support the plan.

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1061152139865579520

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The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon
and was published in London in the Winnowing Fan; Poems of the Great War in 1914.

FOR THE FALLEN

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children
England mourns for her dead across the sea,
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again,
They sit no more at familiar tables of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.

As the stars shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are stary in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

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WWI Footage: Narrow Gauge Train Lines in France

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World War 1 - Ambulance Train

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https://twitter.com/MarkBaileyMP/status/1061522473093484544

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Sunday Mail 16th December 2018 page 4

Gold cards for medics




https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1074021880418324481

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http://jaf.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/074-2018/

16 December 2018

Media Release

Gold Card for doctors and nurses from the Vietnam War

Joint media release with
The Hon Darren Chester MP
Minister for Veteran's Affairs
Minister for Defence Personnel
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC

Members of the Australian civilian surgical and medical teams that provided medical aid, training and treatment to local Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War will be eligible for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Gold Card.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Minister for Veterans' Affairs Darren Chester today commended this group of men and women who will be eligible for the DVA Gold Card from 1 July 2020. This will provide them with access to medical treatment for all conditions.

"It may have taken nearly 50 years, but today justice is being done as a group of brave Australian doctors and nurses are duly recognised for their selfless contribution as members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) surgical civilian medial teams that served in Vietnam," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

"Just like our soldiers, these medical personnel are Australian heroes, and it is so pleasing to see their campaign for justice be successful."

Minister Chester said that while these medical teams were not a part of the Australian Defence Force at the time, the Government has listened to their concerns relating to their time in Vietnam.

"We have determined that it is appropriate to provide them with the DVA Gold Card which will ensure they receive the support they need," Mr Chester said.

"The doctors and nurses of the civilian surgical and medical teams provided medical aid and support to the Vietnamese people, often in situations of great hazard and personal peril during the Vietnam War.

"They volunteered, in the great Australian tradition, putting their lives and careers on hold to administer aid to civilians during a conflict in which more than 500 Australians lost their lives in combat."

During the Vietnam War, about 240 doctors and 210 nurses worked in Vietnam under contract with the Department of External Affairs as part of Australia's contribution to a SEATO aid program in South Vietnam between 1964 and 1972. The program aimed to provide medical aid in Vietnamese civilian hospitals and training to local medical staff.

The measure coming into effect is dependent on the introduction and passing of legislation. DVA is aware there are approximately 200 surgical and medical team members that will benefit from this measure.

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Perthnow--> Premier Mark McGowan rejects Murdoch uni lecturer Dean Aszkielowicz's criticism of Anzacs

Premier Mark McGowan has said World War I Diggers "should be thanked, not denigrated" after it was revealed a Perth university lecturer told students that Anzac soldiers who fought at Gallipoli were "killers".

Murdoch University is standing by Dean Aszkielowicz, who this month told students Anzac Day was a "cliche" that would eventually lose popularity.

Mr McGowan, a former Navy officer, said while there were various perspectives on history, it was not the servicemen and women's decision to "go to war, nor their decision as to where they served".

"But serve they did and they did it with valour and distinction," he said.


"(My perspective) is that the generation of men and women who served in World War I were some of our finest and extremely good at what they did."

It comes as new claims, reported in The Australian newspaper, revealed Dr Aszkielowicz taught students that "very few things the Australian War Memorial claims ... about Anzac Day are true".

Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson, said the "inarticulate" professor's teachings raised concerns about what students were learning at university.

"The fact that the audio came to us suggests some of the students are smarter than the people teaching them," he said.

Dr Aszkielowicz did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Murdoch's interim Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rikki Kersten, said the university recognised and protected the practice of "academic freedom" and was passionate about producing "critical thinkers who willingly consume a variety of perspectives and have the tools to question them in order to come to their own conclusions".

"This is a valuable skill set that will serve them well in their future careers," she said.

Professor Kersten said Murdoch encouraged "students to draw on arguments and views from across the political and academic spectrum".

"They might not agree with all the viewpoints they hear or read, but it is important they understand them and have the tools to form their own views," she said.

RSL WA chief executive, John McCourt, said the comments made by Dr Aszkielowic left him in "disbelief".

"The intemperate and black and white approach of his teaching was intemperate at best and insulting at worst," he said.

Mr McCourt said calling veterans "killers" was extremely insensitive.

"There were servicemen and women who had other roles as well, plus, what do you do in conflict?" he said.

Mr McCourt, who lectured for more than 15 years at Notre Dame, Edith Cowan and Curtin universities, said while he agreed lecturers should teach students "both sides", "this lecturer's teachings hardly sounded two-sided to me".

"The ability for him to say what he said is because we live in a democracy, which some people, as we can see by this, pay the ultimate price for," he said.

Another SJW leftist pleb....unis are full of them.

Murdoch's interim Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rikki Kersten, said the university recognised and protected the practice of "academic freedom" and was passionate about producing "critical thinkers who willingly consume a variety of perspectives and have the tools to question them in order to come to their own conclusions".

absolute bollocks......
I could almost guarantee that at some point in the future if a lecturer were to speak out against say migration or refugees they would be instantly shut down and told that they are towing something not in line with the universities views.
Might be time for a trumpesque policy....any university not supporting views from 'both sides' has their funding pulled.

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1120549637667131394

Hunslet #327 has been cosmetically restored at Ipswich Workshops Rail Museum.
Background https://t.co/1lcE9PxH1K pic.twitter.com/1ESF2BRxyR

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) April 23, 2019

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https://twitter.com/MarkBaileyMP/status/1120596601305587714

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Queensland Times 24th April 2019 pages 1 & 5

IPSWICH REFLECTS WITH NEW MEMORIAL



Unveiling of memorial

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Queensland Times 24th April 2019 page 16

Editorial: Anzac Day is a day that endures



Very well written editorial.   

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CPL N Rowe AM (RAAAC)

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Goodna #AnzacDay2019 pic.twitter.com/RlScnWMR3u

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) April 24, 2019

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1128073641516605440

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https://twitter.com/qldhealthnews/status/1131368690522382336

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1138109899190071296

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A nineteen year old Digger in SVN .. me pic.twitter.com/onclxEa4nH

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) August 17, 2019

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People are gathering at the #Albury Railway station to pay respects to the late Tim Fischer. His coffin will be arriving shortly on a heritage train. pic.twitter.com/rAuQ7JwbIS

— Erin Somerville (@erinbsomerville) August 28, 2019

Tim's final train journey pic.twitter.com/dBmR6PQVW7

— Erin Somerville (@erinbsomerville) August 29, 2019

RIP 2LT Tim Fischer  ... Lest we forget ..

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Gembrook in Victorian Dandenongs 18/10/98.https://t.co/VWSiYT2RIA
Farewell, and thanks Tim ... pic.twitter.com/uXoX2RrnKT

— ozbob13 (@ozbob13) August 29, 2019

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https://twitter.com/AusAirForce/status/1173010003105476608

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1172949981138808832

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Queensland Veterans' Portal

The Queensland Veterans Portal aims to support transitioning and ex-ADF personnel and veterans and their families. The Portal assists navigation to veteran and family specific support services as well as wider community support services. Regardless of your type of service the information and services provided here are for you and your family.

https://www.qld.gov.au/community/getting-support-health-social-issue/veterans

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https://www.awm.gov.au/gillespie-bequest-vietnamese-australian-experiences-vietnam-war/

Australian War Memorial

The Gillespie Bequest: Vietnamese–Australian experiences of the Vietnam War

In 2012 a bequest to purchase works of art was left to the Australian War Memorial by the retired Major John Milton Gillespie, a Vietnam veteran and immigration consultant. In recognition of both this significant gift and Mr Gillespie's life and work, the Memorial decided to use the bequest to commission work that explores the wartime experience of Vietnamese–Australians and its legacy today.

Vietnamese culture and history is a lived reality in Australia but the Vietnamese–Australian perspective on the Vietnam War has not previously been represented in the Memorial's art collection. The experiences of Vietnamese–Australians have the potential to further the understanding of this conflict for all Australians and, especially, its enduring impact on Australian society.

Memorial curators worked in partnership with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (4A), a national organisation promoting the work of Asian and Asian–Australian artists, to research and identify contemporary artists working with Vietnamese–Australian stories. As a result of this research Dr Dacchi Dang has been commissioned to create works of art responding to this important but relatively little-known aspect of Australian history. Starting in March 2016, Dr Dang will research and interview veterans who served in the war with either Australian or South Vietnamese forces:

I want to concentrate on the relationship between Australia and the South Vietnamese. Since their resettlement in Australia, the Vietnamese veterans' stories have largely been silent in Australian communities. One of the possible factors to this under-representation of their stories in the Vietnamese or other Australian communities is that the soldiers still feel trapped from their painful past and loss of their homeland. Their stories and accounts of the war are of particular interest to me in my research for this project. My aim is to create a new understanding of, and a relationship to the representation of, the memories and experiences of the Vietnam War through the tales of Australian and Australian–South Vietnamese veterans.

These stories will inform the creation of two major works of art, to be launched in 2018. The creation process will also be the subject of a short documentary produced by 4A.

Dr Dacchi Dang (b. 1966) spent his childhood in Saigon, and his experiences of the war came both via the media and from the streets. In 1982, aged 16, he and his siblings fled Vietnam, enduring a traumatic sea voyage in a fishing boat, spending nine months in the Pulau Bidong camp in Malaysia before being accepted as refugees to Australia. On arrival Dang learned English and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Masters of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales and a PhD from Griffith University. His research-based practice has focused on the Vietnamese diaspora and the experiences and sense of identity of refugees. His work has been exhibited extensively both within Australia and internationally.

For more information about this project and about participating in Dr Dang's research, email: art@awm.gov.au.


https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/CRO/68/0041/VN/

I will be spending a few days Canberra (9-12 Oct).

I  have been invited to attend  and will be attending the launch of the Gillespie bequest: brothers in arms exhibition at the Australian War Memorial at the AWM on the 10th.  https://www.awm.gov.au/about/our-work/projects/gillespie-bequest-vietnamese-australian-experiences-vietnam-war

Gillespie bequest: brothers in arms exhibition.

This new art commission by the Australian War Memorial explores the Vietnamese–Australian wartime experience and the relationship between Australian and South Vietnamese military personnel during the war.

In 2012 a bequest to purchase works of art was left to the Australian War Memorial by retired Major John Milton Gillespie, a Vietnam veteran and immigration consultant. In recognition of this significant gift and Mr Gillespie's life and work, the Memorial subsequently commissioned artworks that explores the wartime experience of Vietnamese–Australians and its continuing legacy. Dr Dacchi Dang's artistic  response illustrates this important aspect of Australian history.

Dr Dacchi Dang spent his childhood in Saigon; his experiences of the war came from the media and the streets. In 1982, aged 16, he arrived in Australia as a refugee. He has since become an acclaimed artist, exhibiting his works across Australia and internationally. To create Brothers in arms Dang interviewed veterans of Australian and South Vietnamese forces about their experiences of the war. It is their stories that shaped these important new works in the Memorial's collection.

What: the Gillespie bequest: brothers in arms exhibition launch

Where: Captain Reg Saunders Gallery, Australian War Memorial

When: 9 am, Thursday, 10 October 2019

I was interviewed and supplied some 35 mm slides for this exhibition.