Memories
Its Fifty Years Since Australia’s Involvment in the Vietnam War Concluded
Today is Vietnam Veterans Day and it was a special day. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans assembled in our nation’s capital, Canberra, to commemorate fifty years since our last troops were withdrawn from Vietnam and our war there ended. Similar services took place in cities and towns across Australia today. Our Prime Minister’s message for this […]
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I’m Officially a ‘Golden Oldie’
I found out today that I am now a ‘Golden Oldie’. I attended a reunion lunch for past students of Melbourne High School and it seems that everyone who graduated over 55 yrears ago is now classed as a ‘Golden Oldie. The Old Boys Association (Unicorn Club) holds a reunion dinner every five and ten […]
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Commemorating Those Lost in Battle
You might think that when an unknown soldier dies on the battlefield, his name will just be recorded on a list of ‘Missing in Action’ or his remains will be interred in a grave with a headstone simply marked as an “Unknown Soldier”. This is not always the case! Today I attended the annual commemoration […]
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A Reunion With My Old Mates
I spent most of last week in Bendigo attending a reunion of my Army unit from Vietnam. We originally planned it for last year but the borders being closed due to Covid beat us and we had to defer it until this year. In 1987, the then Prime Minister (Bob Hawke) declared that August 18 […]
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We Are Celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary
Yesterday was the date in 1972 that Jill and I were married at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Box Hill. The Vicar, a crusty old time priest said, when he found out that I was a Methodist and Jill an Anglican, “Mixed marriages don’t really work”. Well, here we are still together (very happily) after […]
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WW1 Battle of Fromelles Commemoration
(Reminder – if you are reading an email version of this post on an Apple device, click on the title to see the image(s). For some reason, Apple Mail does not download the images from the website.) Today was the 106th anniversary of the World War 1 Battle of Fromelles. Its commemoration is a significant […]
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Elvis is in Bendigo
The city of Bendigo is currently hosting ‘Elvis – Direct from Graceland’ an exhibition of the life of Elvis Presley. He needs no introduction – anyone my age, or much younger would be completely familiar with Elvis, his music and his movies. We had tickets for the exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery and stayed […]
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Life Lessons From Vietnam
I was recently asked to give a talk on my experience as a soldier in Vietnam. Others have also asked for a copy of my talk – so here it is. This year, as normal, I attended the Anzac Day Dawn Service and the annual March to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. For me, […]
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Camping, Anzac Day and ‘General Busyness’
It’s been a busy few days for us this week, Just after returning from Perth, we have been thrown into a flurry of activity. Our eldest grandchild, Audrey, (14) has decided to have a shot at undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Their official website tells us that this award is “An internationally recognised program […]
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Our 85 Transport Platoon Port Macquarie Reunion
Well, we have just had a wonderful time at Port Macquarie with my old army unit where seventy five fellow veterans and their partners attended the 13th bi-annual reunion of 85 Transport Platoon (Vietnam). Our event began with a ‘Meet and Greet’ evening at the local Southport Club which gave us a big chance to […]
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On Our Way to Port Macquarie
We left home at mid morning and had a lazy drive to the wine town of Rutherglen in northern Victoria where we have a stopover on our way to a reunion in Port Macquarie, NSW. We decided to stay at the very nice Tuileries Resort here for a celebration. We reached Shepparton for lunch. This […]
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Where Where You When the Men Landed on the Moon ?
There are some significant dates that stick in my mind and I can clearly remember what I was doing at the time. I remember listening to an old valve radio in my bedroom on the day that President Kennedy was shot. I was driving to Canberra on the day that Princess Dianna died and I […]
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