Bob Whittaker – 75th Anniversary of National Service Speech

From Bob Whittaker

DVA asked me me to write a speech on the strength of my thesis and I presented it, along with two other Nashos (one from the 1951-59 scheme, and one who was non-operational) in the great hall. I represented the Nashos who served in Vietnam

As one of almost 19,000 national servicemen posted to Vietnam between 1965 and 1972, it’s a privilege to speak for this historically unique group of veterans. We are the only Australian conscripts that saw active service on foreign soil in peacetime.

We also served in a conflict which, by the time we withdrew from Vietnam, had divided the country. Australians were generally ambivalent, and some hostile, towards our commitment.

For each of us, the national service experience was life changing. The birthday ballot created a random sample of one twelfth of our generation. The laid-back lifestyle of the swinging sixties rapidly morphed into a rigorous training regime preparing us for counter insurgency warfare in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

This was a rapid transformation, ranging from six to twelve months training, followed by deployment for usually a year in Vietnam. We left friends and family behind. Our lives and careers were put on hold for two years.

Our training was intensive, unit cohesion and morale was high, and our leadership strong. We developed bonds during training and active service which remain, beyond family, the strongest in our lives. We were united in our loyalty to each other and to unit and corps. We wore the skippy badge with pride.

Depending on posting, we served in a variety of roles in country, from non-stop patrolling and ambushing in infantry, highly mobile armoured support in cavalry, critical combat and construction activity for engineers, fire missions around the clock in artillery, and the essential logistic and support activity at bases like Nui Dat, Vung Tau, and the Horseshoe.

Units were a blend of regular soldiers and national servicemen. Once deployed, our enlistment status was irrelevant. The exceptions were the routine rotations of national servicemen coming to the end of their obligation.

Most of us had never travelled overseas and were exposed to completely unfamiliar people, situations and environments. We enjoyed the adventure and made the most of our leave, both at R & R venues offshore and in Vietnam at Vung Tau.

More than two hundred of us made the supreme sacrifice, and one thousand two hundred were wounded in action. Other significant costs were a twenty to thirty percent prevalence of diagnosed PTSD in surviving veterans, and suicide rates recorded as between eight and twelve times the national average.

We returned to a community divided, complacent, and in many cases, hostile. For some national servicemen returning home was an adjustment as challenging as operational service. Not everyone made that adjustment successfully.

Most of us went on to forge useful lives and relationships. Most of us used the lessons we learned during our service as a framework for success. To quote Shakespeare, we made a sweet use of adversity.

It took me until the Welcome Home march in 1987 to be comfortable disclosing that I was a Vietnam veteran. Redgum’s “I Was Only Nineteen” helped. The march and the song reflected an attitudinal shift in my fellow Australians that felt like redemption.

We’re now thanked for our service.

It’s been a journey for all of us, and your acknowledgement is important. Thank you for being here on this day and being a part of this significant commemoration.