Examining the effects of the Vietnam War on both the author and an entire generation of Australian war veterans, this autobiography tells the story of life before, during, and after Vietnam. From inadequate basic training to the horrors of the war itself, as well as the guilt, anxiety, and alienation felt upon returning home, the account documents the psychology, trauma, and ultimate redemption of one veteran of a lost war.
Introduction ixBeginnings 1TrainingRecruit Training, Puckapunyal 1966 11Infantry Corps Training, 3TB Singleton NSW 31My New Home: 7RAR, Puckapunyal 55Canungra 62Exercises Barrawinga and Nilla Qua Shoalwater Bay, Queensland 71VietnamWelcome to Vietnam 79The New Me 88The 5RAR Experience 917RAR, Vietnam 109The Battalion's First Operation 113In the Jungle 132Operation Ballarat 157Return to Base Camp 167Last Days 184HomeWhere's Home? 191Melbourne Lessons 203No Time for Exams 220The Long Way Home 2361992 2481993 2521994 2551995 258The Aftermath 263Heidelberg 272Back to School 286Afterword 291Acknowledgements 303