Description

The Vietnam War is considered to be an emotional touchstone for Australian society.

This was also mirrored in the sixteen townships, villages and suburbs that made up the former Shire of Lillydale in Victoria’s outer-east. Here, in this book, is the first real assessment of exactly what that conflict represented and meant to those who lived there.

The district’s connection to this ancient, elongated nation in South-East Asia begins in the 1930s, when it was known as Indo-China. There are further points of connection during World War Two, the 1950s and up to 1964 when the first soldier from the Shire of Lillydale stepped off a plane at Saigon and into the Vietnam War.

Over the next eleven long years, one hundred and thirty-seven residents, or former residents, were to wear a uniform and serve gallantly in this tough war. Some had signed on for the full-time Regular defence forces; others were National Servicemen conscripted into the military for two years. Another four locals were to serve here during this period as civilians. Five would tragically die there while on active service.

At home, their loved ones fretted and some would sadly experience the terrible shock and grief of losing someone in the war.

Others found themselves taking a side over the divisive issue of whether Australia should be committing our troops to a conflict that often seemed endless and raised so many questions and doubts the longer it went on. For the first time, a war we were involved in was being played out in tense reality each night in the lounge rooms of homes in the Shire of Lillydale via their television sets. This galvanised many into action and even into the streets.

This book looks in detail at all their stories, year by year, theme by theme, and from all sides. Both those who undertook a hard tour of duty in Vietnam with one of the three services, and those on the homefront, whether they supported or protested Australia’s involvement. For the most, it uses their voice and their memories to describe this district’s journey through the long, hard years of the Vietnam War; before, during and into the decades after. They will tell you the effect it had on them, and through their lens, you will understand the effect it had on this region.

This conflict left a deep mark on the Shire of Lillydale and those who lived there. Whether they were in the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam, in its air space or on its sea lanes, or protesting it at institutions or in the streets. The significance of the Vietnam War should not be forgotten.

With a foreword by John Methven AM