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FLASHBACK

The true story of Australian Diggers in South Vietnam - Australia's longest war.

Soldiers who pay the ultimate price in war cannot be forgotten for, as it should be their names are carved in stone.

In the jungles and on the dusty tracks of South Vietnam many young Australians were involved in shocking incidents that even today remain imbedded in their minds, they know there are worse things than dying.

Bob and Peter have written Flashback not to glorify war but to pay tribute to those who were physically, psychologically and or spiritually wounded forever, and yet today as is often the case with men wounded in battle are to a large extent forgotten.

There were men who suffered horrific injuries, too gruesome to detail. Unimaginable injuries and pain that to some of them seemed far worse than a quick clean death.

They "survived" and were returned to Australia, mangled and permanently damaged only to spend the remainder of their shortened, difficult lives suffering "Flashbacks" while their loved ones tried desperately to understand.

The authors, Peter Haran and Robert Kearney pay tribute to Veterans of all Wars, particularly the "forgotten wounded."

THE AFTERMATH

The dead in phalanx pass me by,
As lonely, thoughtful here I lie.
Their glory sullied at the hand,
Of those who mocked this spirit band,
Of warriors brave who gave their all,
That we may stay a nations fall.
But others lived of wounded mind,
And some with bodies maimed and blind.
What courage now for all to see'
These heroes show to you and me.

C.A.T. Jennison
4 November 2001

FOREWORD The experiences of soldiers in combat are unlike any others. This book shares some of those experiences drawn from the memories of Australian veterans of the Vietnam War. "Flashback" presents a compelling collection of reminiscences, captured some thirty years after the events unfolded. They are stories that were etched into the memories of those who were there, and have withstood the tests of time; resisting the modulating effects of bravado and "war stories", or reflective silence and denial. They present enduring images, observations and memories with a striking clarity and intensity that resonates down to the present day. Although these flashbacks are drawn from many soldiers, collectively they represent the story of any soldier who has seen combat. They provide a window through which the reader can look into a world that few Australians understand. It is a world full of paradoxes and mixed emotions; courage and fear, humour and sadness, pride and humility, compassion and contempt. A world in which you see the best and the worst in people, where you find good and bad leadership, overwhelming fatigue and inspiring resilience, and uplifting teamwork and mateship. It is a world in which survival and taking care of your mates are the real measures of success. This is a soldiers' book, written by soldiers, in their own words. I knew many of the men commemorated in these stories and their personalities leap out of each page as though it was only yesterday. Of course, from my own recollections, a few expletives seem to have been deleted. Major General P. J. Abigail, AO Land Commander Australia