4 Field Regiment (SVN) 'Old Boys' Newsletter - February 2011 Edition

and your mates". Your Air Chief Marshall Houston and Chief of the Army Lt General Gillespie have never been shot at night whilst a member of a small patrol. If the people running the Defence Force today or the Politicians they serve had have had any combat experience they would realise that this "touchy feely bullshit" it is crap in a firefight. They would know that there is a difference between an accidental death to unarmed civilians in a firefight and a true War Crime like lining up people beside a trench and shooting them (Katryn Poland 4500, Son My Vietnam 504, Bosnia ? Rwanda?, or in the case of the USS Vincennes shooting down an unarmed Iranian Airbus killing 290 civilian passengers. This War Crimes tag is utter nonsense, the War Crimes people at the Hague have no interest in this sort of thing, and those who say it is are just trying to create a smoke screen and a good cash flow for the legal fraternity. By dragging these young men before a court Australian lawyers such as yourself are trying to justify their existence and validation of a Law that they bought into being. You and your colleagues are probably saying "We will show the world that Australia is "Just Nation" (We wont worry about these young Australian Soldiers minds) . You are only making Australia look like a bunch of touchy feely wankers at the cost of the Australian Military's rank and file's morale. I have been in lots of firefights and unfortunately I have caused the deaths of unarmed people whilst a member of the Australian Armed Forces. I would like you to charge me with "Killing Unarmed People" in South Vietnam in 1969. I would like to be charged along with the young soldiers you have charged for their actions in Afghanistan . These Special Force soldiers threw a grenade through a window after being fired on from that room at night to remove the Danger to themselves and their mates. Inside that room were unfortunately some young children and women. The Afghan who fired on the Australians had no respect for the other peoples lives. The Australian Defence force including you is being directed by Generals and an Air Chief Marshall who have never seen up close combat as a young officer . They have never been fired on because they joined the military in the mid ‘70’s after Vietnam and spent the next 25 years playing soldiers firing blanks or getting promoted from behind a desk. Chief of the Army Gillespie went to Afghanistan as our Force Commander on Operation Slipper, "big deal", If he ever did leave the wire I am sure it would have been by armoured vehicle or helicopter. I bet he never did a night foot patrol with a live round up the spout! There have been over 30,000 people many of them ex servicemen who have been shot at, who have signed the "On line petition" to drop the charges and yet the, RSL and Liberal politicians have said stuff all about these Pogo's running the Defence force. During WW1, Australia had Generals who had fought in the Boer War. In WW2 we had Generals who had fought as young Lieutenants in WW1, In Korea and Vietnam we had Generals and members of Parliament who had fought in WW2 as young officers and had seen the troops directly under them killed. We even had a Prime Minister who had been a fighter pilot. Old John Gorton and former Defence Minister Sir James Killen (ex WW2 RAAF gunner) would be rolling in their graves looking at the gutless politicians and the Desk bound Generals of Australia today!. I inadvertently killed unarmed people in November 1969 as per attached patrol report which is in the Australian War Museum The following is my version of events in the attached Patrol Report from my perspective ,what happened to me in Vietnam at the time as I remember it. This Patrol was up in the Mao Tao Mountains a VC strong hold, miles from any Vietnamese Government "controlled" villages, about 35 kilometres from the Task Force. The Army wanted the "Kill Ratio" of the Task Force to look good so instead of doing normal 5 or 6 man Reconnaissance Patrols , 2x SAS patrols were joined together to do an Ambush patrol and go and kill VC to increase the "Kill Ratio". The people I helped kill definitely were porters for the VC but on examination of the bodies they were unarmed, they did not shoot at us (like the accident in Afghanistan ) This is sort of thing has happened in all wars, unfortunately unarmed people or civilians get killed. It is just that the Top brass in the Defence Force these days don't understand this because they have never been shot at. If they had the experience they would tell the touchy feely politicians with conviction that the "Law" will not work in a firefight. If one reads a Vietnam era Patrol Report such as this which I am sure our current Generals did when they where young Students at Duntroon , the report it sounds pretty ordinary, even dull reading.