Subject: A Few pointers from a very rich man- Bill Gates
This should be posted in all schools. Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice.
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
If you agree, pass it on.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English -
Thank a soldier!
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
RECYCLING - AND KEEPING THE IMPORTANT THINGS
I grew up in the 40's/50's/60's with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and M u m in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other.
It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick.
This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.
There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close.
I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to those people that are "keepers" in your life.
Send it back to the person that sent it to you if they too are a keeper. Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Keep them close ..
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and M u m in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other.
It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick.
This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.
There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close.
I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to those people that are "keepers" in your life.
Send it back to the person that sent it to you if they too are a keeper. Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Keep them close ..
LETTER TO THE EDITOR-KANSAS PRAYER
This was checked out on the Truth or Fiction web site and they say it is true. I have seen similar prayer stories here in Australia and I believe the content of the prayer is something that applies equally here in Australia as it does in America.
Having just added the "AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE" blog, I believe this one is also an important part of our fabric . It's a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage and that is why I feel it is worth airing - it goes hand in hand with maintaining a strong society:
This Pastor has guts!! Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister JoeWright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers
and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked outduring the prayer in protest!
In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright ispastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those callsresponding negatively.
The church is now receiving internationalrequests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program,"The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help , may this prayer sweep over our nation andwholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."
If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for everything. Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world. How many people in your address book will not receive this prayer?
Having just added the "AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE" blog, I believe this one is also an important part of our fabric . It's a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage and that is why I feel it is worth airing - it goes hand in hand with maintaining a strong society:
This Pastor has guts!! Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister JoeWright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers
and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked outduring the prayer in protest!
In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright ispastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those callsresponding negatively.
The church is now receiving internationalrequests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program,"The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help , may this prayer sweep over our nation andwholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."
If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for everything. Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world. How many people in your address book will not receive this prayer?
AUSTRALIA DAY-AUSTRALIAN VALUES
Subject: Letter to Editor
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people why today's Australian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any longer.Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come toAustralia, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in Sydneyand be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees andkiss the ground.
They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in goodand bad times.They made learning English a primary rule in their new Australianhouseholds, and some even changed their names to blend in with their newhome. They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children anew life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilateinto one culture. Nothing was handed to them.No free lunches, no welfare, no labour laws to protect them.
All they had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire they had brought withthem to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Australians fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany,Italy, France, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, and so many otherplaces.
None of these first generation Australians ever gave any thoughtabout what country their parents had come from.They were Australians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan.They were defending the Freedom as one people.
When we liberated France, no one in those villages was looking for the people of France, they saw only Australians. And we carried one flag that represented our country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were, or where they ortheir parents originally came from.
It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Australian.
And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes an Australian passport and aguarantee of being faithful to the country they deliberately left.
BUT, thatis not what being a Australian is all about. Australians have been very open hearted and open minded regardingimmigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, orwhatever else makes a person adopt a foreign country.
And I suppose when wesay adopt, we think of those aforementioned immigrants who truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our morals and our customs. And left their wars, hatred, and divisions behind.
I believe that the immigrants who landed in Australia in the early 1900'sdeserve better than that for the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.
I believe they would be appalled that they are being used as an example bythose waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, trying their hardest to making Australians change to suit their religions and cultures, and wanting to change our country's fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
Long live our Australian Heritage!!
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people why today's Australian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any longer.Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come toAustralia, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in Sydneyand be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees andkiss the ground.
They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in goodand bad times.They made learning English a primary rule in their new Australianhouseholds, and some even changed their names to blend in with their newhome. They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children anew life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilateinto one culture. Nothing was handed to them.No free lunches, no welfare, no labour laws to protect them.
All they had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire they had brought withthem to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Australians fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany,Italy, France, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, and so many otherplaces.
None of these first generation Australians ever gave any thoughtabout what country their parents had come from.They were Australians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan.They were defending the Freedom as one people.
When we liberated France, no one in those villages was looking for the people of France, they saw only Australians. And we carried one flag that represented our country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were, or where they ortheir parents originally came from.
It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Australian.
And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes an Australian passport and aguarantee of being faithful to the country they deliberately left.
BUT, thatis not what being a Australian is all about. Australians have been very open hearted and open minded regardingimmigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, orwhatever else makes a person adopt a foreign country.
And I suppose when wesay adopt, we think of those aforementioned immigrants who truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our morals and our customs. And left their wars, hatred, and divisions behind.
I believe that the immigrants who landed in Australia in the early 1900'sdeserve better than that for the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.
I believe they would be appalled that they are being used as an example bythose waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, trying their hardest to making Australians change to suit their religions and cultures, and wanting to change our country's fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
Long live our Australian Heritage!!
COMPASSIONATE US SOLDIER IN IRAQ
Air Force Chief Master Sergeant John Gebhardt of 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad in Iraq cradles a young girl as they both sleep in the hospital. All her family were executed by insurgents and she was shot in the head but later received treatment from American forces at the hospital. Apparently the girl cries often and the Master Sergeant, who spents most of his spare time at the hospital, is the only one who is able to calm her down.
Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Happy Birthday Australia, Happy Birthday Jethro
Sapper John Thompson OAM arrived in Australia as an immigrant on 26 January 1957. As we celebrated Australia Day all over the country the 50th anniversary of his arrival was spent in Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital undergoing emergency surgery from wounds received in the Vietnam war 40 years ago. This story is a tribute to him.
Happy Birthday Australia – Happy Anniversary Jethroby Charlie Lynn
Forty days before he woke from a landmine that blew his right leg into the Niu Dat minefield, blasted his right arm off, shattered his left arm, ripped his stomach to shreds, and peppered his body with shrapnel, Sapper John ‘Jethro’ Thompson mumbled to me: ‘I’m not getting out of the army mate - they’re gunna have to build a special dozer I can drive’. ‘No worries Jethro’, I said ‘they’ll do that!’
He was a handsome 21 year old regular soldier who had already seen active service in Borneo during confrontation. I was a 21 year old raw nasho. We were on exercise in North Queensland in late ‘66 when the call came for volunteers to go to Vietnam. Within 24 hours we were on our way to the jungle warfare school at Canungra and a month later we touched down in Saigon on the 4th January 1967 – a day before my first wedding anniversary!
Jethro was assigned to the minefield at Nui Dat. I was operating bulldozers constructing our logistic base at Vung Tau. The helipad near the US Army field hospital was one of our early tasks.
It was just four months after the crucial battle of Long Tan and Australian commanders were driving our sappers to lay a protective minefield around the Task Force base. It was hot, sweaty, dangerous work.
Nobody knows what happened that day. Jethro was arming land-mines when they were hit. An explosion lifted him in the air and threw him onto his back. His mates in the squad were blasted but Jethro took the full brunt of the deadly mix of explosive powder and jagged shrapnel.
As I raced to the helipad the bloodied bodies had just arrived and were carried by desperate medics into the field hospital.
Surgical teams went into immediate action and six hours later Jethro, his body swathed in bloody bandages, was wheeled into the ward. Stumps stuck out where his arms used to be. Another stump where his leg used to be. Huge clamps held his stomach together. Shrapnel fragments peppered his face.
Within a couple of days two sappers in the squad died of their wounds. Jethro defied the odds - his subconscious mind was already planning what he was going to do when he got better – not if. He has no conscious memory of his first 40 days in that ward full of young limbless soldiers. I recall many conversations with him – all of them positive.
During my vigil at his bedside I received news that one of my five brothers had been killed in a car accident at home. It took two weeks to find out which one. A far cry from the ‘embedded’ communications we have in army units today.
Six months later Jethro was a patient at Heidelberg Repat Hospital - I was a student at the Officer Cadet School, Portsea. It was a dramatic upgrade for both of us. During a weekend visit he looked down at his healing stumps and mused, ‘this is all I’ve got left mate - I’ve got to make the best use of it’.
He did just that.
Fitted with a new arm complete with a shining chrome hook, and a mechanical leg, he settled into a new job with the Public Service. Soon after he met Judy, a Vietnam war widow with two children, Justine and Dominic. After a brief courtship they married and soon Danielle, Diedre and Judith joined the family roll. He boasted that he didn’t lose everything in that fateful land-mine blast.
The bliss of family life was soon shattered when Judy was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was just 31. How could life be so cruel to one so beautiful? He nursed her until the day she died.
Now a single dad with 5 children he learned that changing nappies was not easy for a bloke with only a reconstructed thumb and finger. He joked that the babies got more pinpricks than the shrapnel pellets he got from the land-mine explosion! Simple chores were major challenges but Jethro was a sapper – and sappers are trained to find ways around obstacles. The role of the Royal Australian Engineers is to enhance the mobility of our troops and impede the mobility of the enemy. It often requires a high degree of ‘sappernuity’.
Hanging nappies on the Hills Hoist was just one of the daily challenges he faced. How we take things for granted!
Jethro was not alone in his struggle. His army mates and Legacy kept a watchful eye on the family and were ever ready to help. But as time went by he noticed some of them were starting to fall apart.
He met Perle at a Legacy function. They chatted. She was an army widow with two young boys, Ian and Anthony. They married soon after.
The plight of Vietnam Veterans was recognised amongst peers but ignored by government and the RSL at the time. An association of Vietnam Veterans was established and Jethro left his job to become a full time advocate for his mates. He joined Legacy to help other service widows and their children. It was the least he could for them.
During our bicentennial year in 1988 he received the ‘RSL Achiever of the Year Award’ for his selfless service to veterans. In 2006 he was made a member of the Order of Australia.
It has been a remarkable journey for the skinny 11 year old immigrant who arrived in Australia on 26 January 1956. Flags were not an issue in those days. Australia had fought off the Japanese just eleven years before. We knew who and what we were.
But forty years on Jethro’s war injuries are creeping up on him. His left shoulder needed major surgery because of the years supporting his large frame on crutches. His left arm, the only one he has, is now useless. Excruciating lower back pain keeps him immobile for days on end. Last year open heart surgery was required to replace a faulty mitral valve.
A later keyhole operation resulted in an infection that attacked his new valve. A blood clot broke off and lodged in his spleen. Repat surgeons decided there was no option but to replace the valve with a mechanical device – immediately!
As the sun rose on the 50th anniversary of Jethro's arrival in his adopted country an emergency team scrubbed up for a marathon operation at Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital. Jethro had just one request. He wanted to see an Australian flag on the end of his bed when he woke up.
I was lucky to get a late flight to Brisbane on the eve of Australia Day.
I met Perle who had little sleep from the night before. We expected a three hour operation. Four hours went by – we pretended not to notice the time. Five hours. It was getting harder to maintain the pretence. Perle picked up the phone in the intensive care waiting room. He was OK. The valve had ulcerated and it took them an additional couple of hours to work through the complications.
The call ended but Perle held the phone for a few seconds as the relief washed through her. We were told he would take a few hours to come round. Perle had time for a quiet rest at home.
I waited because I was the first bloke Jethro saw when he came out of the operating theatre in Vung Tau 40 years ago. I thought it might be a good omen to be around when he woke up this time as we all feared the worst.
I will never forget the moment. He reached out with his stump and I grabbed it – his eyes expressed an urgency I had never seen before. We stayed gripped together for the next hour while he dozed in and out of consciousness. As he came to he began to grin and squeeze my hand between his stump and his side. He was in good care. A charming, attractive nurse maintained an attentive vigil at the end of his bed. A young doctor hovered around. High tech instruments monitored every bodily function – a far cry from the pressurized ward in that army field hospital 40 years ago!This time he opened his eyes a little further and his face lit up – he sighted the Australian flag on the end of his bed!
Australia Day has different meanings for different people. For Jethro’s family –his wife Perle, their seven children and 12 grandchildren, and to all the mates who know of his plight, it is the celebration of the survival of a young immigrant digger who has given his all for his adopted country.
Jethro’s spirit is an inspiration to us all. His laconic wit has never left him. Before Christmas he wanted to go to a show in the city. His mate, Peter Ferguson, called him to say the prices were outrageous – it would cost an arm and a leg. ‘I’ll send Perle then’, Jethro said, ‘I can’t afford to go’.
On arrival back in Sydney I received note from Annie Philiben:
‘I was the nurse on duty when he arrived on the post op ward. I never forgot that fighter. One of the things you probably didn't know was that after 7 or so surgeries to clean his amputations (shorten the limbs) he was doing real well. Then he became extremely ill and for days we had no idea what the problem was. Finally they took him to surgery and found he had an infected gall bladder. The surgeons just wanted to drain the gall bladder but a false move caused the gall bladder to rupture and all that infected goo went over his belly.
This is really a bad thing to happen. We were very worried about him. He had such high fevers and was so out of it. One day a nurse noted that my uniform was full of holes. It was from the silver nitrate solution we used on burns, it used to splash back on us and made holes in our uniforms. She said "Annie what happened to your uniform." I told her about the silver nitrate and said "one of these days the whole uniform is just going to fall off." John lifted his head and said "I sure hope I'm there that day." He was better. It was hard not to cry’.
It still is Annie!
Jethro will remain in Greenslopes Private Hospital for a further 4 weeks. If you would like to send him a get-well card his contact details are:
John Thompson OAMGreenslopes Private HospitalNewdegate StreetGREENSLOPESQLD 4120
Happy Birthday Australia – Happy Anniversary Jethroby Charlie Lynn
Forty days before he woke from a landmine that blew his right leg into the Niu Dat minefield, blasted his right arm off, shattered his left arm, ripped his stomach to shreds, and peppered his body with shrapnel, Sapper John ‘Jethro’ Thompson mumbled to me: ‘I’m not getting out of the army mate - they’re gunna have to build a special dozer I can drive’. ‘No worries Jethro’, I said ‘they’ll do that!’
He was a handsome 21 year old regular soldier who had already seen active service in Borneo during confrontation. I was a 21 year old raw nasho. We were on exercise in North Queensland in late ‘66 when the call came for volunteers to go to Vietnam. Within 24 hours we were on our way to the jungle warfare school at Canungra and a month later we touched down in Saigon on the 4th January 1967 – a day before my first wedding anniversary!
Jethro was assigned to the minefield at Nui Dat. I was operating bulldozers constructing our logistic base at Vung Tau. The helipad near the US Army field hospital was one of our early tasks.
It was just four months after the crucial battle of Long Tan and Australian commanders were driving our sappers to lay a protective minefield around the Task Force base. It was hot, sweaty, dangerous work.
Nobody knows what happened that day. Jethro was arming land-mines when they were hit. An explosion lifted him in the air and threw him onto his back. His mates in the squad were blasted but Jethro took the full brunt of the deadly mix of explosive powder and jagged shrapnel.
As I raced to the helipad the bloodied bodies had just arrived and were carried by desperate medics into the field hospital.
Surgical teams went into immediate action and six hours later Jethro, his body swathed in bloody bandages, was wheeled into the ward. Stumps stuck out where his arms used to be. Another stump where his leg used to be. Huge clamps held his stomach together. Shrapnel fragments peppered his face.
Within a couple of days two sappers in the squad died of their wounds. Jethro defied the odds - his subconscious mind was already planning what he was going to do when he got better – not if. He has no conscious memory of his first 40 days in that ward full of young limbless soldiers. I recall many conversations with him – all of them positive.
During my vigil at his bedside I received news that one of my five brothers had been killed in a car accident at home. It took two weeks to find out which one. A far cry from the ‘embedded’ communications we have in army units today.
Six months later Jethro was a patient at Heidelberg Repat Hospital - I was a student at the Officer Cadet School, Portsea. It was a dramatic upgrade for both of us. During a weekend visit he looked down at his healing stumps and mused, ‘this is all I’ve got left mate - I’ve got to make the best use of it’.
He did just that.
Fitted with a new arm complete with a shining chrome hook, and a mechanical leg, he settled into a new job with the Public Service. Soon after he met Judy, a Vietnam war widow with two children, Justine and Dominic. After a brief courtship they married and soon Danielle, Diedre and Judith joined the family roll. He boasted that he didn’t lose everything in that fateful land-mine blast.
The bliss of family life was soon shattered when Judy was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was just 31. How could life be so cruel to one so beautiful? He nursed her until the day she died.
Now a single dad with 5 children he learned that changing nappies was not easy for a bloke with only a reconstructed thumb and finger. He joked that the babies got more pinpricks than the shrapnel pellets he got from the land-mine explosion! Simple chores were major challenges but Jethro was a sapper – and sappers are trained to find ways around obstacles. The role of the Royal Australian Engineers is to enhance the mobility of our troops and impede the mobility of the enemy. It often requires a high degree of ‘sappernuity’.
Hanging nappies on the Hills Hoist was just one of the daily challenges he faced. How we take things for granted!
Jethro was not alone in his struggle. His army mates and Legacy kept a watchful eye on the family and were ever ready to help. But as time went by he noticed some of them were starting to fall apart.
He met Perle at a Legacy function. They chatted. She was an army widow with two young boys, Ian and Anthony. They married soon after.
The plight of Vietnam Veterans was recognised amongst peers but ignored by government and the RSL at the time. An association of Vietnam Veterans was established and Jethro left his job to become a full time advocate for his mates. He joined Legacy to help other service widows and their children. It was the least he could for them.
During our bicentennial year in 1988 he received the ‘RSL Achiever of the Year Award’ for his selfless service to veterans. In 2006 he was made a member of the Order of Australia.
It has been a remarkable journey for the skinny 11 year old immigrant who arrived in Australia on 26 January 1956. Flags were not an issue in those days. Australia had fought off the Japanese just eleven years before. We knew who and what we were.
But forty years on Jethro’s war injuries are creeping up on him. His left shoulder needed major surgery because of the years supporting his large frame on crutches. His left arm, the only one he has, is now useless. Excruciating lower back pain keeps him immobile for days on end. Last year open heart surgery was required to replace a faulty mitral valve.
A later keyhole operation resulted in an infection that attacked his new valve. A blood clot broke off and lodged in his spleen. Repat surgeons decided there was no option but to replace the valve with a mechanical device – immediately!
As the sun rose on the 50th anniversary of Jethro's arrival in his adopted country an emergency team scrubbed up for a marathon operation at Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital. Jethro had just one request. He wanted to see an Australian flag on the end of his bed when he woke up.
I was lucky to get a late flight to Brisbane on the eve of Australia Day.
I met Perle who had little sleep from the night before. We expected a three hour operation. Four hours went by – we pretended not to notice the time. Five hours. It was getting harder to maintain the pretence. Perle picked up the phone in the intensive care waiting room. He was OK. The valve had ulcerated and it took them an additional couple of hours to work through the complications.
The call ended but Perle held the phone for a few seconds as the relief washed through her. We were told he would take a few hours to come round. Perle had time for a quiet rest at home.
I waited because I was the first bloke Jethro saw when he came out of the operating theatre in Vung Tau 40 years ago. I thought it might be a good omen to be around when he woke up this time as we all feared the worst.
I will never forget the moment. He reached out with his stump and I grabbed it – his eyes expressed an urgency I had never seen before. We stayed gripped together for the next hour while he dozed in and out of consciousness. As he came to he began to grin and squeeze my hand between his stump and his side. He was in good care. A charming, attractive nurse maintained an attentive vigil at the end of his bed. A young doctor hovered around. High tech instruments monitored every bodily function – a far cry from the pressurized ward in that army field hospital 40 years ago!This time he opened his eyes a little further and his face lit up – he sighted the Australian flag on the end of his bed!
Australia Day has different meanings for different people. For Jethro’s family –his wife Perle, their seven children and 12 grandchildren, and to all the mates who know of his plight, it is the celebration of the survival of a young immigrant digger who has given his all for his adopted country.
Jethro’s spirit is an inspiration to us all. His laconic wit has never left him. Before Christmas he wanted to go to a show in the city. His mate, Peter Ferguson, called him to say the prices were outrageous – it would cost an arm and a leg. ‘I’ll send Perle then’, Jethro said, ‘I can’t afford to go’.
On arrival back in Sydney I received note from Annie Philiben:
‘I was the nurse on duty when he arrived on the post op ward. I never forgot that fighter. One of the things you probably didn't know was that after 7 or so surgeries to clean his amputations (shorten the limbs) he was doing real well. Then he became extremely ill and for days we had no idea what the problem was. Finally they took him to surgery and found he had an infected gall bladder. The surgeons just wanted to drain the gall bladder but a false move caused the gall bladder to rupture and all that infected goo went over his belly.
This is really a bad thing to happen. We were very worried about him. He had such high fevers and was so out of it. One day a nurse noted that my uniform was full of holes. It was from the silver nitrate solution we used on burns, it used to splash back on us and made holes in our uniforms. She said "Annie what happened to your uniform." I told her about the silver nitrate and said "one of these days the whole uniform is just going to fall off." John lifted his head and said "I sure hope I'm there that day." He was better. It was hard not to cry’.
It still is Annie!
Jethro will remain in Greenslopes Private Hospital for a further 4 weeks. If you would like to send him a get-well card his contact details are:
John Thompson OAMGreenslopes Private HospitalNewdegate StreetGREENSLOPESQLD 4120
Sunday, 21 January 2007
WE DID NOT LOSE THE VIETNAM WAR
An address by Dave Sabben in Frankston Victoria August 2005 commemorating the Battle of Long Tan 18 August 1966
On the weekend Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May 2005, newspaper, radio and television media around Australia perpetuated a lie to the Australian public. They did this by linking the end of the so-called American War, better known in Australia and the USA as the Vietnam War, with the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon to an invading North Vietnamese Army (NVA).
In doing so, journalists, newsreaders, editors and producers failed their duty of responsible reporting. The public was given a pair of disconnected facts and from the implied connection Australian, American, Vietnamese and Allied Vets were once again told they failed to win the Vietnam War.
Let us review the relevant dates:
Midnight 27 January 1973 - the Paris Peace Accords went into effect. They required:
(1) a halt to all hostilities, if not a victory, then at least a truce that was politically imposed;
(2) the return of all POWs;
(3) the withdrawal of American military forces;
(4) Hanoi to honour the border between North Viet Nam (NVN) and South Viet Nam (SVN).
The so-called American War was over. NVN was flat on its back, its infrastructure bombed to a standstill. Its forces were decimated, ineffective and virtually all outside of SVN. Complying with the Accord, the last 2500 US military forces left SVN on 29 March 1973. The last Australian troops, the Embassy Guard, left on 1 July 1973.
1 March 1975 (25 months later) NVN breached the Accord, invaded SVN and thereby started the Third Indo-China War - a new war.
29 April 1975 US Marines were choppered in from ships offshore to secure a landing area for evacuation. Nearly 7000 US embassy staff and senior SVN figures were taken from under the noses of the advancing NVA.
30 April 1975 a soviet tank in a staged photo event smashed through the SVN Presidential Palace gates and the yellow star flew over Saigon.
Analysis:
It had taken two years of massive military assistance from USSR and China to rebuild the NVN Army. During this time the SVN military downsized in accordance to the Peace Accord. The North Vietnamese Army in March 1975 invaded the south in a new and separate war. It was this invasion that crushed the ARVN and there was no intervention by American. Sadly the People of South Vietnam were betrayed by the North with the UN and world doing nothing, that is the greatest crime against humanity not the war.
These are the facts so where has the radical notion that America and The Free World Forces, their allies, lost the war come from?
What does the Australian Government say?
Website: http://www.defence.gov.au/army/ahu/HISTORY/vietnam_war.htm
the Governor-General the Right Honourable Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, KG, GCMG, GCVO proclaimed the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam by Australian Forces on 11 January 1973. However, the last troops (the Australian Embassy Guard Platoon drawn from the Australian Army Assistance Group Vietnam) were not withdrawn until 1 July 1973.
So the Australian government says our war ended in 1973.
What of Australia's diplomatic relations with NVN?
In February 1973, ONE MONTH after the Paris Peace Accord coming into effect, Australia established diplomatic relations with North Viet Nam. We opened an embassy in Hanoi within months - TWO YEARS before the fall of Saigon. When the NVA invaded SVN, Australia was at peace with North Viet Nam and had an operating embassy in Hanoi. WE WERE NOT AT WAR!
What does the Australian War Memorial (AWM) say?
Website: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam.htm
the last battalion left Nui Dat on 7 November (1971), while a handful of advisers belonging to the Team remained in Vietnam for the following year (1972). In December 1972 they became the last Australian troops to come home, Australia's participation in the war was formally declared at an end when the Governor-General issued a proclamation on 11 January 1973. The only combat troops remaining in Vietnam was a platoon guarding the Australian embassy in Saigon. This was withdrawn in June 1973.
So the AWM says our war ended in 1973.
What do our medals say?
Website: http://www.aattv.iinet.net.au/vietmedals.htm
Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975 (Vietnam clasp) Service dates 24 December 1962 to 27 January 1973.
Vietnam Medal Service in Vietnam from 29 May 1964 to 27 January 1973:
Vietnamese Campaign Medal Service 181 days or KIA/WIA between 31 July 1962 and 27 January 1973
What about service after 27 January 1973?
Website: http://www.vvaa.org.au/service.htm
Heading: Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) 1975 - (Vietnam clasp)
VIETNAM 1975 Seven days service by members of the Royal Australian Air Force with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in Vietnam between 29 March 1975 and 28 April 1975. This award replaces the Australian Service Medal with clasp Vietnam 1975 which has been revoked Commonwealth of Australia Gazette S408 dated 18 August 1998.
So only RAAF crew on UNICEF flights qualify for the Vietnam clasp on the AASM 1975 - medal.
But it was still the same war, wasn't it?
Well, let's review: - the cessation of hostilities was Jan 1973; NVN invaded SVN March 1975; Saigon fell April 1975. That's 27 months. Not a long time, you think? Do you remember the space shuttle Columbia breaking up on re-entry over Texas and killing 7 astronauts? That was in February 2003 - 27 months ago from when this was written (May 2005). Does that event seem 'recent' to you? If not, then can the 27 month gap between the Paris Peace Accords and the fall of Saigon STILL be considered just a continuation of the same war?
Further, we will ask that:
1) The AWM should NOT support journalist enquiries which seek to connect the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
2) The government, AWM and media should NOT support the celebration of anniversaries of the 1975 fall of Saigon but should rather support the celebration of the Paris Peace Accords of 27 January 1973 as the date our Vietnam War ended.
3) We should use our influence with government, RSL, VVAA and similar organisations in validating the span of the Vietnam War as 1962-1973 rather than 1962-1975.
4) Ex-Service Organisations, War memorial committees, Shrines of Remembrance and similar should ensure that plaques and signs reflect the dates 1962-1973 rather than 1962-1975.
5) Commencing 27 January 2006, Australia should celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and ignore Vietnamese-inspired propaganda attempting to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of Saigon.
6) If and when the clasp to the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, now reads 1960- is changed to reflect the duration of the war or campaign, pressure should be applied where needed to ensure it reads 1960-1973 and not 1960-1975.
7) Make any further suggestions in the COMMENTS area of your email.
We think it is time that we Viet Vets and our supporters made plain to the media and public our pride in our conduct and achievements in the Vietnam War.
Thank you for your interest and support.
PLEASE REMEMBER US WITH TRUTH, HONESTY, ACCURACY
Please don’t believe the lies, the half-truths, the deliberate slurs or the ignorant
accusations. We weren’t superheroes. But nor were we scoundrels. (Well, most of us
weren’t, anyway!) We were just men who did our job.
And please don’t believe that we didn’t do our job!
We did not go to Viet Nam to invade the North. We didn’t go to topple their
government.
We didn’t go to remove Ho Chi Minh from power. We went to stop the fighting in the
South.
We achieved this in January 1973. The Allies forced the North to sign the Paris Peace
Accord.
The Accord agreed to a halt to all hostilities, the withdrawal of all non-Vietnamese
forces, the exchange of POWs and, importantly, that the North would honour their
border with the South.
On the weekend Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May 2005, newspaper, radio and television media around Australia perpetuated a lie to the Australian public. They did this by linking the end of the so-called American War, better known in Australia and the USA as the Vietnam War, with the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon to an invading North Vietnamese Army (NVA).
In doing so, journalists, newsreaders, editors and producers failed their duty of responsible reporting. The public was given a pair of disconnected facts and from the implied connection Australian, American, Vietnamese and Allied Vets were once again told they failed to win the Vietnam War.
Let us review the relevant dates:
Midnight 27 January 1973 - the Paris Peace Accords went into effect. They required:
(1) a halt to all hostilities, if not a victory, then at least a truce that was politically imposed;
(2) the return of all POWs;
(3) the withdrawal of American military forces;
(4) Hanoi to honour the border between North Viet Nam (NVN) and South Viet Nam (SVN).
The so-called American War was over. NVN was flat on its back, its infrastructure bombed to a standstill. Its forces were decimated, ineffective and virtually all outside of SVN. Complying with the Accord, the last 2500 US military forces left SVN on 29 March 1973. The last Australian troops, the Embassy Guard, left on 1 July 1973.
1 March 1975 (25 months later) NVN breached the Accord, invaded SVN and thereby started the Third Indo-China War - a new war.
29 April 1975 US Marines were choppered in from ships offshore to secure a landing area for evacuation. Nearly 7000 US embassy staff and senior SVN figures were taken from under the noses of the advancing NVA.
30 April 1975 a soviet tank in a staged photo event smashed through the SVN Presidential Palace gates and the yellow star flew over Saigon.
Analysis:
It had taken two years of massive military assistance from USSR and China to rebuild the NVN Army. During this time the SVN military downsized in accordance to the Peace Accord. The North Vietnamese Army in March 1975 invaded the south in a new and separate war. It was this invasion that crushed the ARVN and there was no intervention by American. Sadly the People of South Vietnam were betrayed by the North with the UN and world doing nothing, that is the greatest crime against humanity not the war.
These are the facts so where has the radical notion that America and The Free World Forces, their allies, lost the war come from?
What does the Australian Government say?
Website: http://www.defence.gov.au/army/ahu/HISTORY/vietnam_war.htm
the Governor-General the Right Honourable Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, KG, GCMG, GCVO proclaimed the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam by Australian Forces on 11 January 1973. However, the last troops (the Australian Embassy Guard Platoon drawn from the Australian Army Assistance Group Vietnam) were not withdrawn until 1 July 1973.
So the Australian government says our war ended in 1973.
What of Australia's diplomatic relations with NVN?
In February 1973, ONE MONTH after the Paris Peace Accord coming into effect, Australia established diplomatic relations with North Viet Nam. We opened an embassy in Hanoi within months - TWO YEARS before the fall of Saigon. When the NVA invaded SVN, Australia was at peace with North Viet Nam and had an operating embassy in Hanoi. WE WERE NOT AT WAR!
What does the Australian War Memorial (AWM) say?
Website: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam.htm
the last battalion left Nui Dat on 7 November (1971), while a handful of advisers belonging to the Team remained in Vietnam for the following year (1972). In December 1972 they became the last Australian troops to come home, Australia's participation in the war was formally declared at an end when the Governor-General issued a proclamation on 11 January 1973. The only combat troops remaining in Vietnam was a platoon guarding the Australian embassy in Saigon. This was withdrawn in June 1973.
So the AWM says our war ended in 1973.
What do our medals say?
Website: http://www.aattv.iinet.net.au/vietmedals.htm
Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975 (Vietnam clasp) Service dates 24 December 1962 to 27 January 1973.
Vietnam Medal Service in Vietnam from 29 May 1964 to 27 January 1973:
Vietnamese Campaign Medal Service 181 days or KIA/WIA between 31 July 1962 and 27 January 1973
What about service after 27 January 1973?
Website: http://www.vvaa.org.au/service.htm
Heading: Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) 1975 - (Vietnam clasp)
VIETNAM 1975 Seven days service by members of the Royal Australian Air Force with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in Vietnam between 29 March 1975 and 28 April 1975. This award replaces the Australian Service Medal with clasp Vietnam 1975 which has been revoked Commonwealth of Australia Gazette S408 dated 18 August 1998.
So only RAAF crew on UNICEF flights qualify for the Vietnam clasp on the AASM 1975 - medal.
But it was still the same war, wasn't it?
Well, let's review: - the cessation of hostilities was Jan 1973; NVN invaded SVN March 1975; Saigon fell April 1975. That's 27 months. Not a long time, you think? Do you remember the space shuttle Columbia breaking up on re-entry over Texas and killing 7 astronauts? That was in February 2003 - 27 months ago from when this was written (May 2005). Does that event seem 'recent' to you? If not, then can the 27 month gap between the Paris Peace Accords and the fall of Saigon STILL be considered just a continuation of the same war?
Further, we will ask that:
1) The AWM should NOT support journalist enquiries which seek to connect the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
2) The government, AWM and media should NOT support the celebration of anniversaries of the 1975 fall of Saigon but should rather support the celebration of the Paris Peace Accords of 27 January 1973 as the date our Vietnam War ended.
3) We should use our influence with government, RSL, VVAA and similar organisations in validating the span of the Vietnam War as 1962-1973 rather than 1962-1975.
4) Ex-Service Organisations, War memorial committees, Shrines of Remembrance and similar should ensure that plaques and signs reflect the dates 1962-1973 rather than 1962-1975.
5) Commencing 27 January 2006, Australia should celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and ignore Vietnamese-inspired propaganda attempting to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of Saigon.
6) If and when the clasp to the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, now reads 1960- is changed to reflect the duration of the war or campaign, pressure should be applied where needed to ensure it reads 1960-1973 and not 1960-1975.
7) Make any further suggestions in the COMMENTS area of your email.
We think it is time that we Viet Vets and our supporters made plain to the media and public our pride in our conduct and achievements in the Vietnam War.
Thank you for your interest and support.
PLEASE REMEMBER US WITH TRUTH, HONESTY, ACCURACY
Please don’t believe the lies, the half-truths, the deliberate slurs or the ignorant
accusations. We weren’t superheroes. But nor were we scoundrels. (Well, most of us
weren’t, anyway!) We were just men who did our job.
And please don’t believe that we didn’t do our job!
We did not go to Viet Nam to invade the North. We didn’t go to topple their
government.
We didn’t go to remove Ho Chi Minh from power. We went to stop the fighting in the
South.
We achieved this in January 1973. The Allies forced the North to sign the Paris Peace
Accord.
The Accord agreed to a halt to all hostilities, the withdrawal of all non-Vietnamese
forces, the exchange of POWs and, importantly, that the North would honour their
border with the South.
Saturday, 20 January 2007
BLOG - COMPASSIONATE SOLDIERS
Various Vet colleagues have sent me this one and I am keen that you should view these photos. Rather than sending them as attachments, I am going to upload them for your pleasure.
Warm Regards,
Russ
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
PALUDRINE PARADE ISSUE 2
Greetings once again,
This Edition contains a Membership Form for you to come on board and join our new Association - Vietnam Vets helping one another. We also have a bank account for you to deposit your membership fees into. We will issue a Membership Card in due course.
It also includes a letter from our President Bruce Manning and a copy of Paludrine 1. This is a single page newssheet with details of what has been happening on our patch.
Roll Call - one of the things we noticed in preparing for our recent reunion was that all sorts of blokes wanted to be part of this initiative. If you combined all the members of the six units above there would be some 500 members. To date we have found around 50 with email, and another roughly 50 without an identified email address (our preferred method of cmmunication). That leaves 400 more members to track down.
We now have our own Home Page - see www.raasc-vspa.awarespace.com .
It is under construction and will have more details on it as we manage to get to it – so please be patient we’re not as fast as we used to be!
type sec_vspa and enter the password “launceston”
then press enter
then, click the MAIL tab
===============================================================
Membership Application
Phone No. (home) ………………… (work) ………….… (mobile) ……………………
Vietnam
or direct to: Defence Credit Union or any National Bank
Membership Number 3852206 BSB 803 205 Account 20726970
Dear Member
Lynton Guy –
Barry Carroll –
Noel Schluter –
Mal Saxby –
Rod Quinn -
Steve Wright –
President, RAASC Supply Platoons Association
Paludrine Parade Issue 4
Merry Christmas Fellow Vietnam Veteran
|
| He enlisted in 1966 into the Regular Army Supplement (RAS) for three years and chose a storemans career. Was a member of It was during this time he got to experience the “two way rifle range” and was deployed after several weeks to FSB Coburg for six weeks, along with another of our erstwhile members, Blue Breardon and Gordon Mears. This is the only man I know that has slept through a mortar attack! On another level, before Johnny O’Keefe, there was Percy. He formed a music variety group and put on shows at the USO and for On RTA, he joined 109 Sup Dep Pucka then finally discharged in 1969. Perhaps it was his risky little experience that took him into the private sector to work in the Risk Management field. He is still happily married after 36 years to the same lady and they have two young people that greatly enrich their lives. |
Do you remember: CLASSES OF SUPPLY
CLASS 4 - DEFENCE STORES CLASS 5 - AMMUNITION CLASS 6 – PERSONAL DEMAND ITEMS
CLASS 7 – PRINCIPAL ITEMS CLASS 8 – MEDICAL AND DENTAL STORES
CLASS 9 – REPAIR PARTS (extract ORDNANCE – Jun 87)
More to follow over!
Bruce Manning
President, RAASC Supply Platoons Association
Paludrine Parade Issue 3
Design and installation of Australian Forces Vietnam RAASC plaque at the Australian War Memorial
Finish installation of Website
Collection and publication of Service historys to honour our departed comrades - one below
Australian Combat Badge – who is entitled to it?
Launceston Reunion Aug 07
Some of us were in
President, RAASC Supply Platoons Association
PALUDRINE PARADE ISSUE 1
Whilst this started as a
5 Coy RAASC, 25 Supply Platoon,
26 Coy RAASC, Det 52 Supply Platoon, and
any others as appropriate and are willing to join us.
We publicly acknowledge the hard work of previous reunion planners and wish to leverage on those efforts to build the Association. We now have a Secretariat in
Ex (MAJ GEN) David McLauchlan, AO, currently Victorian RSL President - Inaugural Patron
Dave Evans - Treasurer and Webmaster
Denny Van Maanenberg – Welfare/Pensions Officer and Newsletter Editor
Upcoming Events:
RAASC Plaque laying at AWM – tbc
Tasmanian
Please promote amongst your members. Watch out for the next Edition of Paludrine Parade.
Thursday, 11 January 2007
How RAASC VSPA started in Aug 2006 Long Tan Day
We had a reunion of 20 or so members who agreed unanimously to create an Association with a National Secretariat in Canberra for all “RAASC Vietnam Supply Platoon (VSPA)” members.
It was reported that the Transport and Air Dispatch units have their associations but not us and it is our proposal to incorporate all Supply, HQ, Petroleum, Ammo Tech, ASCO, Postal, etc from:
1 Coy RAASC, 21 Supply Platoon,5 Coy RAASC, 25 Supply Platoon,26 Coy RAASC, Det 52 Supply Platoon, and any others as appropriate and are willing to join us.
The Association would be created with a Constitution modelled on the ACT Registrar General’s Model rules, suitably modified to suit our purposes and be based in Canberra.
We are keen to act as a resource to support Reunion planning, networking, and welfare-related activities for the benefit of all members.
We publicly acknowledge the hard work of previous reunion planners and wish to leverage on those efforts to create our Association.
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