Recently I was contacted by Bob Bell to relate my experiences in SVN. How to do this without boring prospective readers to death appeared to be my main challenge. However before embarking on that exercise I would like to make some brief observations on the “weekend” in Sydney.

My overwhelming impression on arrival at the convention centre was “Who the hell are all these old buggers?” It took a moment for me to realise that almost thirty years had passed since most of us had last met. It took only another moment, with the renewal of old acquaintances, for this feeling to lift and to be transported in mind and time to our experiences in SVN.  Dennis Gibbons photo expose also helped remind us of our youth back then – thanks for that Dennis, I really ‘needed’ to be reminded of how fit I was then compared to now!

Then there was the Chinese Restaurant next door to the motel, the poor sods probably still don’t know what hit them, and I bet they are still wondering ‘who or what’ was “UP THE OLD RED ROOSTER”.

My thanks to Bob Bell and his supporters for a well organised and presented Reunion.

Now to the hard bit. I am sure, as with most of you, my main memories are of personalities and events. I have refrained from mentioning names when recounting anecdotes. (Ed: Chicken!!!) These anecdotes, I hope, will prompt the happier, less traumatic, memories of that land now so physically distant and removed in time.

The Unit to which I was posted was 1 Field Medical & Dental Supply, a small Unit through which many people passed during its service in SVN. The Unit was sponsored for administration by 1AFH, and the staff for all intents and purposes became aligned with 1AFH.

“Survival” in SVN, in my case, was attained (but not exclusively) by the following:

- limiting the number of beach parties attended

- limiting the number of Rugby matches played for 1AFH – they were far more dangerous than any enemy activities

- avoiding Americans at all costs unless they were useful to us (not really true)

- avoiding falling off water skis in the South China Sea (too many bloody sea snakes)

- limiting access to my file which indicated I was qualified to destroy my blind and unexploded ammunition (marginally more dangerous than the football matches)

1 Fd Med & Dent was tasked to supply medical and dental stores to AFVN sourced from both the Australian support area as well as through the US Army system, at Long Bihn. Being a small, independent, Unit had significant advantages, we worked hard but we had the time to play hard, hence the popularity of the beach BBQ with the Esky trailer.

The supply system from Australia, by sea, was somewhat unreliable (due mainly to the actions of the Australian Wharfie – and not much has changed in the time since). As a direct result, a large quantity of stock was air freighted in RAAF ‘silver birds’. We were very fortunate, in the case of medical stores, that virtually any item could be justified for movement by air. The Unit, in my time, had a policy of “if 1AFH or other Units want it” it was supplied and justified later (and I am sure this was true of the Unit for its entire deployment). I believe, to this day, that this was unequivically correct – we were after all a ‘Service’ Unit, as was 1AFH in its turn. This policy served its purpose in emergencies, but did lead to explaining away of strange demands e.g. Spray Starch for the women’s uniforms, and O.C.’s (not the Officer Commanding type, but the “Pill”), a very strange ‘urgent’ demand for 30 years ago!

The US Army supply system through Long Bihn was somewhat cumbersome, but effective if you knew how to grease the wheels, today it would no doubt be called corruption, but it worked! The odd pair of GP boots, carton of VB, or tonic water went a long way to obtaining good service from Uncle Sam. The much-maligned Americans were always ready to ‘help’. I remember, to this day, being refused fixed wing transport at Stanford Field, Long Bihn, for O2 (Medical) cylinders urgently required at Vung Tau, only to be offered transport on the old Huey work horse by a young American Captain who kept addressing me as “Sir”. He made two trips to carry the cylinders direct to Vampire Pad for me and I suspect he thought our ‘pips’ (stars to them) represented a much higher rank. As I was only about his age I don’t know how he could possibly have thought this, but I was not about to enlighten him!

Another thing you had to watch, in that massive supply base, was your Land Rover. These tended to become ‘lost’. All the gear lever locks in the world would not stop an enterprising young man, with a bloody great forklift, from pinching the damn thing. 

I have recounted the above only to indicate where 1 Fd Med & Dent fitted into the picture in Vietnam. My memory of events is dimming, however those of people are still quite clear and some of those people have remained firm friends. This I suspect is quite common to us all and I look forward to reunions in the future.