relieved to see that it was not just me.Ten minutes previously we were all having a hoot of a time, the chatter and laughter was almost deafening, typical of all Reunion Dinners.So who or what caused this phenomena? It was Bob “Dogs” Kearney ! Our Guest Speaker. He opened by saying how he felt quite “humbled, proud and honoured to be here tonight” and speaking to such a distinguished and unique group of people.Distinguished, certainly some amongst the ranks. Unique, that is what first hit home to me. We were a unique group and, I guess, still are today.Dogs spoke of his two tours, and the books that he and his good mate, Peter Haran, had written. Not only about their personal experiences but also of others as well.As our first Guest Speaker outside of our own corps, Dogs spoke of the horrors of his war that, he now realises, we tolerated on a daily basis. How that Dustoff chopper he saw flying off in the distance was not the end of the battle it was just the beginning for us, the doctors, nurses and medics. When Dogs left the podium the profound silence deepened as our minds grappled with his emotion charged speech. For a grunt to say thank you for being there for us, thank you for the lives you saved, just to acknowledge how important our role was makes up for the times we were referred to as ‘pogos[1]’. We quickly got back to normal though, and completed our sumptuous three course dinner and hit the dance floor to rock the night away. It was soon to down last drinks and head off to the tram stop. Yep, that’s right! For those who couldn’t make the reunion, the Reunion Dinner was held at an outside venue – The Morphettville Race Course. Heritage trams took us to and from Glenelg – full marks to the organisers for arranging this novel mode of transport. But wait, there’s more!When we arrived at the Morphettville Race Course we were greeted by a Bagpiper, from the SA University Regiment (Our Patron’s old Regiment) who piped us into the dining room.

Vampire Dinner 2002, a night of varying emotions, uniqueness and fun with a marvellous group of people. Roll on next reunion!