For the non-Australians Puckapunyal - Australian Army Training Facility Canungra - another Army Training Facility, including the 'Land Warfare Centre' Shoalwater Bay - another Military Training Area also used as embarkation of troops being deployed to Vietnam SLR - Main Service Rifle of Australian Troops during the period, same weapon as the FN FAL, C1A1, L1A1 used by other countries (SLR meaning Self Loading Rifle) Slouch hat - wide brimmed hat for military service, The name "slouch hat" refers to the fact that one side droops down as opposed to the other which is pinned against the side of the crown. Greens - Field Military Uniform Vung Tau - The main Port of Phước Tuy Province, Australia's primary Area of Operations Chinooks - Twin rotor heavy lift Helicopter Nui Dat - 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) base VB - Victoria Bitter, an Australian Beer (bloody terrible stuff) Tinnies - Cans of Beer Hope this helps.
Thank you for defining the terms. I read a lot on the Vietnam war and the heroic part played by the Australians. The movie "Danger Close" is a great story based on true actions of the Aussies. God bless our allies.
When this song came out the Australian Public finally understood what these Veterans had been through. The Defence Forces take extraordinary people, turn them into extraordinary fighters, but don't return them to the pre-damaged state when the war has finished. When Vietnam War had finished there was no ticker tape parade, they were spat on by protestors at the docks as they climbed off the ships, just like the US Soldiers were. This song changed every Aussies attitude towards the Vietnam Vets and the sacrifices the armed forces make in general for the freedoms we think are just a given. We made amends for how they were treated when they hopped off the ships and planes 10 years earlier with a Welcome Home Parade in 1987. Many Veterans quality of life was improved from then on, and many government services were improved, which was about time. We (as a country) train ordinary people to be Extraordinary Soldiers, but we don't de-train them how to join society again. Here is the Wiki page that explains some of the slang and colloquialisms. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Was_Only_19 Excerpt from Wiki. The song was released in July 1983, went to number one, and four years later 25,000 Vietnam veterans marched through the streets of Sydney in a belated welcome home parade. For the hundreds of thousands of Australians who bought the record, Schumann suspects it was a way of saying sorry. “I think I was only 19 provides an ‘I get it’ moment,” Schumann said. “Australians are fundamentally fair and decent, and I think I was only 19 was a story … that made us stop and think, ‘Oh, shit, we didn’t do the right thing by those blokes.’ It gave us all a chance to look over the fence, and look into the backyards of the Vietnam veterans who lived next door or down the street. “I think we’ve learned to separate our position on the war and our position on the men and women who are sent to fight it. And I think that’s a very important distinction.”
Yeah…nope… no distinction or amends made at all!!! Our current vets face the same issues as those from Korea and Vietnam…..total disregard, pretend they don’t exist is the government mentality. 😡🤬
@@Cyannah117 At least Veteran Services has some services these days, and the public shows a general level of respect for the jobs they did and do, especially around ANZAC Day..
This song is woven into Australian culture, my cousin was a Vietnam veteran, he was treated unkindly by some ppl when he returned and by our government as well, he suffered depression and had a drinking problem subsequently, he never spoke of the war to anyone, thanks for sharing this video Joel.
Same as WW1 vets, they never spilled their guts nor did my dad (Korea) and I don't either (Iran\Iraq). Too many memories and people just won't understand and in today's world we could end up in goal for what we did\went through.
Breaks my heart how we could treat other humans like this. Or the complete oxymoronic belief that the blame solely rests on the shoulders of the soldiers. They wouldn't have been there had that two-faced scumbag Lyndon Johnson not lied about the Gulf of Tonkin.
@@caiuscosades1791 I'm an American Combat Veteran (2/502 Infantry, 101st Airborne ... Strike Force Team) who now lives in Australia (since 1979) after 9 years Army... I was shocked at how poorly the public treated my Australian Brothers... all we had was each other. I just buried my last close Australian VN Vet friend... I remember the Royal commission on Agent Orange in 1984 in Sydney and it was a total joke. By the way THERE IS NO CURE FOR PTSD! So far the USA and Australia have tested 71 different "Mood Stabilizers" and NONE work permanently. In Vietnam I was my team sniper and also walked point, personal kills, lost Troopers and close friends were my life's makeup. I'm lucky as Art (I have a degree in Art and art education) helps vets deal with PTSD. We did what our countries asked us to do just as our fathers had. My team spent around 330 days in the jungle (A Shaw Valley and the Laos Boarder), we had no base camp... every four days they kicked out food and amo ... if the bird could land we got mail... the youth today have NO IDEA of what we did to survive or real patriotism. I met some of the bravest men I have ever known there. We looked the enemy in the eyes and killed them, before they could kill us... and we did it for you! Over 400,000 Vietnam Veterans have died since returning home from illnesses DIRECTLY related to exposure to Dioxin Poisoning, Agent Orange... I got that information from the US VA. Least we forget....
im a 16 yr old aussie so this came out before i was even born and this song was still such a huge part of my childhood and it was played at my great grandfathers funeral ( who was also a war veteran) as it was one of my favourite songs. but it makes me tear up every time i hear it, so i really appreciate you bringing this song back up and reminding me of the great man he was.
I also think the band played waltzing matilda by Eric Bogle is a great anti war song along with another song of his 'the green fields of France with many versions but I like the Slim Dusty one as well as Eric's own version.
Very well said Joel. A primer for some of the lingo used in this excellent song (apologies if you already know some of the military jargon): Puckapunyal was the Army training base where rookies would learn to be soldiers (known affectionaly as "Pucka"). When you've completed your training you have a "passing out parade" -the official graduation ceremony. Cadets was a scheme where high school aged boys could learn the basics of military discipline (think the Scouts but with rifles) -it was offered as an extra-cirricular activity at most government high schools in the late 60s and early 70s. "It was a long march from Cadets" refers to the big difference between playing at soilders as a high-schooler, and training to be a real one Canungra and Shoalwater are jungle warfare training areas (both in Queensland) Townsville is a city in Northern Queensland, with a large army base. This was the departure point for most troops heading to the Vietnam war A slouch hat is a broad brimmed army hat typically with the left hand brim pinned vertically to the side of the hat. You see a few soldiers wearing them in the video. An SLR is a self-loading rifle (also called an L1A1) and greens are just the everyday green uniform worn by soldiers (think MASH) Vung Tau was the arrival port for most Australian soilders (just SE of Saigon). Chinooks are big troop transport helicopters with a rotor at each end. Nui Dat was a base not far from Vung Tau (Nui Dat just means Dirt Hill, and there are dozens of Nui Dats all over Viet Nam) "We made our tents a home, VB, and pinups on the lockers..." VB is a beer available in most of Australia (Victoria Bitter) -despite what you might see on the ads, Aussies don't drink Fosters. "...barking M16..." An M-16 is a military rifle based on the Armalite AR-15 you can probably buy at your local Walmart "dusted off" means a medical evacuation usually by helicopter "Contact!" is what you shout when you encounter the enemy Frankie and the moon-kickers. This is the only real error in the song, and probably diliberatly done for a better rhyme scheme. If Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon, and he was going home in June, he either had 11 months more to serve, or had missed his departure by a month. Apollo 11 landed on July 20th "...drinking tinnies on 36 hour rec-leave in Vung Tau" Tinnies are just Aussie slang for tins (cans) of beer. Rec-leave is recreation leave - a few days off to unwind. Normally taken in the nearest big town. Hope this helps a bit. cheers
So well explained Greg Todd, this song always makes me think of my Grandfather who I never met as he died before I was born but he served and it deeply effected him and from all accounts never recovered mentally from.
Thank you for taking the time to put it out like that, it really helps put it into perspective for people who don’t understand the slang ❤ the slang has alot of meaning
People thought the 'Going home in June' was there to represent the many fighters who stayed longer than they were meant too during the war, but the author of the song confirmed that it was just for rhyming and did not have greater meaning.
and when he says "I can still hear Frankie lying screaming in the jungle, till the morphine killed the bloody row" He means until the morphine kicked in and Frankie stopped screaming. Bloody row just means a lot of noise. We hooked in there for hours - means the fire fight they were in took hours before it was over. Channel 7 chopper is just one of our TV station new / traffic choppers
My husband is an Veteran. He was 19 when he joined the Australian Army. He served in Timor... When this song plays i just hug him . Tears fill my eyes. X
Thank your husband for all of us. I was supposed to go too the Solomon's but instead ended up in Iraq. It's a hard life. I'm the last left as everyone else was either blown up or killed themselves. My best mate was found hanged in Sydney. I surrounded myself in animals too help. A few times it nearly didn't. What we saw and did, people should never see or go through. Hug your Hubby as hard as you can.
I remember when this song was originally released, and the impact that it had on everyone here in Australia. I can’t even begin to imagine how it would resonate with those who lived, and survived it. The message was so raw and powerful that it brought even the hardest souls to to brink of tears. And, I can say with all honesty, that its impact has not been diminished over the years. The cheeks and throat begin to ache, and tears still well some 40 years later.
I went to the Sydney Entertainment Center (it wasn't official opened yet) ... My 7 closest Australian "Digger" friends took me with them to watch "Red Gum" play this before it's release. They were all broken up hearing the truth being sung about their lives, I'd never seen them cry. I, with an Australia VN Vet; Peter Moore, (who just passed on) organized several Vietnam Veterans Arts Shows here in Sydney, later a mobile museum, as part of an educational outreach program ... called the "Nam Bus" we organized with a lot of other vet's help to tour the country...I was the Art Director, and also with the Chicago VN Veterns Arts group as a rep. I'm dying now (Finally ...thank god), Agent Orange (Dioxin Poisoning) finally came to the surface and there is no cure for the poisoning. Australia and the USA made and sprayed it since 1961. I used to meet my mates every Friday after work at different Pubs in Sydney for our once a week "Piss up" ... they have ALL since died of the same Cancer! Mine's in remission as it was caught very early, but the list of what I have is a mile long. I hope the end comes soon, the pain, I have no memory of not HURTING,. the loss of mobility and as a Sniper my PTSD visits me almost nightly. It's nothing like those movies or games ... it's inhuman and I remember every one. .. sure those NVA trail watchers were trying to kill us, but for what? Body count? Personal Kills?... for each one they gave me a coin; "The Brave Eagle Award" ... after the second one I asked the first Sgt to take my name off that damn list. He did, but it was still on our reports to the rear. Those awards were banded by congress 2 years after the war ... I only live for my Australian partner, shes been with me since 1990 ... I've never loved someone so much like her. She nor I had any knowledge of the Dioxin, and after the cancer, I canceled our wedding... she doesn't need to be my nurse. The singer of this song was a draft resister, but it didn't matter as when i spoke to him, he actually cared about US, to the point a USA record company asked if he could change a few of the terms for an American release, and he turned them down ... it wasn't about money, it was about his friend! In the USA the Australian consulate general told me before I left with my two sons to teach here in Sydney to NOT put down I was a VN Vet in any applications ... a little late ... we were leaving in 3 weeks. I didn't realize how right she was!
Joel, I should say that the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) here in Australia looked after my father well. They even chimed in to contribute to his funeral and went the extra mile. But for you now, I'd like to offer these words I wrote some years ago, mostly for our youth who are facing uncertainties in Life. If you will, accept this posting as my gift to you this day, simply for being who you are. The piece was called "I Have Such a Heart for the Youth of Today": I have such a heart for our youth of today wearing their hoodies as armour against the world. Through the advent of technology and mass media are our youth of today given at such break-neck speed more to digest and deal with than were we or any preceding generation ever exposed to. When I say "our youth of today", I do not say it lightly but place upon it the very real weight of responsibility, but yet at times we neglect all too easily what should matter most and often in the blind pursuit of what matters least. We choose power over play where play for us has become the quest for power over each other. We have imposed upon our youth of today a world not of their own making yet do we expect of them that they live by standards we ourselves do not adhere to even though they have yet to form their own. We give them answers to questions they do not ask without first listening to what it is they have to say or need to know. We watch as they watch from day to day their world being torn asunder by ego driven, power-dressed politicians, all clutching their clip boards for life as they wage their mindless wars against our brethren but to serve up the lives of others as fodder and for what? No one hears them ask : "Why?" Why? The truth is that we do not want to hear them because in our youth of today do we recognise the greater wisdom we once had when we were young, but have since lost through growing away. The truth is we are just as afraid as are our youth of today but that in our fear do we choose more to fight than to befriend as once we befriended each other as children. I have such a heart for our youth of today because they hold the promise of everything good that is still yet to come and can change this world for the better. I have such a heart for our youth of today because they carry within their hearts the dreams we have lost to derision that instead of uniting create divisions. I have such a heart for our youth of today because the hoodies they wear as armour against the world may well be protecting the passion that could save it. Blessings, Joel, and to everyone!
Joel's comments made me angry. The anti war protesters are reason Australia's involvement in Vietnam ended so too the US. My Grandfather a war veteran from The pacific war/ Kokoda protested against involvent in Vietnam to save guys from what he experienced. My mother was a protester and my father was called up and had just finished all his training to go before the Government ended Australia's involvement. Public opinion and protesters saved lives. Probably my dads. The whole only 19 was a protest song against war.
@@maxsmart645 You are justified to be upset. I understand that. I think that upon reflection, Joel will too. Allow him some leeway to learn that sometimes, the simplest messages prove the most powerful. "Stupid" was not the wisest choice of words, but he also addressed the reason - or some of them - as to how wars come about, and always through no fault of those who are called up to fight for them. Max, my father (he died in August at 99 years of age, I was holding him in my arms) was a veteran of WW2. Long story short, he was in Darwin when the Japanese bombed it. He had been shot. He was discharged from active services a hypomania, and back then, he went through seven months of electric shock therapy. He never spoke about the war. He never wished to attend an Anzac Day March, he simply chose as best he could to forget the horrors he had been subjected to. And where he was most certainly a victim of the ravages of war, by extension, so too was my mother who was his first meeting with an angel.His experience in turn took its toll on her life, and she had a long and debilitating medical history. She passed away in 2005. I cared for dad full-time for 12 years until he died. Difficulties of Life aside and all stemming from the war, it was dementia that took him in the end. What the war did to my dad and by extension to my mother, it also did to me. But caring for dad as I did, the cycle of Life as ever a circle of Love returned to Love.Something of lucidity came back to him during his final days, and I have never experienced such tenderness from a man whose life could rarely process tenderness at all. My dad and me were living proof Love works. But I do not believe Joel meant harm, not at all. It can be difficult for young people today who have not experienced what you or I have, and so closely, that their view of things - and understandably so - is of the onlooker. I understand you. I know that Joel will too. The question to be addressed, which I believe was the underline of Joel's narrative, is one of education; of educating people about the intimacies those of us who are family to veterans bear witness to, even in memory, throughout our day to day lives. God bless you, and your family both present and past. Blessings!
If you're an Aussie or anyone really, this song just makes you cry so hard. I feel for everyone that's ever been to war or anyone that has a family member who's in the war or a vet. Also that line "he was going home in June" hits so hard.
@@tohellwithgoogle4261 "It was a four-week operation" He was set to go home in June, but the operation started before his tour ended. "You wouldn't let your mates down till they had you dusted off" so he volunteered to stay till the end of the Op. "Then a god-almighty roar"... That's how I've interpreted it anyway.
As America and Australia has fought in a lot of wars together side by side our veterans are still treated like shit I'm sure America knows what that is like as theirs is a lot worse than ours still does not mean too wrong make a right money shouldn't come into this to help these people as they went away to help us I find it all very disgusting your video was absolutely brilliant just listening to that song as an Australian brought tears to my eyes I also think it's because I feel Australia is forgotten with a lot of the sacrifices that our people have made because America is always put up on a pedestal but yes good to see your reaction you ask anyone in the military in America now and I guarantee they will say Australian soldiers are tough as hell RIP to all people passed away to fight for our freedom
The men who are the subjects of this song wee definitely NOT conscripts or "Nashos". National Service, or conscription , for the Vietnam war, in Australia, was at the age of 20. If the title of this song is "I Was Only 19", how could they possibly be conscripts? Think about it! I fought in Vietnam, as an Infantry soldier, on two twelve-month tours. I think I would know. Dennis Moore.
@@dennismoore1134 a conscript would be 21 or close to it by the time he was sent to vietnam. a big difference in maturity at that age. american conscripts were another story, poor bastards.
I had 2 uncles who served in Vietnam, one was my mom's brother & the other was my dad's brother. Both were 18yrs old and only a few months out of high school. They both became chopper pilots & one had to land with an unexploded shell that came through the cockpit windshield and lodged between the seats . Neither one wanted to talk much about what they saw & experienced while there.& both died from different types of cancer that are now linked to the chemicals that were used during the war, one was only 59 when he died & the other was 67. I also remember my childhood neighbor who was also just 18 being killed when he stepped on a land mine, so even to this day whenever I hear a gun salute & taps being played it brings tears to my eyes. It is sad how military veterans are mistreated & disrespected even today!
Sorry what is taps? And respect to your uncles, I understand shell come in that not want to talk, I am more of a fan of and respect to chopper pilots since what they have to do and no cover, compare to who on ground
I really get the feeling, my dad and uncle were both Aussie Navy vets, they both passed away from cancer at the end of 2021 more than likely related to their service. I joined the Navy at 18 and have been in for 3 years now. No regrets, I've been proud to be 5th generation military and was the youngest and only person in my generation of family to enlist.
@@mlee6050 "Taps" is a bugle call sounded to signal "lights out" at the end of a military day, and during patriotic memorial ceremonies and military funerals conducted by the United States Armed Forces (per Wikipedia). Effectively the same as "Last Post".
This song did more for creating a public awareness of war vet mental health problems, particularly with regards to PTSD, than anything else ever has. It was this public awareness that created public pressure to provide better services and help for war vets. It's a song that's tragically sad and emotionally hard to properly listen to, but it's a song that the people of every country in the world that has a military needs to properly listen to.
I can never get through this song completely. Every time I hear it, I get goosebumps and the tears just flow down my face. It just gets you emotionally every time. I often hear it, having a beer on ANZAC Day & Remembrance Day, down at the local pub.
Op is missing the Irony of the "no wars " sighns at the end. Got defensive, but like he said he is American. For mine the most Aussie song of all time.
Me too🥺 my dad served in this war. He opened up to me when i got older im now 48., about what he saw and had to endure and come home to in Australia. Makes me so sad. I was born 2 years after he returned. with a rare birth defect. Agenesis of the corpus Callosum, colpocephaly, ADHD And Autism spectrum disorder. Dad has the full gold pension. And i was granted full disability pension. Anyways to the point this song is so incredibly powerful always pulls on my heart strings.😢
The Agent Orange sunset refers to Agent Orange which was a chemical defoliation herbicide which was used tactically to clear away cover from the enemy but had the nasty side effects of giving people who were exposed to it cancers and other illnesses, which is kind of referred to in the following version of the chorus where he asks about the rash that comes and goes
The Australian War Memorial website has the lyrics of this song posted, with John Schumann's input. The official lyrics are 'an ASIAN orange sunset through the scrub'. Look it up for yourself.
@@ray.shoesmith then the Australian government (shock horror!) got it wrong. Which doesn't surprise me since the Australian government has been trying to deny the health impacts of the chemicals that they exposed our military personnel to during the Vietnam war for more than half a century.
Joel, this is an excellent music video. I joined the Canadian Army at 17 and the Vietnam War was still going on. Canada stayed out of it, except for the International truce supervision missions. 20,000 Canadians served in Vietnam with the US Forces (probably some went to the Aussies too). We used to watch the excellent Aussie movie "The Odd Angry Shot" set in Vietnam, because the Australian and Canadian armies operate under the British regimental system. The American system is quite different. Also, I carried the same excellent 7.62mm NATO SLR rifle - the L1A1 in UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and C1A1 in Canada. More recently, some my soldiers were fighting in Afghanistan at only 18. So, Joel this song really hit the mark. "Lest We Forget," John
They do now, but that's because the Vietnam vets fought hard for changes , they were not treated well at beginning. All they did was follow orders, this was a protest song!
My Uncle was in the Army in WWII……he was in New Guinea……it affected him until the day he died at 94 only a few years ago. On his 93rd Birthday we say him Happy Birthday…..he crossed his arms with a tear in his eye……sorry I didn’t show you love, the J#@&s took it out of me. He lived most his life with PTSD, survivors guilt.
Conscripted soldiers from Australia were often asked to do longer than the sixth month rotation. Frankie died the same day man landed on the moon. So he already was six weeks over his rotation. Anzac day is observed in Australia and New Zealand as it what the combined forces were called in World War 1. It was a day of massive soldier loss on April 25 1915.
actually Frankie didn’t die, his son Brett Hunt writes songs and performs in schools about his father, Frankie Hunt. He came back with pieces of shrapnel in his body
12 month was the standard AUS battalion time deployed to SVN. Conscription was for 2 years. If the two years ended in the middle of the 12 month tour, conscripts (Nashos) could volunteer to extend their time in the army so they could see out the end of the battalion's tour. Many did.
Normal period was 12 months, not 6. It then varied for many for a few reasons. WIA and KIA two obvious reasons, Frankie being RTA the day following the incident. Being sent as a replacement to a unit that had less than 12 months, remainder of service less than 12 months, illness. It also was extended beyond 12 in many cases, as I can attest at 13 months. Frankie (Francis Hunt) and the rest of 6 RAR had only arrived in country on the 8 May 1969 some 2 months before the incident and weren't due to RTA until the 5 May 1970, in fact it being the 12 May so nearly another 10 months to go,
A few names at the beginning of the song that probably don't mean much to you - Puckapunyal - Australian Army training base, Canungra - jungle warfare training centre, Showlwater - major ADF training area on the east coast of Australia, SLR - Self loading rifle made in Australia based on the FN FAL.
My great uncle served in the Vietnam war, once for Australia and once for New Zealand (the Australian army told him he had served and didn't need to anymore but he didn't feel his job was done) the effect it had on him right up until he passed of natural causes in 2013 was heart breaking. He lived in a bunch of trailers on his property and you couldn't step anywhere without the sound of glass crunching under your shoes, he did that so he could always hear if someone was trying to sneak up on him, he also had dug pits that were traps incase someone came during the night. I couldn't imagine being that paranoid and traumatised
Maybe one would of been enough but so many do feel they got to do their all and even if die at war before feel their job was done, said one as think might of managed easier and sorry to hear how he lived rest of his life as of what he experienced
As per previous comments. Aussies do shed a tear when they hear this song. I missed this war by 7 years but I had three tours overseas as infantry after. Our biggest enemy was the ROE (rules of engagement) We couldn't defend ourselves unless someone started shooting us first. My friends and I still have issues with relationships with our wives and drinking (and worse) but we mostly get ignored by Vet affairs.
Omg, I have never heard this before and it made me cry, what a powerful song. This needs to be shared, everyone needs to realise/remember what these men went through. Thanks for showing this Joel and much love and blessings to all vets.
Beautiful commentary on a beautiful (if chilling) song Australia wasn’t very good to the Viet Vets at first but attitudes toward our defence force and veterans now is very positive. We have a lot of respect for our diggers (another slang term used for the army infantry soliders). Not sure if anyone’s explained some of the slang in the lyrics so I’ll try my best: “Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal” Puckapunyal (commonly known as Pucka) is a major army base in Victoria. It’s a defence force training facility and base. It also has a primary school (elementary), some shops, a theatre and some sports facilities. It’s where a lot of our army cadets are trained. “We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left” Both are military training areas in Queensland that prepped them for fighting/existing in hot, tropical areas and jungles. Vung Tao in Vietnam was a place where Aussies established a logistics base, they often got supplies and mail from this base. Nui Dat was also a prominent Aussie military base in South Vietnam (this also sadly meant that the villages residing there were destroyed and the civilians forcibly moved out.) “i can still see Frankie drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel” The Grand Hotel is a rustic, pub style hotel not far from Circular Quay (pronounced Key) in Sydney Harbour Tinnies are a slang term for beer cans. ANZACS are the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps They were part of the allied expedition that tried to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the Dardanelles to allied navy fleets. This was a campaign that lasted around 8 months and over 8,000 anzacs died. We now celebrate Anzac Day on the 25th of April to remember their sacrifice and hardships they faced. We remember their bravery and mateship they showed. All in all, this song didn’t have too many slang words but the accent was very thick throughout so I’d understand if you missed some things. If you have any questions, feel free to reply and I’ll try to clarify ❤
A song about the Vietnam war and how Vets were treated when they returned here In Aus is “Khe Sahn” by Cold Chisel, it’s worth a look/reaction as a sequel to this video
ANZACs were never in KheSahn (USMC operation) That song applied to 8 RAAF pilots, one is Dad. He's 80 now and that experience fukd my family. All sons are bent from it, Mum more so. Never glorify war, never shirk from it either.
This is true. RAAF pilots were involved in the bombings at Keh Sahn. But the song still represents how vets were treated on returning to Australia. No parades. Uni students giving them shit. Ongoing mental issues regarding ptsd. Worth considering regardless of the inaccuracies in the song writing.
Joel's comments made me angry. The anti war protesters are reason Australia's involvement in Vietnam ended so too the US. My Grandfather a war veteran from The pacific war/ Kokoda protested against involvent in Vietnam to save guys from what he experienced. My mother was a protester and my father was called up and had just finished all his training to go before the Government ended Australia's involvement. Public opinion and protesters saved lives. Probably my dads. The whole only 19 was a protest song against war.
@@maxsmart645 yes. This is why I get annoyed with folks blaming the boomer generation for everything. They were the Vietnam generation, which also meant they were the anti Vietnam generation; as well as the civil rights generation. There are a lot of benefits that we have because of them. My grandfather was in Japan after the bomb to "clean". He never spoke about it, and died early. I don't know 100% he was against the Vietnam war, but I can give a good guess!! He is right when he said veterans need better assistance, but we don't need war in the first place! As a Kiwi, this song hits hard ... ANZAC pride! (I'm not sure he understands this is an anti war song?)
Mate, keep up with these reactions and we're going to have to make you an honorary Aussie! 😂 Thank you for taking the time to react to one of the most meaningful Aussie songs, we fully respect the sacrifice these men and women made for us and for the current serving defence forces... Our ANZAC's (Diggers) helped shape this great country.
Thanks for your respectful review. This song has some reverence in Oz. I attended my daughter's passing out parade (Australian army) a few years ago and they played this song just before the parade started, it evokes a great spirit of camaraderie and was used as a motivational tool for her class and no doubt countless classes before and since. Re the vets, as we were getting seated for the parade to begin there was a load roar as a large bunch of bikies (bikers) on Harleys lined up one side of the parade ground. They were long haired , bearded, tattooed and wearing their club patches. They were all Vietnam vets and were patrons of my daughters class so came to show their support. It was a fantastic to see how respected they were by everyone at the parade right up to the top brass. If you want to hear another couple of Aussie anti war songs try The band played waltzing Matilda and the Green Fields of France, both written by Eric Bogle and both about the first world war.
Australians have always appreciated our veterans. Our treatment of Vietnam Vets was not great. But over the past 20 years, we have said sorry to them and recognised them and their sarcrifices. Over the past 10 years, the military has spent a lot of time and effort into improving our military culture and most especially how we treat our vetrans. There are lots of programs (a lot developed by ex-military) to help them adjust to life outside the military. Also, the average Australian has a lot of respect for the military and the incredible work they do. Our Anzac Days (April 25, commemeration of our Australian and NZ military personell) are always very well attended. I went to a couple in Canberra (capital city of Australia) and we couldn't get close to the stands due to the number of people attending. Well over 30,000. That was just one city with a population of 400,000 and they were encouraging people not to attend the dawn service because of the large turn out. Perhaps you could look at some videos on the Anzac legends of Australia?
I'm 60 my brother served in Vietnam as a sapper, I was born into a well educated military family, people have no idea the horrors these men see. I can't watch the TV on Anzac day, I spend the whole day crying, I'm so grateful for those men. My brother had a lot of American mates over there. Your a smart young man well done be proud mate support from Australia 🇦🇺.
Mate as an Aussie this song tells the same things you mentioned about the all returned service people get treated . Thanks for you honest review on all our Aussie songs .
"DANGER CLOSE: The Battle of The Tan"is a move based on the battle of same name i think its on youtube. There is also a really good doco (documentary) here on youtube narrated by Sam Worthington.
Agent Orange is a poison dumped on trees by plane.. Many soldiers were affected by this. At the time lifetime side effects were not enough to cancel the mission because soldiers weren’t expected to live and go home
I'm not a crier but every aussie bawls like a baby when they hear this. Australian VA is excellent, absolutely excellent. Men, wives and families are very well cared for here. Sadly, as usual, right or wrong...we stand by the USA. Every....single....time
I appreciate this a lot, im an ex service member and a lot of us come home struggling with what we see and comprehending it and I posted on your previous video to react to this, in Australia the military is engrained in our culture we have join every war to support the US since world war 2 in saying that we do have a good base for support but like all things there is always ways to improve but there can never be a reversal of the damage done.
I lived through that time -- didn't have to go to Vietnam myself, in fact was around 6 months too old for the call-up. But I knew some who did, and of course followed the events. This song says it all.
Aussie classic! My uncle was in vietnam war. We saw what he went thru when he came back . PTSD. He had some horrifying stories. He even had to cut his best friends leg off in the middle of dense jungle
This song always makes me cry. I am a veteran. You did well mate. Veterans nowadays get treated better. I don't because my injuries were done 1 week after I left the army and still don't get any help after 27yrs of pain and deterioration.
Can i just say you're an impressive young fella, i've been watching all your videos on Australia and they're great, very entertaining and interesting. You have taught me a thing or two about my own country, i love it. Most of all i like your attitude and how keen you are to learn about other countries their people etc. You seem like a good human being, and that's the main thing, i wish you all the best. 👍
I’m the widow of a Vietnam veteran, a Tunnel Rat who spent the rest of his life battling PTSD. When our Vietnam veterans first returned they were shunned and didn’t receive much help even from other veterans. They formed their own Vietnam Veterans Association to help each other, started their own counselling service and did their own fact gathering into the effects of Agent Orange such as rashes and birth deformities. Over time treatment of the veterans has improved, the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service was taken over by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is completely funded by the government and free for veterans and their families. Veterans with a specific medical condition caused by their service can receive free treatment for it beyond what is offered by Medicare and if their service related condition makes them unable to work they receive not only a pension but a compensation payment on top of that along with free treatment for all medical conditions as a private patient and any equipment they need like wheelchairs and home modifications. If they die from their service related medical condition their spouse receives a pension, free private medical and other benefits. There are still those who fall through the cracks and long waiting lists developed over the last ten years or so which causes trauma and hardship for those waiting for their cases to be taken up. The new government seems to be making an effort to reduce the backlog thankfully. On the whole our veterans are reasonably well looked after compared to those in some other countries. On the subject of No War signs, if those who carry them confine themselves to waving them at the politicians who make the decisions to send young men off to war that’s fine. If they wave them at those who are serving or have served in the past, or if they harass them or jeer at them then they are lower than low. I can still remember my then fiancé and his fellow soldiers being flown back into the country in the middle of the night to avoid being jeered at and spat on by protesters.
I would like to, though you, thank your husband for his service. My husband, who did 2 tours of Vietnam in the RAAF, always said the Tunnel Rats had the worst job. I know it would have been tough for you on his return so thank you for sticking with him. Yes, DVA helped him immensely. Now they look after me and I am forever grateful.
Their are some songs you don't fuck around with and this is 1 of them, this is an anthem to Vietnam vets in Australia my uncles went to Korea and Vietnam the latter fought a strange disease from the agent orange which he had growths on his skin he fort for years and died young, its just a shitty thing war one day we will learn to get along
@@LSturboguy I think The Herd actually did credit to the orginal. The fact that John Schumann himself features on it himself. It helps get an important message to a new generation
I come from a military family. We have served continuously since WWI starting with Great Uncle Clair, a Gallipoli & western front veteran. Four uncles & a father all served in or for WWII (Dad was too young so he built Beaufighters & was an anti aircraft gunner with the Militia (CMF). I & two of my brothers served, & two of my sons served. One did seven tours of the Middle East & was awarded the Citation for Gallantry for going in under heavy fire twice to rescue six of his comrades from 2 Commando. My first born still serves in the RAN after 26 years & has also served in a war zone & with the UN. As you might imagine, the song invokes quite strong emotions.
Hi Joel! You really should check out Anzac Day videos, will give you a real insight into Australia and how we remember our fallen. We got our arses handed to us ad lost 10,000 in I think 8 months at Gallipoli in WWI. As for Australian Vets. I’m sorry to read some people were not treated well. Like Marc below, my cousin served in Vietnam, had a marked effect on him and his family. But I have to say, he was treated well by Vet Affaires and the RSL. His wife continues to volunteer. I was only 19… poignant about the horrors of war 😩..
My American friends who have been in Australia for our ANZAC Day (our version of the USA Memorial Day) comment on the very different nature of the day. Ours is not a celebration of war, but a reminder of the failure of way and to remember those who did what they had to do.
Joel, let it go. You're allowed to cry. I'm 50 and more years older than you, and this still brings me to tears. Fortunately, my birthday was not drawn out of the barrel and so I was not conscripted. Marc, in the post below talks of the poor treatment given to his cousin. A cousin of mine was conscripted and although he came back uninjured, he received no support at all from the Army.
Also there wasn't a coming home parade.Didn't get thier medals for years after and they weren't allowed to join the returned services league because they were known at the time as"Baby Killers" These guys were just born on the wrong birthday and according to chook lotto they had to go to war
This song and video makes me cry every time, I start getting goosebumps in the first few seconds. The Vietnam war was a big part of my childhood, the conscription ‘lottery’ took some of our family members. Obviously my father was married so he fell into the indefinite deferment category, so I believed I was lucky, but many weren't.
There was a conscription lottery in Australia. If your number came up (your birthdate) then you were conscripted into the Australian army. That topic comes up in the beginning of the song. Much of the slang relates to names of aust army training places The vets returned to controversy. Not accepted in the clubs for the soldiers (by the ex servicemen who’d fought in WW1 and 2) and civilians against war, didn’t warmly greet the soldiers coming home from Vietnam. A tinny can be a tiny aluminium boat (like a metal rowboat with a motor), or a tin of beer. “Nui dat” is a place where the Vietnam war was fought. A chinook is an army helicopter.
I love this song and it really does hit the heart. I'm enjoying all your videos. You do the best reactions - very intelligent and with a thirst for more knowledge.
This is an iconic Aussie song. My dad was actually at Puckapunyal ( it’s an army base)when Vietnam war broke out. He was in the army. He never went to war as he was colourblind. Even my children know this song by heart. It speaks volumes
Thank you for showing me this, again, it's very emotional! This is about random conscription for the Vietnam war - an absolute hell! This was the last ever conscription in Australia, and we never automatically join in a war any more! Generations of Vietnam veterans and their families still suffer from this war, the Vietnamese did too! 😥 Yes, some of this video was not helpful, there are other versions with this song, perhaps better! There were several protests and marches in Australia about this war and the conscription of 19 year olds, no matter what their background, it was very very unpopular! The uniforms, and medals against the No War signs indicates the feelings of the times, and the Anzac Day reaction to the Vietnam Vets was even more dramatic! I knew a women who cared for her ill Vietnam veteran husband and two disabled children with no respite! 😪 Australia has never declared war nor invaded another country! 🤨 War is stupid and completely unproductive! 😏
I believe conscription was for 20-year-olds. My B-I-L and now husband were both conscripted at 20. Someone with wider knowledge than myself of this song mentioned in another reaction that the 19-year-old this song is based on volunteered.
Conscription 20, not 19. Where do you get your "information" from,? Perhaps looking up The National Service Act would be a good place to start. Never declared war nor invaded another country?
Here I am, 43. This song resonates with me. Sure I didn't officially serve in the ADF as my role was more different (for the Americans think CIA/NSA) but I still sore plenty of action in stan. Still have major respect to those who wore the uniform and went out there.
Look up - Redgum - I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) (Official Video) - It's the original video and song release and you'll understand it better. Also, I stole the following information from someone commenting somewhere else. It's very helpful. ANZAC Legends - Australia / New Zealand Military Pact Passing out parade - a marching ceremony upon graduation Puckapunyul - An Australian Army training base Drew the card - Got drafted Canungra, Shoalwater - Further training Townsville - City on the coast in Queensland Slouch hat - Traditional hat worn by the Australian army, curled brim on one side, flat on the other SLR - Self Loading Rifle, a British L1A1, a variant of the FAL Greens - Australian army uniform Vung Tao - Vietnamese city Chinook - Helicopter built by America, used by most American allies Nui Dat - Vietnamese city Choppers - Helicopters VB - Beer Agent orange sunset through the scrub - the orange sunsets after the use of agent orange seen through the jungles A barking M16 - gunfire in the bush Dusted off - helicopter extraction from a combat zone Tinnies - Cans of beer Caught some pieces in my back - shrapnel wounds, likely from a nearby explosion
ANZAC Day *Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day* every year makes you really feel. There's also 1 song that no one seems to remember: "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, and smile." Can't remember the name. "And the band played Waltzing Matilda" is also a war song that makes you think of nothing else but what the young men were going through so far from home.
Mate, have a look at a film called DANGER CLOSE. It is a film of our D Coy, 6 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (Infantry) consisting of 105 young Aussies, mainly national Servicemen or what you Yanks refer to as Draftees. Along with the the Aussies, there were THREE New Zealand Artillerymen; a Captain and 2 Lance Bombardiers who accompanied that Company into the rubber plantation at Long Tan on Thursday 18 August 1966. D. Coy., were searching for the enemy who had mortared the Australian 1st Task Force at Nui Dat. Those young lads ran into an enemy force consisting of Viet Cong, The VC D445 Battalion and North Vietnamese Regulars. D. Coy were outnumbered 20 to 1. We lost 17 young Infantrymen killed in the field that afternoon, and ONE killed from our Armoured Corps who died several days after he was shot and injured making Australia's losses that day a total of EIGHTEEN. Our wounded was around 24 men. The VC lost over 250 Killed in Action. The numbers we believe was much higher than that as the VC usually wore Bamboo hoops on their legs so that their mates could carry off their wounded and killed, to prevent giving their enemy (The Aussies) an accurate count. If it wasn't for the Company Commander Major Harry Smith and the New Zealand Artillery Captain and his men, there was a distinct possibility D Coy., would have ceased to exist. Thank you Kiwi Brothers. I recommend you get that film and watch it. You will only then understand what that song means.
It's been a long time since I've listened to this song. I knew the tune, but I never really paid attention to the lyrics ... until now. I have no words. That was extremely moving.
Mate the bit that cuts me every time in this song is : "I can still see Frankie drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau And I can still hear Frankie lying screaming in the jungle 'Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row"
This song makes me cry everytime. I live in a military town (Townsville mentioned in the song) and many members of my family have, and continue to serve our country 🇦🇺🇦🇺 so proud
This song is so touching to my mates and I. I decided to join the Australian military at 18, being 5th generation military in my family. Although I never got deployed until I was 20, I still put myself in the shoes of what it would've been like for blokes as young as 16 to be on the frontlines. My great grandad was in the amry and killed in Gallipoli. I really respect our family history and always stand proud in my rig on ANZAC day.
I cry every time I hear this. I try not to but it just wells up. The part where he is pleading with his doctor always gets me. I play this every Anzac day as I watch the old diggers march. I have never cried so deeply.
Kudos to you for educating yourself on life, music and other cultures. Don't stop - you will be FAR better equipped to deal with whatever comes your way. Thank you for this react. Oh, "G'day mate" from Australia!
My grand father was in the Vietnam war and numerous other places, he also then suffered PTSD. Here in Australia veterans get gold card pension as well as full private medical care at no cost .my grandfather had this and when he passed it was passed to my nana who was then able to have private health care pension and more as he did .this has alot ot meaning and emotion
First time on this channel , but yeah this song is quite heavy I myself am a veteran (Iraq) from Australia and also my grandfather served in the same battalion in Vietnam. No matter how many times I watch this I learn something new every time . Very powerful. A band called the herd did a remix of this song in Aussie hip hop it is quite good and I think can also reach a larger demographic
I really appreciate you playing this song. I can’t help but tear up. I never served and it gets me every time. I’ve never seen the music clip either. So thank you! Yeah the Vietnam Vets, Veterans of Korea don’t get as much recognition in comparison to the World Wars but they are still appreciated. Like this song, they were young and believed they were doing the right thing. We as a country pay our respects on the 25th of April every year. ANZAC day.
We don't want our soldiers to go to a war, but by Christ we should look after them when they do. It was titled, 'I was only nineteen' because that was the average age of our soldiers in Vietnam. Classic song written by a classic man, John Schumann.
My Poppy was in WW2 as an ANZAC in the African and then the Pacific campaigns. I was lucky enough to talk to him a few times when I was younger, he would usually brush off comments about the war with a dry joke like "we only won because we had better food, not better guns". The one time he told us a story, he would get to parts and skip hours ahead in time and location, my dad later told me he had heard the full story and it was the parts where either friends died or he had to take the enemies life. He also would not be able to handle raw meat when he came back and was panicked by the smell of anything dead, I guess it bought back too much for him. When he came back he started a successful Banana plantation in NSW that is still run by our family today. My uncle and cousin also herd beef cattle and make some of the best banana thickshakes you have ever tasted.
For the non-Australians
Puckapunyal - Australian Army Training Facility
Canungra - another Army Training Facility, including the 'Land Warfare Centre'
Shoalwater Bay - another Military Training Area also used as embarkation of troops being deployed to Vietnam
SLR - Main Service Rifle of Australian Troops during the period, same weapon as the FN FAL, C1A1, L1A1 used by other countries (SLR meaning Self Loading Rifle)
Slouch hat - wide brimmed hat for military service, The name "slouch hat" refers to the fact that one side droops down as opposed to the other which is pinned against the side of the crown.
Greens - Field Military Uniform
Vung Tau - The main Port of Phước Tuy Province, Australia's primary Area of Operations
Chinooks - Twin rotor heavy lift Helicopter
Nui Dat - 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) base
VB - Victoria Bitter, an Australian Beer (bloody terrible stuff)
Tinnies - Cans of Beer
Hope this helps.
Thank you for defining the terms. I read a lot on the Vietnam war and the heroic part played by the Australians. The movie "Danger Close" is a great story based on true actions of the Aussies. God bless our allies.
This bloke is correct on all but the VB.
VB is the best beer in the country (he probably drinks cat piss like great northern)
@@garlicbumsnatch8454 How dare you besmirch the best beer in Australia. Blackfish is premium quality.
@@Bottle-OBill yeah nah its cat piss champion
The take away is this a plea to raise the profile of PTSD
When this song came out the Australian Public finally understood what these Veterans had been through.
The Defence Forces take extraordinary people, turn them into extraordinary fighters, but don't return them to the pre-damaged state when the war has finished. When Vietnam War had finished there was no ticker tape parade, they were spat on by protestors at the docks as they climbed off the ships, just like the US Soldiers were.
This song changed every Aussies attitude towards the Vietnam Vets and the sacrifices the armed forces make in general for the freedoms we think are just a given.
We made amends for how they were treated when they hopped off the ships and planes 10 years earlier with a Welcome Home Parade in 1987. Many Veterans quality of life was improved from then on, and many government services were improved, which was about time.
We (as a country) train ordinary people to be Extraordinary Soldiers, but we don't de-train them how to join society again.
Here is the Wiki page that explains some of the slang and colloquialisms.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Was_Only_19
Excerpt from Wiki.
The song was released in July 1983, went to number one, and four years later 25,000 Vietnam veterans marched through the streets of Sydney in a belated welcome home parade.
For the hundreds of thousands of Australians who bought the record, Schumann suspects it was a way of saying sorry. “I think I was only 19 provides an ‘I get it’ moment,” Schumann said. “Australians are fundamentally fair and decent, and I think I was only 19 was a story … that made us stop and think, ‘Oh, shit, we didn’t do the right thing by those blokes.’
It gave us all a chance to look over the fence, and look into the backyards of the Vietnam veterans who lived next door or down the street.
“I think we’ve learned to separate our position on the war and our position on the men and women who are sent to fight it. And I think that’s a very important distinction.”
yeah, I don't think I could do what they did. Tear up every time I hear this.
Khe Sanh from Cold Chisel is also another song that hugely impacted how everyday Aussies felt about Vietnam vets.
Yeah…nope… no distinction or amends made at all!!! Our current vets face the same issues as those from Korea and Vietnam…..total disregard, pretend they don’t exist is the government mentality. 😡🤬
@@Cyannah117 At least Veteran Services has some services these days, and the public shows a general level of respect for the jobs they did and do, especially around ANZAC Day..
This song is woven into Australian culture, my cousin was a Vietnam veteran, he was treated unkindly by some ppl when he returned and by our government as well, he suffered depression and had a drinking problem subsequently, he never spoke of the war to anyone, thanks for sharing this video Joel.
Wasn't accepted by the RSL as I remember
Same as WW1 vets, they never spilled their guts nor did my dad (Korea) and I don't either (Iran\Iraq). Too many memories and people just won't understand and in today's world we could end up in goal for what we did\went through.
@2DogsVlogs it's a shame really....I detest war but have the utmost respect for our servicemen, thank you 👍
Breaks my heart how we could treat other humans like this. Or the complete oxymoronic belief that the blame solely rests on the shoulders of the soldiers. They wouldn't have been there had that two-faced scumbag Lyndon Johnson not lied about the Gulf of Tonkin.
@@caiuscosades1791 I'm an American Combat Veteran (2/502 Infantry, 101st Airborne ... Strike Force Team) who now lives in Australia (since 1979) after 9 years Army... I was shocked at how poorly the public treated my Australian Brothers... all we had was each other. I just buried my last close Australian VN Vet friend... I remember the Royal commission on Agent Orange in 1984 in Sydney and it was a total joke.
By the way THERE IS NO CURE FOR PTSD! So far the USA and Australia have tested 71 different "Mood Stabilizers" and NONE work permanently. In Vietnam I was my team sniper and also walked point, personal kills, lost Troopers and close friends were my life's makeup. I'm lucky as Art (I have a degree in Art and art education) helps vets deal with PTSD. We did what our countries asked us to do just as our fathers had. My team spent around 330 days in the jungle (A Shaw Valley and the Laos Boarder), we had no base camp... every four days they kicked out food and amo ... if the bird could land we got mail... the youth today have NO IDEA of what we did to survive or real patriotism. I met some of the bravest men I have ever known there. We looked the enemy in the eyes and killed them, before they could kill us... and we did it for you! Over 400,000 Vietnam Veterans have died since returning home from illnesses DIRECTLY related to exposure to Dioxin Poisoning, Agent Orange... I got that information from the US VA. Least we forget....
im a 16 yr old aussie so this came out before i was even born and this song was still such a huge part of my childhood and it was played at my great grandfathers funeral ( who was also a war veteran) as it was one of my favourite songs. but it makes me tear up every time i hear it, so i really appreciate you bringing this song back up and reminding me of the great man he was.
I tear up too. Good for you that you do. Fortunately for me I missed the Vietnam draft by one month. I owe it to those who served .
Wow, seeing this I did not know the song was that old and yeah it is powerful stuff 😭
@@mlee6050 I think it is the only song that can convey what it is to be a combat vet to a civilian. Poorly no doubt but at least a little.
@@rictechow231 not matter if poorly as hopefully people still watch before enlist in future
No Shit Sherlock!
This as well as "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" are both really emotional Aussie war songs.
I also think the band played waltzing matilda by Eric Bogle is a great anti war song along with another song of his 'the green fields of France with many versions but I like the Slim Dusty one as well as Eric's own version.
I like John Williamson's version
Especially the Pogues version
The most emotional anti-war song of an entire generation; tears still to this day.
Exactly!
Every bloody time 😥
Always. I was not conscripted (they did not need lawyers), but 2 doctor cousins were. They still suffer.
I haven't listened to this song in a couple of decades, and yeah, tears sprang to the eyes.
I’ve never heard of an American equivalent to this one.
Very well said Joel.
A primer for some of the lingo used in this excellent song (apologies if you already know some of the military jargon):
Puckapunyal was the Army training base where rookies would learn to be soldiers (known affectionaly as "Pucka"). When you've completed your training you have a "passing out parade" -the official graduation ceremony.
Cadets was a scheme where high school aged boys could learn the basics of military discipline (think the Scouts but with rifles) -it was offered as an extra-cirricular activity at most government high schools in the late 60s and early 70s.
"It was a long march from Cadets" refers to the big difference between playing at soilders as a high-schooler, and training to be a real one
Canungra and Shoalwater are jungle warfare training areas (both in Queensland)
Townsville is a city in Northern Queensland, with a large army base. This was the departure point for most troops heading to the Vietnam war
A slouch hat is a broad brimmed army hat typically with the left hand brim pinned vertically to the side of the hat. You see a few soldiers wearing them in the video.
An SLR is a self-loading rifle (also called an L1A1) and greens are just the everyday green uniform worn by soldiers (think MASH)
Vung Tau was the arrival port for most Australian soilders (just SE of Saigon). Chinooks are big troop transport helicopters with a rotor at each end.
Nui Dat was a base not far from Vung Tau (Nui Dat just means Dirt Hill, and there are dozens of Nui Dats all over Viet Nam)
"We made our tents a home, VB, and pinups on the lockers..." VB is a beer available in most of Australia (Victoria Bitter) -despite what you might see on the ads, Aussies don't drink Fosters.
"...barking M16..." An M-16 is a military rifle based on the Armalite AR-15 you can probably buy at your local Walmart
"dusted off" means a medical evacuation usually by helicopter
"Contact!" is what you shout when you encounter the enemy
Frankie and the moon-kickers. This is the only real error in the song, and probably diliberatly done for a better rhyme scheme. If Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon, and he was going home in June, he either had 11 months more to serve, or had missed his departure by a month. Apollo 11 landed on July 20th
"...drinking tinnies on 36 hour rec-leave in Vung Tau" Tinnies are just Aussie slang for tins (cans) of beer. Rec-leave is recreation leave - a few days off to unwind. Normally taken in the nearest big town.
Hope this helps a bit.
cheers
So well explained Greg Todd, this song always makes me think of my Grandfather who I never met as he died before I was born but he served and it deeply effected him and from all accounts never recovered mentally from.
Thank you for taking the time to put it out like that, it really helps put it into perspective for people who don’t understand the slang ❤ the slang has alot of meaning
People thought the 'Going home in June' was there to represent the many fighters who stayed longer than they were meant too during the war, but the author of the song confirmed that it was just for rhyming and did not have greater meaning.
and when he says "I can still hear Frankie lying screaming in the jungle, till the morphine killed the bloody row" He means until the morphine kicked in and Frankie stopped screaming. Bloody row just means a lot of noise.
We hooked in there for hours - means the fire fight they were in took hours before it was over.
Channel 7 chopper is just one of our TV station new / traffic choppers
@@daviddou1408 🙏
Love watching intelligent people react to this. You are real!!!
My husband is an Veteran. He was 19 when he joined the Australian Army. He served in Timor... When this song plays i just hug him . Tears fill my eyes. X
Thank your husband for all of us. I was supposed to go too the Solomon's but instead ended up in Iraq. It's a hard life. I'm the last left as everyone else was either blown up or killed themselves. My best mate was found hanged in Sydney. I surrounded myself in animals too help. A few times it nearly didn't. What we saw and did, people should never see or go through. Hug your Hubby as hard as you can.
😓@@2DogsVlogs
Timor was a political football.
What went on there was Disgusting when it came to our Gruberment
God bless you and your hubby and thank you Sir for your service 👍🏻🙏🏻🇦🇺❤️
I remember when this song was originally released, and the impact that it had on everyone here in Australia. I can’t even begin to imagine how it would resonate with those who lived, and survived it. The message was so raw and powerful that it brought even the hardest souls to to brink of tears. And, I can say with all honesty, that its impact has not been diminished over the years. The cheeks and throat begin to ache, and tears still well some 40 years later.
I went to the Sydney Entertainment Center (it wasn't official opened yet) ... My 7 closest Australian "Digger" friends took me with them to watch "Red Gum" play this before it's release. They were all broken up hearing the truth being sung about their lives, I'd never seen them cry. I, with an Australia VN Vet; Peter Moore, (who just passed on) organized several Vietnam Veterans Arts Shows here in Sydney, later a mobile museum, as part of an educational outreach program ... called the "Nam Bus" we organized with a lot of other vet's help to tour the country...I was the Art Director, and also with the Chicago VN Veterns Arts group as a rep.
I'm dying now (Finally ...thank god), Agent Orange (Dioxin Poisoning) finally came to the surface and there is no cure for the poisoning. Australia and the USA made and sprayed it since 1961. I used to meet my mates every Friday after work at different Pubs in Sydney for our once a week "Piss up" ... they have ALL since died of the same Cancer!
Mine's in remission as it was caught very early, but the list of what I have is a mile long. I hope the end comes soon, the pain, I have no memory of not HURTING,. the loss of mobility and as a Sniper my PTSD visits me almost nightly. It's nothing like those movies or games ... it's inhuman and I remember every one. .. sure those NVA trail watchers were trying to kill us, but for what? Body count? Personal Kills?... for each one they gave me a coin; "The Brave Eagle Award" ... after the second one I asked the first Sgt to take my name off that damn list. He did, but it was still on our reports to the rear. Those awards were banded by congress 2 years after the war ... I only live for my Australian partner, shes been with me since 1990 ... I've never loved someone so much like her. She nor I had any knowledge of the Dioxin, and after the cancer, I canceled our wedding... she doesn't need to be my nurse.
The singer of this song was a draft resister, but it didn't matter as when i spoke to him, he actually cared about US, to the point a USA record company asked if he could change a few of the terms for an American release, and he turned them down ... it wasn't about money, it was about his friend! In the USA the Australian consulate general told me before I left with my two sons to teach here in Sydney to NOT put down I was a VN Vet in any applications ... a little late ... we were leaving in 3 weeks. I didn't realize how right she was!
Joel, I should say that the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) here in Australia looked after my father well. They even chimed in to contribute to his funeral and went the extra mile. But for you now, I'd like to offer these words I wrote some years ago, mostly for our youth who are facing uncertainties in Life. If you will, accept this posting as my gift to you this day, simply for being who you are. The piece was called "I Have Such a Heart for the Youth of Today":
I have such a heart for our youth of today wearing their hoodies as armour against the world.
Through the advent of technology and mass media are our youth of today given at such break-neck speed more to digest and deal with than were we or any preceding generation ever exposed to.
When I say "our youth of today", I do not say it lightly but place upon it the very real weight of responsibility, but yet at times we neglect all too easily what should matter most and often in the blind pursuit of what matters least.
We choose power over play where play for us has become the quest for power over each other.
We have imposed upon our youth of today a world not of their own making yet do we expect of them that they live by standards we ourselves do not adhere to even though they have yet to form their own.
We give them answers to questions they do not ask without first listening to what it is they have to say or need to know.
We watch as they watch from day to day their world being torn asunder by ego driven, power-dressed politicians, all clutching their clip boards for life as they wage their mindless wars against our brethren but to serve up the lives of others as fodder and for what? No one hears them ask : "Why?"
Why?
The truth is that we do not want to hear them because in our youth of today do we recognise the greater wisdom we once had when we were young, but have since lost through growing away.
The truth is we are just as afraid as are our youth of today but that in our fear do we choose more to fight than to befriend as once we befriended each other as children.
I have such a heart for our youth of today because they hold the promise of everything good that is still yet to come and can change this world for the better.
I have such a heart for our youth of today because they carry within their hearts the dreams we have lost to derision that instead of uniting create divisions.
I have such a heart for our youth of today because the hoodies they wear as armour against the world may well be protecting the passion that could save it.
Blessings, Joel, and to everyone!
@@michaelgauntlett9435 Michael, thank you for your appreciation. Blessings!
Joel's comments made me angry.
The anti war protesters are reason Australia's involvement in Vietnam ended so too the US.
My Grandfather a war veteran from The pacific war/ Kokoda protested against involvent in Vietnam to save guys from what he experienced.
My mother was a protester and my father was called up and had just finished all his training to go before the Government ended Australia's involvement. Public opinion and protesters saved lives. Probably my dads.
The whole only 19 was a protest song against war.
That was lovely and very insightful, my respect to you Sir 😊
@@maxsmart645 You are justified to be upset. I understand that. I think that upon reflection, Joel will too. Allow him some leeway to learn that sometimes, the simplest messages prove the most powerful. "Stupid" was not the wisest choice of words, but he also addressed the reason - or some of them - as to how wars come about, and always through no fault of those who are called up to fight for them. Max, my father (he died in August at 99 years of age, I was holding him in my arms) was a veteran of WW2. Long story short, he was in Darwin when the Japanese bombed it. He had been shot. He was discharged from active services a hypomania, and back then, he went through seven months of electric shock therapy. He never spoke about the war. He never wished to attend an Anzac Day March, he simply chose as best he could to forget the horrors he had been subjected to. And where he was most certainly a victim of the ravages of war, by extension, so too was my mother who was his first meeting with an angel.His experience in turn took its toll on her life, and she had a long and debilitating medical history. She passed away in 2005. I cared for dad full-time for 12 years until he died. Difficulties of Life aside and all stemming from the war, it was dementia that took him in the end. What the war did to my dad and by extension to my mother, it also did to me. But caring for dad as I did, the cycle of Life as ever a circle of Love returned to Love.Something of lucidity came back to him during his final days, and I have never experienced such tenderness from a man whose life could rarely process tenderness at all. My dad and me were living proof Love works. But I do not believe Joel meant harm, not at all. It can be difficult for young people today who have not experienced what you or I have, and so closely, that their view of things - and understandably so - is of the onlooker. I understand you. I know that Joel will too. The question to be addressed, which I believe was the underline of Joel's narrative, is one of education; of educating people about the intimacies those of us who are family to veterans bear witness to, even in memory, throughout our day to day lives. God bless you, and your family both present and past. Blessings!
@@shellshell942 Kindness, Thank you. Blessings!
If you're an Aussie or anyone really, this song just makes you cry so hard. I feel for everyone that's ever been to war or anyone that has a family member who's in the war or a vet. Also that line "he was going home in June" hits so hard.
Thing is it would have been 11 months later. The moon landing was in July.
@@tohellwithgoogle4261 Or one month earlier and his return got delayed.
@@tohellwithgoogle4261 "It was a four-week operation" He was set to go home in June, but the operation started before his tour ended. "You wouldn't let your mates down till they had you dusted off" so he volunteered to stay till the end of the Op. "Then a god-almighty roar"...
That's how I've interpreted it anyway.
Yeah man it’s a dark joke. Everyone at the time would have known. ‘He was going home in june’ means ‘he should’ve gone home already’
I served 3 years Army and 18 years Australian Navy and want to say thanks for this video. I was in tears.
Thank you
You were brave and strong..and we remember..Stand tall Greg Fordham..
As America and Australia has fought in a lot of wars together side by side our veterans are still treated like shit I'm sure America knows what that is like as theirs is a lot worse than ours still does not mean too wrong make a right money shouldn't come into this to help these people as they went away to help us I find it all very disgusting your video was absolutely brilliant just listening to that song as an Australian brought tears to my eyes I also think it's because I feel Australia is forgotten with a lot of the sacrifices that our people have made because America is always put up on a pedestal but yes good to see your reaction you ask anyone in the military in America now and I guarantee they will say Australian soldiers are tough as hell RIP to all people passed away to fight for our freedom
This song always makes me cry. Listening to it now that my son is 19, drives home just how young these poor conscripted boys were.
I think of my nephews every time i hear I was only 19. Really rams it home. Such a powerful song.
The men who are the subjects of this song wee definitely NOT conscripts or "Nashos". National Service, or conscription , for the Vietnam war, in Australia, was at the age of 20. If the title of this song is "I Was Only 19", how could they possibly be conscripts? Think about it! I fought in Vietnam, as an Infantry soldier, on two twelve-month tours. I think I would know. Dennis Moore.
@@dennismoore1134 a conscript would be 21 or close to it by the time he was sent to vietnam. a big difference in maturity at that age. american conscripts were another story, poor bastards.
I had 2 uncles who served in Vietnam, one was my mom's brother & the other was my dad's brother. Both were 18yrs old and only a few months out of high school. They both became chopper pilots & one had to land with an unexploded shell that came through the cockpit windshield and lodged between the seats . Neither one wanted to talk much about what they saw & experienced while there.& both died from different types of cancer that are now linked to the chemicals that were used during the war, one was only 59 when he died & the other was 67. I also remember my childhood neighbor who was also just 18 being killed when he stepped on a land mine, so even to this day whenever I hear a gun salute & taps being played it brings tears to my eyes. It is sad how military veterans are mistreated & disrespected even today!
Sorry what is taps? And respect to your uncles, I understand shell come in that not want to talk, I am more of a fan of and respect to chopper pilots since what they have to do and no cover, compare to who on ground
I really get the feeling, my dad and uncle were both Aussie Navy vets, they both passed away from cancer at the end of 2021 more than likely related to their service. I joined the Navy at 18 and have been in for 3 years now. No regrets, I've been proud to be 5th generation military and was the youngest and only person in my generation of family to enlist.
@@mlee6050 "Taps" is a bugle call sounded to signal "lights out" at the end of a military day, and during patriotic memorial ceremonies and military funerals conducted by the United States Armed Forces (per Wikipedia). Effectively the same as "Last Post".
This song did more for creating a public awareness of war vet mental health problems, particularly with regards to PTSD, than anything else ever has. It was this public awareness that created public pressure to provide better services and help for war vets. It's a song that's tragically sad and emotionally hard to properly listen to, but it's a song that the people of every country in the world that has a military needs to properly listen to.
I did my service. 💌Thank you for posting Mate.
Thank you for your service❤️
I can never get through this song completely. Every time I hear it, I get goosebumps and the tears just flow down my face. It just gets you emotionally every time.
I often hear it, having a beer on ANZAC Day & Remembrance Day, down at the local pub.
Right! Even now, having heard it SO many times, and watching a random American react to it, my eyes are still very wet.
This song sung by John Schulman of Redgum is actually an account of what happened to his brother in law in Vietnam. It makes most Aussies emotional.
Op is missing the Irony of the "no wars " sighns at the end. Got defensive, but like he said he is American. For mine the most Aussie song of all time.
I was 17 when I joined the army, 18 when I first saw combat. It's not something I'll ever forget.
Hi, I’m from Australia, every time I hear that song brings a tear to my eye
Ditto
Me too🥺 my dad served in this war. He opened up to me when i got older im now 48., about what he saw and had to endure and come home to in Australia. Makes me so sad. I was born 2 years after he returned. with a rare birth defect. Agenesis of the corpus Callosum, colpocephaly, ADHD And Autism spectrum disorder. Dad has the full gold pension. And i was granted full disability pension. Anyways to the point this song is so incredibly powerful always pulls on my heart strings.😢
Yep. I don’t think any Aussie can make it through this song without tears
@@sandysmith4782 Every bloody time but i keep playing it in the car.
The Agent Orange sunset refers to Agent Orange which was a chemical defoliation herbicide which was used tactically to clear away cover from the enemy but had the nasty side effects of giving people who were exposed to it cancers and other illnesses, which is kind of referred to in the following version of the chorus where he asks about the rash that comes and goes
The Australian War Memorial website has the lyrics of this song posted, with John Schumann's input. The official lyrics are 'an ASIAN orange sunset through the scrub'. Look it up for yourself.
@@ray.shoesmith then the Australian government (shock horror!) got it wrong. Which doesn't surprise me since the Australian government has been trying to deny the health impacts of the chemicals that they exposed our military personnel to during the Vietnam war for more than half a century.
Joel, this is an excellent music video. I joined the Canadian Army at 17 and the Vietnam War was still going on. Canada stayed out of it, except for the International truce supervision missions. 20,000 Canadians served in Vietnam with the US Forces (probably some went to the Aussies too). We used to watch the excellent Aussie movie "The Odd Angry Shot" set in Vietnam, because the Australian and Canadian armies operate under the British regimental system. The American system is quite different. Also, I carried the same excellent 7.62mm NATO SLR rifle - the L1A1 in UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and C1A1 in Canada. More recently, some my soldiers were fighting in Afghanistan at only 18. So, Joel this song really hit the mark. "Lest We Forget," John
My brother is a Nam vet and suffers from serious PST. He gets very good support from Veterans Affairs here in Aus.
They do now, but that's because the Vietnam vets fought hard for changes , they were not treated well at beginning. All they did was follow orders, this was a protest song!
If you don’t shed a tear to this song then you don’t fully understand it.
My Uncle was in the Army in WWII……he was in New Guinea……it affected him until the day he died at 94 only a few years ago. On his 93rd Birthday we say him Happy Birthday…..he crossed his arms with a tear in his eye……sorry I didn’t show you love, the J#@&s took it out of me. He lived most his life with PTSD, survivors guilt.
Conscripted soldiers from Australia were often asked to do longer than the sixth month rotation. Frankie died the same day man landed on the moon. So he already was six weeks over his rotation. Anzac day is observed in Australia and New Zealand as it what the combined forces were called in World War 1. It was a day of massive soldier loss on April 25 1915.
I always wondered about that line in the song. Why he was still there in July when he was supposed to go home in June. Thank you for explaining.
actually Frankie didn’t die, his son Brett Hunt writes songs and performs in schools about his father, Frankie Hunt. He came back with pieces of shrapnel in his body
12 month was the standard AUS battalion time deployed to SVN. Conscription was for 2 years. If the two years ended in the middle of the 12 month tour, conscripts (Nashos) could volunteer to extend their time in the army so they could see out the end of the battalion's tour. Many did.
Normal period was 12 months, not 6. It then varied for many for a few reasons. WIA and KIA two obvious reasons, Frankie being RTA the day following the incident. Being sent as a replacement to a unit that had less than 12 months, remainder of service less than 12 months, illness. It also was extended beyond 12 in many cases, as I can attest at 13 months.
Frankie (Francis Hunt) and the rest of 6 RAR had only arrived in country on the 8 May 1969 some 2 months before the incident and weren't due to RTA until the 5 May 1970, in fact it being the 12 May so nearly another 10 months to go,
I love your compassion and empathy
A few names at the beginning of the song that probably don't mean much to you - Puckapunyal - Australian Army training base, Canungra - jungle warfare training centre, Showlwater - major ADF training area on the east coast of Australia, SLR - Self loading rifle made in Australia based on the FN FAL.
My great uncle served in the Vietnam war, once for Australia and once for New Zealand (the Australian army told him he had served and didn't need to anymore but he didn't feel his job was done) the effect it had on him right up until he passed of natural causes in 2013 was heart breaking. He lived in a bunch of trailers on his property and you couldn't step anywhere without the sound of glass crunching under your shoes, he did that so he could always hear if someone was trying to sneak up on him, he also had dug pits that were traps incase someone came during the night. I couldn't imagine being that paranoid and traumatised
What a sad story. Poor man.
Maybe one would of been enough but so many do feel they got to do their all and even if die at war before feel their job was done, said one as think might of managed easier and sorry to hear how he lived rest of his life as of what he experienced
Thankyou for reviewing this Anthem of ours 🇦🇺. Grateful that you are showcasing great tribute.
As per previous comments. Aussies do shed a tear when they hear this song. I missed this war by 7 years but I had three tours overseas as infantry after. Our biggest enemy was the ROE (rules of engagement) We couldn't defend ourselves unless someone started shooting us first. My friends and I still have issues with relationships with our wives and drinking (and worse) but we mostly get ignored by Vet affairs.
Omg, I have never heard this before and it made me cry, what a powerful song. This needs to be shared, everyone needs to realise/remember what these men went through. Thanks for showing this Joel and much love and blessings to all vets.
Was Anzac day here yesterday. Much respect to service men and women, past and present.
Lest we forget❤
Beautiful commentary on a beautiful (if chilling) song
Australia wasn’t very good to the Viet Vets at first but attitudes toward our defence force and veterans now is very positive. We have a lot of respect for our diggers (another slang term used for the army infantry soliders).
Not sure if anyone’s explained some of the slang in the lyrics so I’ll try my best:
“Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal”
Puckapunyal (commonly known as Pucka) is a major army base in Victoria. It’s a defence force training facility and base. It also has a primary school (elementary), some shops, a theatre and some sports facilities.
It’s where a lot of our army cadets are trained.
“We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left”
Both are military training areas in Queensland that prepped them for fighting/existing in hot, tropical areas and jungles.
Vung Tao in Vietnam was a place where Aussies established a logistics base, they often got supplies and mail from this base.
Nui Dat was also a prominent Aussie military base in South Vietnam (this also sadly meant that the villages residing there were destroyed and the civilians forcibly moved out.)
“i can still see Frankie drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel”
The Grand Hotel is a rustic, pub style hotel not far from Circular Quay (pronounced Key) in Sydney Harbour
Tinnies are a slang term for beer cans.
ANZACS are the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
They were part of the allied expedition that tried to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the Dardanelles to allied navy fleets. This was a campaign that lasted around 8 months and over 8,000 anzacs died.
We now celebrate Anzac Day on the 25th of April to remember their sacrifice and hardships they faced.
We remember their bravery and mateship they showed.
All in all, this song didn’t have too many slang words but the accent was very thick throughout so I’d understand if you missed some things.
If you have any questions, feel free to reply and I’ll try to clarify ❤
A song about the Vietnam war and how Vets were treated when they returned here In Aus is “Khe Sahn” by Cold Chisel, it’s worth a look/reaction as a sequel to this video
ANZACs were never in KheSahn (USMC operation) That song applied to 8 RAAF pilots, one is Dad. He's 80 now and that experience fukd my family. All sons are bent from it, Mum more so. Never glorify war, never shirk from it either.
This is true. RAAF pilots were involved in the bombings at Keh Sahn. But the song still represents how vets were treated on returning to Australia. No parades. Uni students giving them shit. Ongoing mental issues regarding ptsd.
Worth considering regardless of the inaccuracies in the song writing.
Make the politicians play Russian roulette, winner takes all, once they have a 1 in 6 chance of dying watch how diplomatic they will become
My kind of person
100%
Joel's comments made me angry.
The anti war protesters are reason Australia's involvement in Vietnam ended so too the US.
My Grandfather a war veteran from The pacific war/ Kokoda protested against involvent in Vietnam to save guys from what he experienced.
My mother was a protester and my father was called up and had just finished all his training to go before the Government ended Australia's involvement. Public opinion and protesters saved lives. Probably my dads.
The whole only 19 was a protest song against war.
@@maxsmart645 yes. This is why I get annoyed with folks blaming the boomer generation for everything. They were the Vietnam generation, which also meant they were the anti Vietnam generation; as well as the civil rights generation.
There are a lot of benefits that we have because of them.
My grandfather was in Japan after the bomb to "clean". He never spoke about it, and died early. I don't know 100% he was against the Vietnam war, but I can give a good guess!!
He is right when he said veterans need better assistance, but we don't need war in the first place!
As a Kiwi, this song hits hard ... ANZAC pride!
(I'm not sure he understands this is an anti war song?)
I feel, the only difference I have with your opinion - keep filling the chamber.
It's the Same Here in Aus as in the USA. Wealthy Cowards Send brave Young Men To fight their Battles
Mate, keep up with these reactions and we're going to have to make you an honorary Aussie! 😂
Thank you for taking the time to react to one of the most meaningful Aussie songs, we fully respect the sacrifice these men and women made for us and for the current serving defence forces... Our ANZAC's (Diggers) helped shape this great country.
To all Aussies in my age group, know exactly what the opening music is. We love that song as a tribute to those who served.
Aussie here and I love this song always makes me sad but I respect the story behind it.
Thanks for your respectful review. This song has some reverence in Oz. I attended my daughter's passing out parade (Australian army) a few years ago and they played this song just before the parade started, it evokes a great spirit of camaraderie and was used as a motivational tool for her class and no doubt countless classes before and since. Re the vets, as we were getting seated for the parade to begin there was a load roar as a large bunch of bikies (bikers) on Harleys lined up one side of the parade ground. They were long haired , bearded, tattooed and wearing their club patches. They were all Vietnam vets and were patrons of my daughters class so came to show their support. It was a fantastic to see how respected they were by everyone at the parade right up to the top brass. If you want to hear another couple of Aussie anti war songs try The band played waltzing Matilda and the Green Fields of France, both written by Eric Bogle and both about the first world war.
You are a good guy.. I’m Aussie and your comments were heart felt and appreciated 🙏
Australians have always appreciated our veterans. Our treatment of Vietnam Vets was not great. But over the past 20 years, we have said sorry to them and recognised them and their sarcrifices. Over the past 10 years, the military has spent a lot of time and effort into improving our military culture and most especially how we treat our vetrans. There are lots of programs (a lot developed by ex-military) to help them adjust to life outside the military. Also, the average Australian has a lot of respect for the military and the incredible work they do. Our Anzac Days (April 25, commemeration of our Australian and NZ military personell) are always very well attended. I went to a couple in Canberra (capital city of Australia) and we couldn't get close to the stands due to the number of people attending. Well over 30,000. That was just one city with a population of 400,000 and they were encouraging people not to attend the dawn service because of the large turn out. Perhaps you could look at some videos on the Anzac legends of Australia?
I'm 60 my brother served in Vietnam as a sapper, I was born into a well educated military family, people have no idea the horrors these men see. I can't watch the TV on Anzac day, I spend the whole day crying, I'm so grateful for those men. My brother had a lot of American mates over there. Your a smart young man well done be proud mate support from Australia 🇦🇺.
Mate as an Aussie this song tells the same things you mentioned about the all returned service people get treated . Thanks for you honest review on all our Aussie songs .
"DANGER CLOSE: The Battle of The Tan"is a move based on the battle of same name i think its on youtube. There is also a really good doco (documentary) here on youtube narrated by Sam Worthington.
Agent Orange is a poison dumped on trees by plane.. Many soldiers were affected by this. At the time lifetime side effects were not enough to cancel the mission because soldiers weren’t expected to live and go home
I'm not a crier but every aussie bawls like a baby when they hear this. Australian VA is excellent, absolutely excellent. Men, wives and families are very well cared for here.
Sadly, as usual, right or wrong...we stand by the USA. Every....single....time
Goosebumps and tears. Powerful song.
This song is a very good example of PTSD and the long term effects on military personnel.
I appreciate this a lot, im an ex service member and a lot of us come home struggling with what we see and comprehending it and I posted on your previous video to react to this, in Australia the military is engrained in our culture we have join every war to support the US since world war 2 in saying that we do have a good base for support but like all things there is always ways to improve but there can never be a reversal of the damage done.
Frankie, who is mentioned in this song, lives in my town of Bega NSW
And I went to the Grand Hotel for lunch yesterday
Awesome song
I lived through that time -- didn't have to go to Vietnam myself, in fact was around 6 months too old for the call-up. But I knew some who did, and of course followed the events. This song says it all.
This music video is from a movie . The real music video is so heartbreaking coz they show actual footage from the Vietnam war .
Nope. the footage is the music video to the cover version done by Aussie hip hop group The Herd.
Aussie classic! My uncle was in vietnam war. We saw what he went thru when he came back . PTSD. He had some horrifying stories. He even had to cut his best friends leg off in the middle of dense jungle
This song always makes me cry. I am a veteran. You did well mate. Veterans nowadays get treated better. I don't because my injuries were done 1 week after I left the army and still don't get any help after 27yrs of pain and deterioration.
Can i just say you're an impressive young fella, i've been watching all your videos on Australia and they're great, very entertaining and interesting. You have taught me a thing or two about my own country, i love it. Most of all i like your attitude and how keen you are to learn about other countries their people etc. You seem like a good human being, and that's the main thing, i wish you all the best. 👍
This song is THE Anthem of our Vietnam Veterans. It tells it like it was for so many of them.
I’m the widow of a Vietnam veteran, a Tunnel Rat who spent the rest of his life battling PTSD. When our Vietnam veterans first returned they were shunned and didn’t receive much help even from other veterans. They formed their own Vietnam Veterans Association to help each other, started their own counselling service and did their own fact gathering into the effects of Agent Orange such as rashes and birth deformities. Over time treatment of the veterans has improved, the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service was taken over by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is completely funded by the government and free for veterans and their families. Veterans with a specific medical condition caused by their service can receive free treatment for it beyond what is offered by Medicare and if their service related condition makes them unable to work they receive not only a pension but a compensation payment on top of that along with free treatment for all medical conditions as a private patient and any equipment they need like wheelchairs and home modifications. If they die from their service related medical condition their spouse receives a pension, free private medical and other benefits. There are still those who fall through the cracks and long waiting lists developed over the last ten years or so which causes trauma and hardship for those waiting for their cases to be taken up. The new government seems to be making an effort to reduce the backlog thankfully. On the whole our veterans are reasonably well looked after compared to those in some other countries.
On the subject of No War signs, if those who carry them confine themselves to waving them at the politicians who make the decisions to send young men off to war that’s fine. If they wave them at those who are serving or have served in the past, or if they harass them or jeer at them then they are lower than low. I can still remember my then fiancé and his fellow soldiers being flown back into the country in the middle of the night to avoid being jeered at and spat on by protesters.
I would like to, though you, thank your husband for his service. My husband, who did 2 tours of Vietnam in the RAAF, always said the Tunnel Rats had the worst job. I know it would have been tough for you on his return so thank you for sticking with him.
Yes, DVA helped him immensely. Now they look after me and I am forever grateful.
This song sits special to many Australian hearts. Thank you for showing respect to this song.
Great song. The Herd also did a cover of this song which is definitely worth checking out. Very different but equally as powerful.
Their are some songs you don't fuck around with and this is 1 of them, this is an anthem to Vietnam vets in Australia my uncles went to Korea and Vietnam the latter fought a strange disease from the agent orange which he had growths on his skin he fort for years and died young, its just a shitty thing war one day we will learn to get along
@@LSturboguy I think The Herd actually did credit to the orginal. The fact that John Schumann himself features on it himself. It helps get an important message to a new generation
I would suggest you take a look at " And the Band played Waltzing Matilda" I would be interested in your take on it.
I come from a military family. We have served continuously since WWI starting with Great Uncle Clair, a Gallipoli & western front veteran. Four uncles & a father all served in or for WWII (Dad was too young so he built Beaufighters & was an anti aircraft gunner with the Militia (CMF). I & two of my brothers served, & two of my sons served. One did seven tours of the Middle East & was awarded the Citation for Gallantry for going in under heavy fire twice to rescue six of his comrades from 2 Commando. My first born still serves in the RAN after 26 years & has also served in a war zone & with the UN.
As you might imagine, the song invokes quite strong emotions.
Hi Joel! You really should check out Anzac Day videos, will give you a real insight into Australia and how we remember our fallen. We got our arses handed to us ad lost 10,000 in I think 8 months at Gallipoli in WWI. As for Australian Vets. I’m sorry to read some people were not treated well. Like Marc below, my cousin served in Vietnam, had a marked effect on him and his family. But I have to say, he was treated well by Vet Affaires and the RSL. His wife continues to volunteer. I was only 19… poignant about the horrors of war 😩..
My American friends who have been in Australia for our ANZAC Day (our version of the USA Memorial Day) comment on the very different nature of the day. Ours is not a celebration of war, but a reminder of the failure of way and to remember those who did what they had to do.
Joel, let it go. You're allowed to cry. I'm 50 and more years older than you, and this still brings me to tears. Fortunately, my birthday was not drawn out of the barrel and so I was not conscripted. Marc, in the post below talks of the poor treatment given to his cousin. A cousin of mine was conscripted and although he came back uninjured, he received no support at all from the Army.
Tuesday evenings are bass guitar lessons for me (old dog, new tricks). So, last night we scored and played "I was only 19." Fabulous. John in Canada
Also there wasn't a coming home parade.Didn't get thier medals for years after and they weren't allowed to join the returned services league because they were known at the time as"Baby Killers" These guys were just born on the wrong birthday and according to chook lotto they had to go to war
This song and video makes me cry every time, I start getting goosebumps in the first few seconds. The Vietnam war was a big part of my childhood, the conscription ‘lottery’ took some of our family members. Obviously my father was married so he fell into the indefinite deferment category, so I believed I was lucky, but many weren't.
There was a conscription lottery in Australia. If your number came up (your birthdate) then you were conscripted into the Australian army.
That topic comes up in the beginning of the song.
Much of the slang relates to names of aust army training places
The vets returned to controversy. Not accepted in the clubs for the soldiers (by the ex servicemen who’d fought in WW1 and 2) and civilians against war, didn’t warmly greet the soldiers coming home from Vietnam.
A tinny can be a tiny aluminium boat (like a metal rowboat with a motor), or a tin of beer.
“Nui dat” is a place where the Vietnam war was fought.
A chinook is an army helicopter.
I love this song and it really does hit the heart. I'm enjoying all your videos. You do the best reactions - very intelligent and with a thirst for more knowledge.
This is an iconic Aussie song. My dad was actually at Puckapunyal ( it’s an army base)when Vietnam war broke out. He was in the army. He never went to war as he was colourblind. Even my children know this song by heart. It speaks volumes
Thank you for showing me this, again, it's very emotional! This is about random conscription for the Vietnam war - an absolute hell! This was the last ever conscription in Australia, and we never automatically join in a war any more! Generations of Vietnam veterans and their families still suffer from this war, the Vietnamese did too! 😥 Yes, some of this video was not helpful, there are other versions with this song, perhaps better! There were several protests and marches in Australia about this war and the conscription of 19 year olds, no matter what their background, it was very very unpopular! The uniforms, and medals against the No War signs indicates the feelings of the times, and the Anzac Day reaction to the Vietnam Vets was even more dramatic! I knew a women who cared for her ill Vietnam veteran husband and two disabled children with no respite! 😪 Australia has never declared war nor invaded another country! 🤨 War is stupid and completely unproductive! 😏
I believe conscription was for 20-year-olds. My B-I-L and now husband were both conscripted at 20. Someone with wider knowledge than myself of this song mentioned in another reaction that the 19-year-old this song is based on volunteered.
@@Bellas1717 It was actually 19 year olds randomly selected, noone knew who of their friends would be sent a letter! Very stressful! 👍
@@daviddou1408 This was 1969!
Conscription 20, not 19. Where do you get your "information" from,? Perhaps looking up The National Service Act would be a good place to start. Never declared war nor invaded another country?
Here I am, 43. This song resonates with me. Sure I didn't officially serve in the ADF as my role was more different (for the Americans think CIA/NSA) but I still sore plenty of action in stan. Still have major respect to those who wore the uniform and went out there.
Look up - Redgum - I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) (Official Video) - It's the original video and song release and you'll understand it better. Also, I stole the following information from someone commenting somewhere else. It's very helpful.
ANZAC Legends - Australia / New Zealand Military Pact
Passing out parade - a marching ceremony upon graduation
Puckapunyul - An Australian Army training base
Drew the card - Got drafted
Canungra, Shoalwater - Further training
Townsville - City on the coast in Queensland
Slouch hat - Traditional hat worn by the Australian army, curled brim on one side, flat on the other
SLR - Self Loading Rifle, a British L1A1, a variant of the FAL
Greens - Australian army uniform
Vung Tao - Vietnamese city
Chinook - Helicopter built by America, used by most American allies
Nui Dat - Vietnamese city
Choppers - Helicopters
VB - Beer
Agent orange sunset through the scrub - the orange sunsets after the use of agent orange seen through the jungles
A barking M16 - gunfire in the bush
Dusted off - helicopter extraction from a combat zone
Tinnies - Cans of beer
Caught some pieces in my back - shrapnel wounds, likely from a nearby explosion
ANZAC Day *Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day* every year makes you really feel. There's also 1 song that no one seems to remember: "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, and smile." Can't remember the name.
"And the band played Waltzing Matilda" is also a war song that makes you think of nothing else but what the young men were going through so far from home.
Mate, have a look at a film called DANGER CLOSE. It is a film of our D Coy, 6 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (Infantry) consisting of 105 young Aussies, mainly national Servicemen or what you Yanks refer to as Draftees. Along with the the Aussies, there were THREE New Zealand Artillerymen; a Captain and 2 Lance Bombardiers who accompanied that Company into the rubber plantation at Long Tan on Thursday 18 August 1966. D. Coy., were searching for the enemy who had mortared the Australian 1st Task Force at Nui Dat. Those young lads ran into an enemy force consisting of Viet Cong, The VC D445 Battalion and North Vietnamese Regulars. D. Coy were outnumbered 20 to 1. We lost 17 young Infantrymen killed in the field that afternoon, and ONE killed from our Armoured Corps who died several days after he was shot and injured making Australia's losses that day a total of EIGHTEEN. Our wounded was around 24 men. The VC lost over 250 Killed in Action. The numbers we believe was much higher than that as the VC usually wore Bamboo hoops on their legs so that their mates could carry off their wounded and killed, to prevent giving their enemy (The Aussies) an accurate count. If it wasn't for the Company Commander Major Harry Smith and the New Zealand Artillery Captain and his men, there was a distinct possibility D Coy., would have ceased to exist. Thank you Kiwi Brothers. I recommend you get that film and watch it. You will only then understand what that song means.
It's been a long time since I've listened to this song. I knew the tune, but I never really paid attention to the lyrics ... until now. I have no words. That was extremely moving.
I still cry when I hear this song
Mate the bit that cuts me every time in this song is :
"I can still see Frankie drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie lying screaming in the jungle
'Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row"
This brings me to tears every time I see it 😢
I've watched a few of your videos but the tear in your eye during this one earned my subscription.
You are such an empathetic person in all your videos and I can tell you really resonate with all these issues and are so understanding!
The song is actually about the singer/songwriter's brother-in-law's Vietnam experience.
Love watching your reactions what a good honest young man you show so much empathy for everyone god bless and thank you for showing this
This song makes me cry everytime. I live in a military town (Townsville mentioned in the song) and many members of my family have, and continue to serve our country 🇦🇺🇦🇺 so proud
That and 'These Boots Were Made for Walking.'
This song is so touching to my mates and I. I decided to join the Australian military at 18, being 5th generation military in my family. Although I never got deployed until I was 20, I still put myself in the shoes of what it would've been like for blokes as young as 16 to be on the frontlines. My great grandad was in the amry and killed in Gallipoli. I really respect our family history and always stand proud in my rig on ANZAC day.
I cry every time I hear this. I try not to but it just wells up. The part where he is pleading with his doctor always gets me. I play this every Anzac day as I watch the old diggers march. I have never cried so deeply.
Kudos to you for educating yourself on life, music and other cultures. Don't stop - you will be FAR better equipped to deal with whatever comes your way. Thank you for this react. Oh, "G'day mate" from Australia!
Another song to watch is '"War song" by ZiggyMortars. Something similar but about us in Afghanistan. Written and performed by an Australian veteran.
My grand father was in the Vietnam war and numerous other places, he also then suffered PTSD. Here in Australia veterans get gold card pension as well as full private medical care at no cost .my grandfather had this and when he passed it was passed to my nana who was then able to have private health care pension and more as he did .this has alot ot meaning and emotion
Being an Australian I didn't even notice the slang till you said
First time on this channel , but yeah this song is quite heavy I myself am a veteran (Iraq) from Australia and also my grandfather served in the same battalion in Vietnam. No matter how many times I watch this I learn something new every time . Very powerful. A band called the herd did a remix of this song in Aussie hip hop it is quite good and I think can also reach a larger demographic
I really appreciate you playing this song. I can’t help but tear up. I never served and it gets me every time. I’ve never seen the music clip either. So thank you!
Yeah the Vietnam Vets, Veterans of Korea don’t get as much recognition in comparison to the World Wars but they are still appreciated. Like this song, they were young and believed they were doing the right thing. We as a country pay our respects on the 25th of April every year. ANZAC day.
The most perceptive reaction I have seen about this song. Thank uou
I just love your videos mate and appreciate your perspective greatly, I think you'd love it down here🇦🇺👍
We don't want our soldiers to go to a war, but by Christ we should look after them when they do. It was titled, 'I was only nineteen' because that was the average age of our soldiers in Vietnam. Classic song written by a classic man, John Schumann.
The emotional impact is gripping, when will we all live in peace? God help us!
My Poppy was in WW2 as an ANZAC in the African and then the Pacific campaigns. I was lucky enough to talk to him a few times when I was younger, he would usually brush off comments about the war with a dry joke like "we only won because we had better food, not better guns". The one time he told us a story, he would get to parts and skip hours ahead in time and location, my dad later told me he had heard the full story and it was the parts where either friends died or he had to take the enemies life. He also would not be able to handle raw meat when he came back and was panicked by the smell of anything dead, I guess it bought back too much for him. When he came back he started a successful Banana plantation in NSW that is still run by our family today. My uncle and cousin also herd beef cattle and make some of the best banana thickshakes you have ever tasted.
Great story! Thank you for sharing