Remember When....? Some Over A Beer Yarns: Australians in South Vietnam 1965-71 By Lex McAulay
This is a collection of anecdotes and yarns typical of those exchanged when veterans are having a beer with friends and remember people places and events of that time and place with a few jokes and funny things that happened There are no political diplomatic or military analyses here and only one name is mentioned because it is relevant to the yarn The time frame covers 1965 to 1971 but does not include items from the RAAF or RAN nor the Australian advisory team contribution 1962 71 Yarns from those outfits can be best supplied by those veterans All the things included here were said to happen and are believed to be true though two could well be urban myths Many were personally experienced by the author during his three tours of duty in South Vietnam or he was close by and heard of it soon after Australian military humour is merciless and has no respect for rank or position if those in senior places on the ladder can be made a figure of fun This of course is the same in many other military organisations regardless of the emphasis placed on showing respect for rank and the lack of good humour known to exist among the hierarchy It will be seen in these anecdotes that the local people were not held in high regard by the Aussies and this could be explained by the clash of cultures However the Australian soldier is not impressed by an official expectation of respect but by performance and in this field the locals did not achieve a position of high regard by the Aussies These anecdotes are provided to place on record some happenings from that now distant war in a small part of the Australian involvement Remember When Some Over A Beer Yarns Australians in South Vietnam 1965 71.