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AND MANY THOUGHT WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE

Tell me child, what it was like so many years ago?
When as a young person you grew
In what we considered was times of uncertainty so,
When moratorium was the word
Of a movement growing strong against an unpopular war,
Where many were sent against their needs
Of being conscripted from a ballot of their birthday deeds,
And many more went onto streets;
Protesting loud and strong “No! No! To Vietnam!
For back then we were a divided nation,
In the turbulent 60’s be,
Where some were for;
And many were against,
What they saw was an unjustifiable war,
Being fought over there in a place called ‘Nam,
And many thought ‘what are we doing here in the first place?’

But there were many of plenty who did go,
And did so;
As proud Aussie diggers upholding tradition learnt and inherited,
From the fathers of previous wars 
And of their many lessons learnt,
From battlefields aplenty of over-there in different wars before,
But this new fought Asian war;
‘twas to be of many new lessons taught and learnt aplenty,
About an enemy who fought so unconventionally 
And not in a traditional sense,
To what was expected of a foe in their homeland strong.
But from first days
Victory was not assured in initial skirmish,
And with each day passing so;
We were strong and so was Uncle Ho,
And many thought ‘what are we doing here in the first place?’

And as twilight turned;
Into many days of uncertainty
And the protests grew louder still,
And split out onto different streets,
Then this other newly elected Labor government
Coming in from wilderness,
Said “no more, come home boys,”
And the war of conscription had finished;
And the war in Vietnam now became a fixture,
In the annals of Australian campaigns fought, 
And a place for red poppies was bought,
For the many who didn’t get home
From a war of unpopularity in sense.
And for many who made it back
There were many times of disparagement and uncertainty,
And many thought ‘what are we doing here in the first place?’

For many of returned warriors from the land called ‘Nam,
Times became times of sad;
And not times of glad,
And times of confusion be,
And times of derision you see,
For they were not heroes like forefathers before,
And many did a public few
Tell them ‘their war was no war like their dad’s,’
And for many felt a total rejection,
For what they thought
Was a job well done in a time of uncertain reasoning,
Of a public totally divided in their cause,
And no pause,
In their objection to this foreign Asian war,
And for many they felt spent
For where they had been sent,
And many thought ‘what are we doing here in the first place?

For we, who that are left;
Our numbers are a dwindling so,
Where we now have more funerals to attend
And our birthday celebrations grow even less,
But whatever is the status you employ,
In your daily employment to enjoy
What some would feel is borrowed time,
Of reminiscences fading in synchronization with music,
From a period of ‘Good Morning Vietnam!’
And the Beach Boy’s ‘Good Vibrations’ tune,
For the one thing they can’t take away,
Are the memories of the day,
We strode up the gangplank of the Vung Tau Ferry
And then we strode into Australian history,
To be the best that we could be,
And to the best of our ability,
As diggers of this fair land,
And many thought ‘what are we doing here in the first place?’

Tell me child, what it was like so many years ago?
When as a young person you grew
In what we considered was times of uncertainty so.

Francis Cooper – Mac © August 2019
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