This is a remembrance of an event in Australia's participation in the Vietnam war.
It doesn't matter what you think of that war.
bitsandbob,
I was northeast of Australia's ground force and never saw any of them. But Australian fighters often came to do close air support for the US 1st Infantry Div. and were some of the craziest and killingest pilots I ever saw. We'd call them and get out of their way, but more than once one of them would take a pass close behind our helicopter without us seeing them coming, the jetwash flipping us in the air like a leaf and always with some wisecrack over the radio like "Was that fun, mate?" and go out of sight cackling on the net. They were completely irreverent toward US protocols and they'd bring their stuff right down to tree level before releasing -- something very few US pilots were allowed to do or had the nerve to do. Our guys on the ground loved them.
posted on August 18, 2001 06:26:48 PM new
Sorry - did not mean any disrespect to the men who served. I just feel so bad for them.
When I think about my classmates...I feel they were wasted. I have never gone to the wall. I know a lot of names I can put faces to still. No blame for those who served with valor in any way. I agree - remember them well. Guess I can't seperate the anger from the memory and blurt it out. Will remove.
posted on August 20, 2001 03:57:13 PM new
Movie that I just ran across:
Bryan Brown (F/X and F/X 2) Death From Down Under. Viet Nam. Brown and his buddies, a small contingent of Australian soldiers, are stationed there. They attempt to justify their service in an undeclared war that serves no purpose and makes no sense. Broadly comic and deeply touching, Death From Down Under serves up war in a way that hits our sensibilities like a missle.
T
