Roy Woodward was just 19 when he boarded HMAS Sydney for Vietnam.
When he was frightened for his life as part of 1 RAR Battalion in Nui Dat, he knew he had his batoon's support, who've since become lifelong friends.
"We all looked after each other and had each other's backs," he said.
"We're still mates and that won't change."
Roy, who lives in Victor Harbor, South Australia, was involved in the Battle of Coral-Balmoral, which ran from May 12 - June 6, 1968. According to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, it was an attack on Fire Support Base (FSB) Coral, about 7km north of Tan Uyen. The base, set up by Australian and New Zealand forces, was used to "intercept and disrupt" the enemy from entering or leaving Saigon.
The enemy was watching and attacked the base on May 12. Some Australians moved 4.5km away to set up FSB Balmoral, but that, too, was attacked. Australia withdrew from the area on June 6, with 25 Australians dead and many more wounded during this period.
"A lot of us don't talk about it much as it was one big stuff up from the start," Roy said.
"We were put right in the middle of the battalions of the enemy; wrong place, wrong time, but we held our ground."
Out on highway patrols, Roy sat on the back of a Land Rover four-wheel-drive - fully exposed to the elements and enemy eyes - while operating a 106 recoilless rifle.
"The biggest fear of doing that was sitting up like an arrow; just sit and duck for target practice," he said with a nervous laugh. He also worked on a tracking team with dogs.
Returning home was challenging.
"We got treated like dirt by members of the public and the government, which was an insult," he said. People threw tomatoes and eggs at his parents' house and word got out that a Vietnam veteran was back and lived down the street.
One beautiful thing to have emerged was the strong friendships formed for those involved in the Battle of Coral-Bowmoral; each year a different state hosts a reunion - sometimes with up to 300 people in it. Adelaide will host it in 2025.
"We still check on each other. Even if we don't see each other for two to three years, we're still mates."
Like it was yesterday
Roy was in the Citizen Military Forces - now the Army Reserves - when in 1962 he watched a Channel 2 program about 1 RAR Battalion personnel returning from Vietnam. "I said to my dad 'that's what I want to do'," Roy said, and he joined the army.
It was tough to get in with a lot of training and testing; "they were very fussy," but Roy made the grade, and found himself boarding HMAS Sydney for Vietnam, where the ship docked at Vung Tau.
"My biggest expectation was, you know when you're watching war movies and you see the troops get off the ship and they're on longboats and the front of the ramp comes down the beach? That happened to us," Roy said.
"As soon as we hit the beaches, we were told there were trucks up front, 'get in the trucks', and that's what we did."
They took the team to a base at Nui Dat. "I can remember that like it was yesterday."
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He's gone back a few times and will return this October for a tour and to visit a friend.
Roy described the experience as "hell-raising. "I don't talk about it much to anybody, really. Not even my kids know much about it."
"What we done and what we seen over there sticks with us for life."
He is among the veterans who live with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and has a great network of family and friends around him for support, and has found positive ways to manage his mental health.
Today he is treasurer of the Victor Harbor RSL Club, which is among the groups hosting commemoration events for Vietnam Veteran's Day on August 18.
For more information visit www.anzacportal.dva.gov.au.
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