Thanks Foxy

The leadup to Anzac Day and the day itself are always an emotional time for me. 25 April is a big family day as well as being Anzac Day.

Dad's Father (then a Sargeant) served in Gallipoli (1915), as the X-ray machine operator in the small field hospital. He would X-ray Diggers' broken bones. He was shelled there by the Turks, wounded, and returned to Australia after the withdrawal from Gallipoli. In WWII he was an engineering officer (Major) involved in Enigma machines (as far as I can tell) and then in developing bridges that could handle tanks over European rivers after D-Day.

Mum's father had a reserved occupation, orthodontist, so didn't go to WWI or WWII but helped reconstruct the teeth of Digger's with teeth-jaw injuries. Here he is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Begg In the 1970s he was part-time support for the US military/intelligence effort by being the fly in/fly out orthodontist for CIA officers and their families at Pine Gap.

Dad's 45 years in the Army including Vietnam is in the interview
http://australiansatwarfilmarchive.unsw.edu.au/archive/667-henry-john-coates which is actually 90 minutes long in 2 segments (interrupted after 45 minutes by a test pattern interval). Following the Coates/Begg tradition Dad liaised closely with US intelligence when he and Mum were in Washington DC in the early 1980s. Mum was actually cleared to Top Secret by the CIA (few people can say that about their Mums :)

I'm constrined by secrecy agreements on detailing my formal career very tied in with the Australian military. Many years after that career ended, and in the relatively new world of Blogging I was in contact with US intelligence and civilian security. I passed nothing to them. The Commonwealth (lets call these men and women "Canberra Security") monitored all this very closely, then as now (and as I type this comment).

I'm on better terms now with Canberra Security than I once was.
______________

So all this is to say that my family have been in, and close to, the military since Anzac-1915, making 25 April a big family day as well as Anzac Day.

Pete

Dear Pete,

Thank You for sharing your story. ANZAC day would
be a very emotional time for you.

It's also an emotional time for us. It brings back
memories as well. My family suffered greatly during
WWII from the Soviet Regime. I also have relatives who
served in Vietnam. Not all of them came back as normal
human beings.

This is a time to say a few prayers and honour them
all.

Take care.

cont'd ...

The following link is about our dear personal friend -
Michael James O'Connor. He died in 2017. He was our
next door neighbour for many years. His children
babysat ours. And his wife Colleen was a close friend.

http://www.ada.asn.au/commentary/formal-comment/2016/vale-michael-james-oconnor,-am,-1939-2017.html

sorry for the typo. Here's the link again:

http://www.ada.asn.au/commentary/formal-comment/2016/vale-michael-james-oconnor,-am,-1938-2017.html

Hi Foxy

Re: "My family suffered greatly during WWII from the Soviet Regime".

Were your ancestors in old Russia, Ukraine, Poland or the smaller Baltic states?
____________

re: "I also have relatives who served in Vietnam. Not all of them came back as normal human beings."

In comparison it was fortunate, in a way, that Dad trained with/led the same armoured unit in Holsworthy NSW , then served in Vietnam with them, and returned to Holsworthy with them, remaining in the army years after. So he was never cut adrift, like too many National Servicemen (those conscripted) many of whom suffered and still suffer, alone from their Vietnam War mates.

The army in 1970-71 then was about 98% male, of which about 90% drank heavily. Don't know whether heavy drinking with mates was considered by doctors and chaplains then as a legitimate cure for, or postponement of PSTD. Though Dad wasn't Catholic he considered Catholic priests the best for pastoral care/morale in Vietnam.
_______________

Thanks for http://www.ada.asn.au/commentary/formal-comment/2016/vale-michael-james-oconnor,-am,-1938-2017.html about great contributor to Australia defence policy-issues Michael O'Connor, AM, 1938-2017. He had so many experiences and influenced so many.

Defence policy issues and research still remains a close knit field in Australia. T.B. Millar (mentioned in the tribute to Michael) was an inspirational Professor who taught me when I was doing my BA at ANU in 1982. Of others also mentioned - Dad was a colleague of Bob O’Neill and a general working for Kim Beazley when Kim was Defence Minister.
________________

The Navy Hymn for submariners, http://youtu.be/ZKMEl4HU0fA , covers Australians and more lately the Indonesians declared lost yesterday.

Regards

Pete

Hi Pete,

My ancestors are from Lithuania.

Grandmother was from
White Russia she married a Lithuanian ( in St. Petersburg),
they moved to Lithuania.
Grandfather served in the Tsar's army. A fascinating history.

Mum was born in Lithuania. My parents fled the country during
WWII and came to Australia in 1949 with the Baltic wave of displaced persons at the invitation of then PM Arthur Calwell to help with the Labour shortage in this country. They had to
sign 2 year contracts to work wherever they were needed.

Vietnam had a dreadful impact on some. One family member was
a doctor who to this day won't talk about his experiences.
Another was a medic who had a mate's head land in his lap.
He was never the same on his return home.

Michael O'Çonnor was a lovely man. He certainly did influence
many. He wrote quite a few books and spoke to many organisations
and advised many. He was a personal friend of our family and
we miss him very much.

Pete, Thank You for sharing your family's history with us
in this discussion. I wish you All The Best.

Take care.