STORIES BELOW ARE

 LAST OPERATION; LEAVING BRIGID; Emu Bob at the Horse Shoe.

LAST OPERATION:- The last operation undertaken incountry by 7RAR was Operation PHOI HOP, which is Vietnamese for cooperation. Its objectives were to 'search and ambush'. It was staged in the Eastern half of Phouc Tuy Province and ran from February 1st to the 21st. The aim of the operation was to destroy the enemy within the the area of operations. During this time 'A' Company was again at NDP Brigid and it must have been a very quiet time as I remember very little of these last few weeks.

 LEAVING  Night  Defensive  Position  BRIGID.

FInally the day came when we were leaving NDP Brigid for the last time. We threw our packs up and climbed aboard the trucks pulled up out side the main gate, there were no celebrations, no talking, none of the usual jokes, in fact no smiles even. It was now towards the end of February and very close to getting on HMAS Sydney to go home.

Sitting down I placed the SLR over my knees, still holding the pistol grip so I could flick off the safety catch and pull the trigger if I had too during the journey. I was facing the Diggers along the other side, looking over their heads at the Long Hai Mountains thinking if we were lucky we will not be going near them again. It struck me that we should have the seats turned around so that we could face out not in? Someone was being bloody lazy, not having the truck set up for 'combat seating', that is us facing outwards. Normally someone would have made the comment "slack pogos" but if anyone was thinking that they kept it to themselves, with none of the normal banter from anyone?

As the truck pulled out of Brigid on to the road and through the little village that sat next to Brigid, the Digger oposite me was laughing while he broke off some yank blue hexie and wrapped it in a sweet rapper. He was not a Grunt as he was too fat and cheerful, perhaps someone who had come down for the ride so he could say he had been up to the sharp end? The kids as usual came running out on to the road waving calling out "Uc Dai Loi number one" in their sing song accents. Still laughing the Digger threw the "sweet" on to the road as we moved away through the dust you could see the kids swarm around it.

What a bastard I thought, why do that to the kids? To my continuing shame I said nothing, expecting others perhaps to have a go at this pogo? No one did. I looked away towards the Long Hais. The Mountains that had dominated my life and scenic view for the last 12 months. They looked the same as they always did. As they did the first time we came down this road to Brigid. When I was coming the other way returning to Brigid again I always felt like a 'kick in the guts' when I finally caught sight of them, the last hundred meters before pulling in to Brigid. I tried not to look at them till we were close to Brigid as if THEY would not know we were there, until we were safely behind our wire, on the ground and not a sitting duck on the back of a truck?

Now we were finally going the other way, never to return? what did I feel? Nothing. No joy, no sadness, no reaction of any sort it was just another day. We were on our way to some other place in Vietnam. Most of us were very close to the elusive "wakey", of the "no one has 365 days and a wakey" thrown at us when we first arrived. Yet here we were counting down and at last in the two digit numbers to the wakey. Yet there was no reaction from anyone, even though we were going north and would not come this way again unless something very unexpected took place?

I now know we were all exhausted, both mentally and physically. To feel such niceties as feeling for others at that stage was just too much of an effort and we were unable to cope with it. The illusion of Australia was being dangled in our near future. Yet I could not think of that or relate to it as the truck made its way between the rice fields, it seemed that I had always lived my life here. Australia seemed so far away.

A promise of things to come if only I could get on that big ship? Perhaps it was a part of my life that I could never reach it again? It seems strange to say it now, but at that stage I was even thinking about staying on in Vietnam, moving to another unit to stay longer. It just seemed easier to carry on doing what I had been doing than deal with the return to "a normal life"?

I could do it, others in the Battalion had opted to stay longer. I had extended my own national service for a further 6 months so I could come home with the battalion I had the time. Without making a decision either way I decided to think on it some more as the trucks turned in to the Horse Shoe. We had moved north but not by much. A Company were to hold the 'Shoe' until the next Battalion, which was 3RAR, had moved in to the position. I was there that day.

With the bagpipes playing, the Maroon 7RAR Duster came down from the flag pole and the Green one of 3RAR was raised. The official end of 7RARs duties at the Horse Shoe for its second Tour of Vietnam. One last thing was carried out. An Emu Bob. Thats were a line of soldiers move across the ground and pick up any rubbish, looking like a Emu looking for food, hence its name. Now I don't know about any other Units but I swear that 7RAR most have 'emued-bobbed' its way across Vietnam as we pulled out. Any old VC watching must have pissed himself laughing seeing the bloody silly 'Uc Dai Loi' picking up all his rubbish before he left the area?

Again moving to Nui Dat by road we rode past many features that had become part of our life over the last 12 months and even the smell was hardly noticeable at that stage. Pulling into the Dat we drove past soldiers with clean uniforms and polished boots, while we were covered with dust off the road, again we stared at each other with nothing said. Many is the time that shit is put upon Infantry Soldiers by other Corps, but it was never done in Vietnam?Maybe being armed to the teeth had something to do with it?

Except for an incident that showed the VC still had some teeth in the area. The Battalion held a Farewell Parade at Nui Dat on the 24th of February and a Vietnamese General was to have attended but his chopper had been shot down the day before and the General was killed.

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MATES:--

First mate that should be mentioned is Gregor who is responsible for the excellent layout of the Homepage; taking my text, photos and ideas and transforming them to the design you see. Now with the changes of March 2003, a New Memorial page & Awards page, Gregor has again worked to make sure the Site lives up to the high standard that people who have visited in the past have come to expect. THANK YOU GREGOR!~!

Another Mate from Victoria is Eddie Tricker, who with an other mate Norm Harris drove up to attend a Ceremony at the Cherry Tree Walk, then drove straight back to Victoria. Norm a talented musician played the bugle for the LAST POST at the WALK Ceremony.

ANOTHER GREAT MATE ON THE NET IS TIBBO.

TIBBO works very hard on behalf of all Veterans by having some of the major sites about Vietnam on the net including the Memorial site that lists all the Australians killed in Vietnam. The Address is on the Memorial page and the Links Page.

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PAGE 17 of A GRUNTS VIEW:- "END OF TOUR"

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Page Checked and up-dated 7th July 2003.