Mackay Vietnam digger Ray Higgins honoured at the Mackay Bowling Club
Vietnam digger Ray Higgins is battling a terminal cancer, but his fellow veterans say he’s a ‘tough old bastard’ who will be around for a while yet.
Mackay
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In the soft afternoon light, Ray ‘Crazy’ Higgins sits in his own corner of the bar, labelled ‘Crazy’s Corner’, surrounded by friends.
He has been drinking at Mackay Bowling Club for years and bar manager Tracey Turner spoke fondly of her long-standing patron.
“He’s just a character,” she said.
“Guaranteed to bring laughter and joy into your life, whether you want it or not.”
Mr Higgins has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and fellow Vietnam veteran Ken Higgins organised the get-together to pay tribute to the much-loved digger with a special presentation.
“We wanted to make sure we could do something for Ray,” Ken said.
“He knows I love him.
“He is part of a very unique family.”
That unique family is the legendary 6RAR.
Ray deployed with the battalion as a mortarman from 1969 until 1970, operating in fire bases to support riflemen on patrol such as Ken.
“The mortar platoon, before dark, they would usually lay a couple of mortars out around our perimeter, so if we got attacked during the night, they could lay into us real quick,” Ken explained.
For Ray, the experience of war can never be forgotten.
“It’s still up here,” he said, pointing to his head.
“It’s built in.”
Ray spoke about the deep bonds his time in the service had given him.
“When you are in the forces, it’s a big bond, it’s a huge bond and it’s very hard to come out into civilian life,” he said.
Following his tour of Vietnam, Ray served in Singapore before returning to civilian life.
He was married once and worked as a coal miner for 20 years, 15 of them in Moura.
When asked what the day meant to him, Ray replied: “I’m happy as a pig in mud.
“I’ve got good friends.
“I live alone, that’s the hardest part.
“It’s hard to talk to a mirror, because it says the same thing I do.
“Now I’ve got a new family (his fellow veterans). I’ve got a big family.”
The presentation centred on a story about ‘chooks’ and KFC, which Ken explained in a short speech in the function room beside the bar.
During service, Ray was tasked with launching a mortar to clear enemy soldiers away from loose ammunition.
A mix-up with plotting caused the mortar to travel in the wrong direction.
“This mortar round goes flying through the air,” Ken said.
“We’re looking up going, ‘this doesn’t seem to be going to right way, it’s nowhere near where it should be going.’
“The next minute we hear is an almighty boom and yeah, ‘Crazy’ had managed to wipe out the local farm’s chook pen.”
The room rocked with laughter.
Ken continued and claimed that a nearby American soldier, one ‘Lieutenant Sanders’, had witnessed the event and found it a source of inspiration for the global KFC franchise.
“When that mortar hit the chook pen, it plucked the chooks, it gutted the chooks, it cooked the chooks and deep fried them.
“So this smart-arse bloody American over the road there got the idea, made a billion bucks and poor old Crazy just a poor old Vietnam digger.”
Daily Mercury cartoonist Harry Bruce captured the story and it was presented to Ray in a special portrait.
Ray was also presented with a medal commemorating the incident.
Ray and Ken were the only two Aussie ‘Higginses’ to serve in Vietnam and they became close mates in Mackay.
At the end of the speech, Ken expressed the love he and others felt for Ray.
“Ray, we love you,” he said.
“I know Mackay Bowls Club certainly loves you.
“He (Ray) has been around for a long time.
“Please mate, we know your health’s not flash, but he’s a tough old bastard.
“He’ll be here for a while yet. That corner’s still his at this stage.”
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