Anzac Day 2022: Melbourne veterans Lee Webb, Glenn Plowman reflect on Vietnam War

Missing their loved ones and thrust into the unknown, Aussie soldiers saw it all in Vietnam. Here, two of them talk about their experiences.

Nineteen and “going nowhere”, Lee Webb and a mate joined the army on a whim more than 50 years ago.

His mate didn’t make the cut — going on become a police officer instead — but Mr Webb soon set off for Vietnam where his life would change forever.

On Anzac Day 2022, the Greensborough RSL president will reflect on a life of service that has earned him, among other honours, the Medal of the Order of Australia.

The 73-year-old has no regrets about following in the footsteps of his father and five uncles who served in World War II.

After 12 months in Saigon (1970-71), in a communications role, he did 19 more years in the military before retiring in 1988.

He has found a passion in connecting with fellow veterans through the RSL and says meeting up with long lost mates on Anzac Day gives him “a bump in the old ticker” every time.

Greensborough sub-branch RSL president Lee Webb received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his service to veterans. Picture: Kirra Grimes

For fellow Vietnam veteran Glenn Plowman, the highlight of his time away was surprising his then girlfriend, Carol, on his return home from Nui Dat in 1968.

He wasn’t much of a writer, so they hadn’t kept in touch during his nine months overseas, but he was confident she’d be happy to see him.

“I came home and knocked on the door and her mother nearly fainted when she saw me,” he said.

“I was a bit tired so I got into [Carol’s] bed.

“When she got home from work, her mum told her ‘there’s something in the bedroom for you’.”

Thankfully, it was a welcome surprise — the couple married in 1970 and raised two children together.

Glenn Plowman was 21 when he was conscripted to serve in Vietnam. Picture: Supplied

Mr Plowman, now 75, saw some horrific things as part of a 9RAR infantry platoon, and after being marched past the victim of a particularly gruesome close-range shooting, decided he was probably not suited to being on the front lines.

“We all shut up for a long time after we saw that,” he said of the fatal head wounds that have stayed clear in his memory all these years.

He continued to do night patrols but spent his days as a driver and in charge of the officers’ mess.

As he put it: “I got smart enough to get out of getting shot at”.

Vietnam veteran Glenn Plowman, 75, is a regular at Heidelberg Heights RSL sub-branch. Picture: Kirra Grimes

He managed to escape serious physical injury, but has since been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, and saw a psychiatrist for several years.

He said he wouldn’t go through the experience again, but tries not to let things worry him.

When asked what Anzac Day meant to him, he showed the larrikin spirit in his answer: “Free beer between 12 and 2pm”