Photo of two Vietnam War veterans reading paper surfaces
AN unusual photograph from the Vietnam War of two veterans reading the Centralian Advocate has been recovered
Centralian Advocate
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AN unusual photograph from the Vietnam War of two veterans reading the Centralian Advocate has been recovered after Darwin man Ted Stanton dug deep into his archives for a family project.
Mr Stanton’s cousin Brendan Monck is recording the oral history on his service in Vietnam.
Mr Stanton is one of only a handful of NT veterans who served in Vietnam.
The image depicts two Aussie Diggers waiting for their airlift in Vietnam in 1968.
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The digger reading the Centralian Advocate was known as Dutchy.
The other man was Moose.
They were part of the Royal Australian Engineers of the 1st Field division.
Mr Stanton said Diggers during their service “were desperate for reading material”, and Diggers from the NT in the war were few and far between, with three he knew of.
“We used to get The Mercury there, we’d grab anything we could get a hold of,” Mr Stanton said.
“It was just a fluke when I took the photo I didn’t even realise what he was reading.
“It would be an odd paper to see anywhere, especially in Vietnam.”
Mr Stanton said the photo was “a rare one” that survived Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
“The only other time I ever saw the Centralian Advocate was when I was living in Alice Springs,” he said.
Mr Monck, who is recording Mr Stanton’s oral history said the men were stationed at Fire Support Base Coral that was attacked by the North Vietnamese 7th division and Vietcong forces in May 1968.
“This is a defining battle for Australia in the war, where the men in Fire Support Base Coral fought for 26 days,” Mr Monck said.
“All up, 25 Australians were killed with 100 wounded and over 300 Vietnamese forces were killed.
“The Australians in this battle were given unit citations.”
The Battle of FSB Coral is regarded as being a lot bigger than the Battle of Long Tan in 1967.
“One reason that it is a battle that many Australians are unaware of, is because the war started to leave a bad taste in Australians mouths by 1968 and was not covered by the media to a great extent,” Mr Monck said.
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