Community rallies to restore Vietnam vet’s widow’s garden in time of need

A combined force of 40 volunteers, veterans and current serving soldiers united to help a Vietnam veterans’ widow, diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, clean up her yard.

Emma Aldrdige gets help clearing up her backyard from 3RAR soldiers Private Deacon Whatuina and Private Vaughn Masina. Picture: Evan Morgan

A 40-strong combined task force of volunteers, veterans and current serving soldiers have banded together to help a Vietnam veterans’ widow diagnosed with terminal lung cancer clean up her yard.

Emma Aldridge’s husband Ronald died nine years ago, and apart from lung cancer, she has been battling tuberculosis and getting frailer, so maintaining her garden has become almost impossible.

The Townsville RSL, through its volunteers program, organised a yard clean-up of Mrs Aldridge’s Aitkenvale home, which also included soldiers from Delta Company 3RAR, volunteers from Disaster Relief North Queensland and also volunteers from the 2/4 and 2RAR ex-service organisations.

Mrs Aldridge was very grateful for the help, not expecting such a large turnout and said it had been hard trying to maintain her yard.

“I used to climb all the trees and cut them, but lately, I’ve been told, and I’m not supposed to climb trees anymore.”

Townsville RSL Treasurer Scott Klima and Private Tom Groves from 3RAR help to clear up Emma Aldridge's backyard. Picture: Evan Morgan

Townsville RSL Veterans Services co-ordinator Adam West said the clean-up was a collaborative effort to help a veteran’s widow.

“The Vietnam era with the wives or the partners who were left behind, they sacrificed a lot during the 12-month deployment while their partner was away,” he said.

“This is the least that we can do – to come back and support them now.

“Unfortunately, Emma hasn’t had a partner with her for nine years, and you can see that the backyard over the past nine years has degraded.

“It needs a little bit of effort. So if that’s something that we can do and provide, then that’s the least we can do.”

3RAR soldier Private Riccardo Stefani helps to clear up Emma Aldridge's backyard. Picture: Evan Morgan

He said it was the first time different service and volunteer organisations had banded together to help either a veteran or a veteran’s widow.

“This is a quite unique job because we’ve not worked closely together with all these other teams.

“I think we’re just starting to see the progression of our volunteer work for all of us working together.

“We all want to do the same thing. We all want to help out a veteran or a veteran’s partner or widow, and today’s a great display of that.”

Disaster Relief North Queensland (DRNQ) manager John Ring said his organisation was veteran-led this clean up helped them to train for major disasters.

Emma Aldrdige gets help clearing up her backyard from 3RAR soldiers Private Deacon Whatuina and Private Vaughn Masina. Picture: Evan Morgan

“DRNQ is a not-for-profit, non-government volunteer organisation that’s veteran-led, and it brings together the experience and skills of veterans from emergency services, from the defence force, and also from members of the public that just want to help and serve communities to recover after disasters.

“This training gives us time on tools for chainsaw ops and things like that, and it also helps the community out as well.”

3RAR Lance Corporal Spencer Smith said there were plenty of volunteers from the regiment who put up their hand to help Mrs Aldridge.

I find it personally quite important to get out into the community.

“I’ve done two domestic operations in Australia for flood assist and getting out into the community in a context such as this, which provides us valuable training for those bigger tasks into the extreme weather season, is always very satisfying.”

Originally published as Community rallies to restore Vietnam vet’s widow’s garden in time of need