Reliving History: An Aboriginal soldier's secret Vietnam mission

Welcome to Reliving History, a special series within Good Weekend Talks that revisits key moments in Australian history through the eyes of First Nations people, providing new perspectives on events that changed the country and unearthing stories that have long been hidden or forgotten.

In this episode we go back to 1972, when newly-elected Prime Minister Gough Whitlam made a pledge to bring Australian troops home from the Vietnam War by Christmas. Unbeknownst to the public, a small group of soldiers stayed behind. Noel Pope, a Wulli Wulli and Gooreng Gooreng man from central Queensland, was one of them.

Here, Pope explains how the army helped him find equal footing in the era of racial segregation, and how his culture and spirituality have helped him and other veterans heal from trauma.

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