Impact
The Australian Vietnam Veterans' "Welcome Home Parade" was held in Sydney on 3 October 1987 and was followed by a concert in The Domain where Redgum's Schumann performed his song with veteran Frank Hunt on stage. From this parade, a desire for a War Memorial to commemorate Vietnam Veterans grew into fruition with the Memorial's dedication in October 1992. Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial was constructed in ANZAC Parade, Canberra in 1992 and includes a "Wall of Words": "Stele B, the northern or right-hand stele, is adorned with a series of 33 quotations fixed in stainless steel lettering." Amongst the quotations is:
| “ | Then someone called out "contact" and the bloke behind me swore, and we hooked in there for hours, then a god-almighty roar. Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon. God help me, he was going home in June. | ” |
A "normal language" explanation of each quote has been included, courtesy of the late Brigadier Alf Garland:
| “ | This is a quotation from the song 'I was only 19' by the Australian singing group "Red Gum" . It relates to a fire fight that had lasted for some hours when an explosion occurred. "Frankie", one of the soldiers had kicked (tripped) a landmine. In the song he did this on the same day that the US put a man on the moon for the first time. Frankie was supposed to be returning to Australia on completion of his tour of duty in June of that year. | ” |
At the 40th-year commemoration of the Battle of Long Tần, 18 August 2006, veterans were accompanied by Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddle at the Long Tan Cross; following the commemoration a concert was held at Vũng Tàu where Schumann (and The Vagabond Crew) sang "I Was Only Nineteen." He also introduced Long Tần veteran Storen as the source for the song. For an SBS TV special Vietnam Nurses (2005), director Polly Watkins chose "Redgum and John Schumann's song 'Only Nineteen' during the Welcome Home Parade in 1987 because it is integral to one of the nurses' stories." Frank Hunt provides an account of his Vietnam experiences, titled "I Was Only Nineteen", in Gina Lennox' book Forged by War (August 2006).
After Schumann had received letters of request from active soldiers in Afghanistan and East Timor he sought permission to visit the troops but obtained no answer. A reporter published an article on the situation, authorities gave permission for Schumann to tour East Timor in December 2009 and entertain Australian and New Zealand troops. In September-October 2011 he played for Australian troops in Afghanistan.
Read more about this topic: I Was Only Nineteen
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