Ageing veterans need to keep war stories alive, says Vietnam veteran

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

Dave Orbell, who fought in Vietnam, talks about the way Anzac Day is changing.

Dave Orbell returned from the 'bloody hellhole' of Vietnam a distressed man, but he later found comfort talking to anyone who would listen.

He spoke of jumping from a helicopter as screeching bullets pierced the jungle, and of watching his two good mates killed next to him – experiences he had repressed for years.

Orbell, 72, says tales like his need to be shared as Anzac Day, a day initially commemorating only World War I and II veterans, grows to encompass veterans from several conflicts and men and women who still serve today.

Vietnam veteran Dave Orbell fought with Victor 3 Company.

As the hundredth anniversary of the end of WWI approaches, those who landed in Gallipoli are long gone – but the annual commemoration marches on.

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Dave Orbell on patrol in a Vietnam jungle. A dead Viet Cong soldier is lying in front of him.

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Dave Orbell, with Victor 3 Company, on patrol during the Vietnam War.

For years, the solemnity of ceremonies around the country was due to the presence of the Anzacs' most immediate successors, the veterans of WWII.

But with these dignified, ageing warriors mostly dead, Orbell said his generation had a part to play in the reinvention of Anzac Day.

He was part of Victor 3 Company, fighting in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1969.

A book from the New Zealand Defence Force about the veterans labelled them the 'second wave of Anzacs'.

'That's never been made public or it's not universally known,' Orbell said.

'Outside of the first and second world war, Vietnam became the second revival of the Anzac spirit.'

Anzac Day is a time to reflect on some of the most horrid times of his life, such as the day he was dropped on to the battlefield, aged only 20.

'I felt like I was in a wind storm, but it was actually flying led. It was quite a phenomenon.'

Orbell came home to a hostile environment. Much of the public opposed the war and he found he couldn't share his experiences.

'I found that wasn't good for my mental health and, through medical intervention, I started talking… and I've been talking ever since.

'That has healed me.'

The regenerated interest in Anzac Day gave Orbell a sense of self-worth after years of being portrayed as 'anything but' a hero, he said.

'I've found that to be extremely therapeutic.'

Bulls Returned and Services Association spokesman Rob Holland said people shied away from Anzac Day after WWII, but he felt it had become strong again.

Pictures, medals and memorabilia are spread across the Rangitīkei association's walls from several different conflicts.

'We're not trying to relive the situation, but show some of what happened.'

The occasion had grown to express gratitude to all Defence Force personnel, including the thousands involved with peacekeeping missions today, he said.

A Veterans' Affairs spokesman said 31,000 veterans are from conflicts or deployments after the Vietnam War and were involved with missions in either East Timor, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq or the United Nations.

About 3000 veterans from WWII are still alive, and 7000 from the Korean War and Vietnam War.