Building community connection

From Vietnam to the Gold Coast

Vietnam veterans Graham Gordon and Bruce Main are Gold Coast locals and members of Runaway Bay RSL Sub Branch. Bruce served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 2 Squadron and is now the Sub Branch President. Graham served in the Army in 6RAR and is now the Sub Branch Secretary.

“Runaway Bay is a very nice suburb in a quiet area of the Gold Coast. We have a great community of 138 members, with weekly gatherings on Saturdays for our meat tray raffles, where a lot of vets meet up and have a great time,” Graham says.

Runaway Bay RSL Sub Branch Secretary Graham Gordon speaking at the unveiling of the Canungra Vietnam War Memorial

“We’re mainly involved in welfare duties to make sure our members are cared for, looked after, being entertained and having outings,” Bruce adds.

Community spirit has been ingrained in Runaway Bay RSL Sub Branch since its establishment in 2002. 

“Our Sub Branch has the privilege of using the Seagulls Football Club building for our meetings and functions,” Bruce says.

“We didn’t have a home to go to and the Club offered us their facilities. It has been a fantastic arrangement and a remarkable relationship. It’s a wonderful community built on mateship,” Graham explains.

Making remembrance accessible

Runaway Bay RSL Sub Branch was recently involved in the reopening of the Canungra Vietnam War Memorial, helping to facilitate its relocation from inside the Kokoda Barracks to just outside the Barracks’ entry for the whole community to access and visit. 

The project came about when fellow RSL member Doug Henderson OAM formed a working committee in his capacity as founder of the Kokoda Youth Foundation, bringing the Sub Branch, the Land Warfare Centre and the local community together in collaboration.

The memorial has reopened in a more accessible location

“There are Vietnam monuments all around the country and indeed on the Gold Coast, but the one here in Canungra is most significant because all of us who went to Vietnam trained here in the Jungle Training Centre,” Graham explains.

“It is a godsend to have our friends, families and our future generations come and see such a wonderful monument now.”

The finished memorial includes a life-size bronze statue of an Australian Vietnam soldier and informational boards that detail the history of the Vietnam War.

“It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work on this wonderful monument. We were thrilled to be part of a project that not only honours an existing memorial, but also creates a new accessible space for education and remembrance,” Graham says.

Passing on the ANZAC legacy

In addition to honouring memorial sites, Runaway Bay RSL Sub Branch has been boosting the visibility of military service commemorations within its community.

“At Runaway Bay, we get 2,500 to 3,000 people attending our ANZAC Day Dawn Service, which is excellent. But the memories are unfortunately dwindling, so we do all that we can to promote ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day,” Bruce says. 

“It is important that our grandkids and future generations are aware of what happened in the past and how they’ve got the freedoms that they enjoy, today,” Graham adds.

The Runaway Bay RSL Sub Branch is actively working to engage with local community members of all ages 

A key part of the Sub Branch’s community engagement activities involves educating young people about the importance of remembrance, which has proved hugely successful. 

“By visiting schools, we are educating the young on the past, because what happens in the past governs the future,” Bruce says.

“We recognise the importance of having today’s youth involved, so we invite school students to be involved in our ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day services,” Graham says.

Sub Branch members visit each school, engaging them through programs such as RSL Queensland’s Postcards of Honour and Draw to Remember initiatives. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, motivating the Sub Branch’s members to continue their hard work.

“Connecting the young students to us older folks is something we hope to be able to do in future with more involvement,” Bruce says.

“The whole community gets behind us. They are aware of who we are, what we’ve done and what we’re doing, which is most important,” Graham says.

For more information about Runaway RSL Sub Branch, visit rslqld.org/about-us/runaway-bay-sub-branch-inc.