Military Life Gave A Sense of Belonging

Living in a community still guided by discriminatory laws that segregated Indigenous people, Uncle Noel grew up trying to find a place to belong.  

The Wulli Wulli and Gooreng Gooreng man recounts going to the movies with his brother and having to sit on the opposite side to their non-Aboriginal friends.  

“The little town that I was brought up in was experiencing all kinds of segregation and racism but when I joined the military it was the first time in my life that I was fully accepted,” the RSL Life Subscriber says.  

“The day I enlisted to serve I agreed to defend and protect our country because that’s who I am. I will always be a soldier, for the rest of my life.”  

SERVING IN VIETNAM  

Uncle Noel served in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and Australian Army Assistance Group Vietnam. 

“My brother was called up to national service and as Aboriginal men in those days, our best job prospects were probably labour jobs which weren’t paying very much. When my brother went into national service, he called me and asked why I didn’t try to enlist, too.”  

Uncle Noel was 22 in 1972 when he went to Vietnam, and he was one of the last 28 soldiers left in Vietnam as part of a guard and escort troupe who didn’t return home until 1973.   

“I served in Vietnam all up for 14 months. When I first started my training and was sent to Canungra, I never thought I was going to go to Vietnam, although I wanted to,” he says.  

“I enjoyed the training. I was really good at it but because all of the media were saying our efforts in Vietnam were winding down, I never thought I would get there.” 

When they landed in Vietnam, Uncle Noel was shocked at the devastation. 

“I wasn’t expecting that when we arrived. Our role was to support the other serving groups and other Australians still on the ground. We were changed over to work as embassy guards, essentially. 

“I was taken up to Cambodia and was part of a guard party for an embassy ambassador for peace talks.”  

COMING HOME  

When he returned to Australia, Uncle Noel had almost finished serving his three-year contract with the Army and says his life changed a lot after coming home. 

“I started questioning not only myself but what I was doing and what I was going to achieve,” he explains.  

“Joining the military gave me equal footing and there was no racism in the military that I experienced. I felt very comfortable there.” 

“But I wasn’t okay. I had post-traumatic stress and it took me a while to find the right community to help me realise what I was going through.”  

“Still, I achieved all I wanted to. Being there when they lowered the Australian flag to signify the war was over, stays with me to this day.”  

NATURE HEALS 

One place Uncle Noel says he found peace when he returned home was in the bush.  

“The rocks, the hills, rivers, and trees. They were all able to bring about change in some of the things I was working through. As an Aboriginal I knew the land, I knew how to survive on the land.”  

It wasn’t until he came across the Theodore RSL Sub Branch many years later that he felt a level of comfort with his community again.  

“I’ve been a part of this Sub Branch now for 11 or 12 years and I can look back on my life in the military and be proud of what I did. 

“But today, the biggest thrill I get is watching my grandkids march.”  

As part of his work with the Sub Branch, Uncle Noel co-created a program of retreats for veterans experiencing PTSD with his Sub Branch President.  

“We came up with our idea to give a more on-the-ground type of support for veterans. We would take veterans on a four- or five-day camp sometimes with their children,” he says.  

“Sitting around the campfire it started a conversation amongst the group and brought everyone together.”  

“I started to study post-traumatic stress and found ways to help the veterans in our community. It wasn’t rocket science or anything, it was just veterans talking to veterans.”  

“Still today so many veterans want to shoulder it all themselves and the point I try to share with them is that you can’t do it on your own.”  

As for the future, Uncle Noel’s wisdom offers insight into what drove him when he enlisted and what gives him the motivation to keep supporting members of his RSL community today.  

“If we could ever build a bridge of reconciliation, it’s where the white man puts the bolt in and the black man does up the nut. And if we use glue, the glue has to be called respect. That bridge will stand forever.”  

See More About Vietnam Veterans' Day

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