.png){kind=icon}
Administrator- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Posts
- 24,890
- Reaction score
- 13,614
- Points
- 2,755
- Location
- Morganton, N.C.
- Website
- conversations-ii.freeforums.net
(The Guardian) War memorial reveals greater Indigenous service in Australia’s wars
New research from the Australian War Memorial has identified more than 250 Indigenous men and women who served for Australia during the Vietnam war. Many who served in the conflict hadn’t previously been recognised as Indigenous.
Michael Bell, the Indigenous liaison officer at the Australian War Memorial, spoke to ABC News just a little while ago about the project: What we have been doing is on an ongoing basis we have reviewed the service and sacrifice and contribution of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have served Australia.
We have concentrated on the first world war. What we found in that research is that the family tends to serve in subsequent conflicts and we have got men from the first world war with descendants in the Vietnam war. It has been a case of following of ancestries down to subsequent service and we found the non-Indigenous veterans from Vietnam have been happy to share they served with Aboriginal men and they have identified other Aboriginal veterans we weren’t aware of …
It is important because of the lack of recognition, especially due to the political atmosphere and social atmosphere of the day, with our veterans not being accepted on their return from Vietnam. The delay that the recognition that the country gave to our veterans who fought in that war for quite a long time but now we are not only recognising their recognition of service and the important job that they did for us during that conflict, it is also reporting the Indigenous component of that service.
New research from the Australian War Memorial has identified more than 250 Indigenous men and women who served for Australia during the Vietnam war. Many who served in the conflict hadn’t previously been recognised as Indigenous.
Michael Bell, the Indigenous liaison officer at the Australian War Memorial, spoke to ABC News just a little while ago about the project: What we have been doing is on an ongoing basis we have reviewed the service and sacrifice and contribution of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have served Australia.
We have concentrated on the first world war. What we found in that research is that the family tends to serve in subsequent conflicts and we have got men from the first world war with descendants in the Vietnam war. It has been a case of following of ancestries down to subsequent service and we found the non-Indigenous veterans from Vietnam have been happy to share they served with Aboriginal men and they have identified other Aboriginal veterans we weren’t aware of …
It is important because of the lack of recognition, especially due to the political atmosphere and social atmosphere of the day, with our veterans not being accepted on their return from Vietnam. The delay that the recognition that the country gave to our veterans who fought in that war for quite a long time but now we are not only recognising their recognition of service and the important job that they did for us during that conflict, it is also reporting the Indigenous component of that service.
Valued Member
