This is my ANZAC Day tribute posting. ANZAC Day means a great deal for me and my family. I suppose it is because we have a connection to the original ANZACS in 1915 and Gallipoli, and to a veteran of a war much fresher in our minds, Vietnam.
Firstly, I pay tribute to my great-grandfather Harry Crozier. I never really knew him and he died many years ago. Harry served in the Gallipoli campaign and, thankfully, came home alive, albeit with only one working leg. I know he spent considerable time in Rotorua convalescing and learned to carve Maori carvings as part of his rehabilitation.
The second person I pay tribute to is a guy who truly epitomises the ANZAC spirit. He is an Aussie, living in New Zealand, who fought for New Zealand in Vietnam. He is married to a Kiwi and has three Kiwi kids, and five Kiwi grandkids. He is also my father-in-law.
41873 Gnr Atkins KG 161 Bty was in Vietnam in 1966, based in Nui Dat and one of the first to arrive and establish the base and gun positions. ‘Oz’ participated in the famous Battle of Long Tan where the Kiwi guns were instrumental in saving three platoons of D Company of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), enabling the thrashing of a regiment of Viet Cong.
Each gun fired over 1,200 rounds that day and night in support of the Aussies. The battle was fought in a rubber-tree plantation near the village of Long Tan, about 40km north-east of Vung Tau, South Vietnam on 18 and 19 August 1966. The battle was fought all afternoon and most of the night in pouring monsoon rain. The guns ran so hot that wet blankets were draped over them in an attempt to keep the barrels cool.
Kevin tells many stories of his time in Vietnam but they are not at all ‘warry’, to use his term. They speak a simple truth that war is tough and brutal. He often says he hopes his children never have to go to war and, thankfully, they probably wont have to.
It seems so long ago, yet, for some, only yesterday. The government, to this day, still treat veterans with disdain with their handling and obfuscation of the Agent Orange scandal. I say a scandal because that is what it is. You need only ask any veteran about Agent Orange and they will tell you they weren’t just sprayed with it they were doused in it, they drank water soaked with it and were often wet to their socks with Agent Orange. Every country operating in Vietnam at the time has acknowledged it happened and compensated their veterans, yet New Zealand continues to deny it occurred and continues to hold spurious enquiries. (The government has since said ‘Sorry’, if it was at all possible to say sorry without actually saying the word, but for me it was too little, too late.)
Kevin didn’t want me to write anything about him but I insisted. He didn’t want me to make him out to be a hero. In his words, he was there, he was a gunner and that was all. Like most veterans he is intensely proud of his achievements and, at the same time, intensely bitter at the way they were treated upon returning. It is high time that Kiwis were proud of what our guys did in Vietnam; proud of their achievements and proud of their fortitude to fight. I admire anyone who has the gumption to stand up and be counted with their own life.
My father-in-law is a true ANZAC and someone I am proud to know and love. I admire his achievements. I remember fondly the ANZAC Day we spent in Sydney 12 years ago. Australians celebrate ANZAC Day while Kiwis commemorate it. In Sydney, on that day, Kevin was proud to wear his medals and comfortable wearing them in the street. Sydney was one big party that day and we ate and drank pretty much for free wherever we went. Kids and adults alike patted him on the back and shook his hand and called out ‘good on ya mate’. The pity is that the same cannot be said of New Zealand. ANZAC Day is treated as a solemn occasion. People do show their respects and continue to show it by the increased attendances at parades all over the country, but it is ‘respect’ as in at a funeral rather than respect as in admiration.
It is high time New Zealand celebrated the achievements of our soldiers and stopped commemorating them. ANZAC Day should be like it was in Sydney 12 years ago. It is certainly a day I will not forget.
A couple of things remain for me to pass on to my children. They are visits to Gallipoli and to Vietnam to show the kids where our relatives fought and shed blood so that they may never know war. Hopefully, they will never know war as other generations have.
In 2015 I ticked a visit to Gallipoli off my bucket list. Attending a service at the Long Tan Cross on an ANZAC Day remains on the list. I hope I can convince Skippy to come to Vietnam to do it with me.
Lest we forget.
