![]() ![]() We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar įrankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon:. Then someone yelled out "Contact", and the bloke behind me swore. ![]() So you closed your eyes and thought about something else. I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.īut we made our tents a home, VB and pin-ups on the lockers,Īnd an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.Īnd can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?Īnd night time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?Īnd what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?Ī four week operation, when each step could mean your last one on two legs:īut you wouldn't let your mates down 'til they had you dusted off, This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean Īnd there's me in my slouch hat, with my SLR and greens…įrom Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat, We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left.Īnd Townsville lined the footpath as we marched down to the quay The Sixth Battalion was the next to tour and it was me who drew the card… Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal, The song refers to events that occurred during Operation Mundingburra, a search and destroy operation conducted between 14 July and 18 August 1969, during which Mick Storen’s platoon patrolled in the light green to the east of the Long Hai hills. The song’s alternative title, A walk in the light green, refers to patrolling in a patch of jungle known by troops as “the light green”, due to its colour on topographical maps, indicating lightly wooded areas presenting little cover and a high likelihood of land mines. John Schumann – who was the lead singer of Redgum at the time the song was written – based the lyrics on the experiences of his brother-in-law Mick Storen, who served with 3 Platoon, A Company, 6 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) in Vietnam in 1969. Concentrating on the toll paid by those who took part rather than debating the merits of the war itself, it became the quintessential song of the Australian Vietnam War veteran. I was only 19 provided a fresh perspective, presenting a compelling sympathetic account of an Australian soldier’s experience of the war and its aftermath. A generation of veterans had been left feeling isolated and with a belief they had been forgotten by their country. ![]() I was only 19 was released in March 1983 when discussion of the Vietnam War, which had so fiercely divided public opinion a decade earlier, was generally avoided in polite conversation. ![]()
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