Big Donger wrote on Apr 7
th, 2018 at 9:07pm:
A good soundtrack to a good story: Conrad's Heart of Darkness set in the backdrop of Amerika's total war in Vietnam. An Oedipal story about the son slaying the father.
But Nam wasn't like that for Aussies. For a start, it was a war, not a quest or an adventure. And the one, defining thing about war?
Boredom.
Soldiers spend most of their time waiting. They never give you any information. Finally, they send you into some dumb mishap, and it's all over in a couple of hours. You sink or swim. Most soldiers only get a couple of battles. You get in - and out - as quickly as you can. And that's if you're not injured or killed. Those soldiers only get one.
Modern soldiering is usually peacekeeping - gangs of kids walking around the streets or going from house to house feeling important. We did a bit of that in Nam.
But jungle warfare's in and out, mostly finding nothing, or if you do, copping a hiding. Soldiers knew from the pointlessness of it that it was unwinnable. Sure, there were a few Big Hole bullsht-artists over there, and officers and careerists, but the blokes that went into the jungle knew: it was their country, they'd keep it.
All the rest was hanging around barracks in the humidity, drinking warm beer. Endless cleaning, pointless drills. The devil makes work with idle hands, and boys' minds turn to mischief. You had to be able to look after yourself. The officers were scared shtless of us. The NCOs were cnts.
Now if I feel like it, I'll give you a real ANZAC Day story. But if I hear one peep out of Hole, it's off.
Can't wait for your story Karnal -
a man who actually went there.