Ghost platoon PDF
Preview Ghost platoon
FRANK WALKER 39 AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS, VIETNAM, 1969 THE ARMY DENIED THEY EXISTED WHAT WERE THEY TRYING TO HIDE? Frank Walker has worked as a journalist for 35 years, most recently as chief reporter for The Sun-Herald covering defence, veterans' affairs, national security and terrorism. He's worked on The Sydney Morning Herald, The National Times, for News Limited in New York and Deutsche Welle international radio in Germany. For three years he was The Sun-Herald's correspondent in the USA. He's now left newspapers to freelance and write books. His first book, The Tiger Man 0/ Vietnam - the remarkable true story of the secret war of Captain Barry Petersen in the Central Highlands of Vietnam - was an instant bestseller. He lives in Sydney with his family. Ghost Platoon is his second book. Praise for The Tiger Man of Vietnam 'one of those great untold stories ... Walker tells it with verve and excitement and with meticulous attention to detail' The Sydney Morning Herald 'drips with adventure and intrigue and has at its centre a personality boys of all ages will identify with' The Age 'Walker's finely researched book goes beyond the biographical account of an Australian war hero' The Sun-Herald 'Walker's book about Petersen, The Tiger Man 0/ Vietnam, is well-crafted and racily written' The Weekend Australian 'It's been suggested Petersen was the model for the character of Colonel Kurtz in the film Apocalypse Now. But this remarkable true story is much richer and more compelling than anything Hollywood could conjure' The West Australian FRANK WALKER Note to readers: This book contains photographs which some readers may find distressing. To Aboriginal readers, please also note that some of these images feature people who are deceased or who may now be deceased. The photographs are relevant to the text and have not been included lightly. The author and the publisher believe that they are an important part of telling the story of the Ghost Platoon. Published in Australia and New Zealand in 2011 by Hachette Australia (an imprint of Hachette Australia Ply Limited) Level 17, 207 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000 www.hachette.com.au 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright © Frank Walker 2011 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be stored or reproduced by any process without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data Walker, Frank. Ghost platoon I Frank Walker. 9780733626432 (pbk.) Includes bibliographical references and index. Riddle, Jim. Australia. Army. Defence and Employment Platoon, 2nd. - History. Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Veterans - Australia. Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Pyschological aspects. 959.70438 Cover, picture section, map and diagram design by Christabella Designs Ambush diagram based on original illustration by Clare Belshaw Cover photograph courtesy of the Australian War Memorial (BEU69/0373NN) Text design by Simon Paterson, Bookhouse Typeset in 12118 pt Simoncini Garamond by Bookhouse, Sydney Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press, Adelaide, an Accredited ISO AS/NZS 14001 :2004 Environmental Management System printer Cover photograph: The morning after the fierce fighting of the ambush at Thua Tich on the night of 29 May 1969, when a small group of Australian soldiers in the 2nd D&E Platoon and cavalry in armoured personnel carriers took on a column of more than 50 enemy troops, leaving a string of enemy bodies on the road. This photograph, taken by by Sergeant Chris Bellis, shows Private Don Greentree standing guard on his APC as an RAAF Iroquois helicopter delivers fresh supplies and ammunition. The paper this book is printed on is certified against the MIX Forest Stewardship Council® Standards. Griffin Press holds Paper from FSC chain of custody certification SGS-COC-005088. FSC responsible aourcss promotes environmenta!ly responsible, socially beneficial FSce C009448 and economically viable management of the world's forests. 'In war, truth is the first casualty' AESCHYLUS, 525-456 BC CONTENTS 0/ Map Phuoc Tuy province, South Vietnam 1969 lX 0/ Illustration the ambush at Thua Tich x Prologue Xl 1 Ambush at Thua Tich 1 2 An Engineer's Burial 29 3 Ambushing the Ambushers 45 4 Animals Run by a Foul-mouthed Mercenary 57 5 F rom Geordie to Digger 71 6 Pommy Bastard 85 7 The Fragging of Lieutenant Convery 103 8 The Cover-up Begins 129 9 The War that Never Ends 149 10 Homecomings 171 11 Soldiers Turn Sleuths 193 12 A Ghost Platoon No More 219 13 Spoiling for a Fight 233 14 No One is Ever Cured 253 15 We All Died in That War 275 Epilogue: The Smoking Gun 295 0/ Members the Ghost Platoon 309 Endnotes 313 Bibliography 317 Acknowledgements 323 Index 329 PHUOC TUY PROVINCE SOUTH VIETNAM, 1969 BIEN HOA Gl'HUOC HAr THUA TICH AMBUSH Three groups of APCs KEY in case of attack from the north. • men Q APC ~ M-6ogun Captain Arrowsmith's tj ,o~~~ THUA TICH .............._• ........- - GATEWAY I Vi~r::ese regular army and Viet Cong {: column. ::E o o "'"' fr • .. • . • • Riddle's section. • • • •• • •• 0== • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••• - • • • • • • • PROLOGUE During the Vietnam War he'd been a photographer in the army's public relations unit. He'd captured some of the worst moments of the war, snapping photos of Australians in action and dead enemy bodies, recording all the horror and destruction that comes with any conflict. Bending down, he picked up the box full of pictures he'd taken during the war and carried them to a bonfire he'd started in his backyard. He waited as the flames steadily built up. He'd risked his life getting these photos. Now the burden of what they revealed was too heavy. For more than 40 years he'd kept the pictures tucked away in a box in a back room of his home. There were hundreds of them. He rarely looked at them; in fact, he'd xl
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