Those of you who subscribe to any number of ex-service Facebook groups may have already come across this petition.
In case you haven't, here is a quick and dirty explanation.
Between 1964 and 1972, 63,740 twenty year-olds were called up and enlisted into the army. This was the number of men who had their birthdates drawn in one of the sixteen ballots, and who passed the medical.
In all, 804,286 registered for national service, but the bulk of these (92%) maintained their lifestyles when their birthdates weren't drawn.
Of the 63,740, only 15,300 saw active service in Vietnam, which means that 48,440 Nashos served their two years in units in Australia. Among them were such well known sporting celebrities as Doug Walters , Peter Brock, and Dick Johnson.
Most weren't celebrities, of course, and their lives were turned upside down by the simple fact that they were born on the wrong date. I have two in my extended family. One (who died a few years ago) served in Malaya, and one as a driver in a Brisbane unit. He was part of a small business in Clermont at the time and it took him (and the burgeoning enterprise) a long time to recover. He is now dealing with injuries occasioned at training.
It's worth remembering that this scheme was the only national service programme that was not universal, so it was completely unjust and morally absurd.
More detail is contained here.
When the two years was up, these men were entitled to return to their pre-Nasho jobs, but that was about the only benefit they received.
Contrast that with somebody like me who saw active service, was provided with a war service home loan and a *DLNS rehabilitation scholarship, and a DVA gold card at age 70.
I reckon these 48,000 (or perhaps given the ravages of time, the approximate 30,000 who survive) are entitled to some form of compensation. The provision of a gold card at age 70 would seem to me to be utterly reasonable.
So I completely support this initiative.
I am bemused by some fellow Vietnam veterans who oppose it.
The term "dog in the manger" comes to mind.
*Department of Labour and National Service
