Digger lost
AUSTRALIANS would continue to support troops in Afghanistan despite the death of a soldier and serious wounding of another in an attack, says the chief of the Australian Defence Force.
What led ADF chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston to make that statement. Had someone suggested that Australian’s wouldn’t support the troops?
Short answer – yes, At a media conference at 6:00 am today the question of Australians support for the war was raised by a journalist and the ADF Chief’s answer became the byline.
So the journalsts spin on the death of an Australian soldier has been all about politics – thanks bastard!
After having made his political point that he/she believes the war in Afghanistan to be unpopular and intimating the death is pointless we are finally given some detail.
He (The ADF Cheif) said the pair were part of a team protecting engineers undertaking reconstruction work in the province and the wounded soldier’s injuries were not life-threatening. “He is likely to make a full recovery and return to work in the near future,” he said. An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated next to the soldiers’ military vehicle in Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province yesterday, six kilometres from their base at Tarin Kowt. The deceased soldier had been driving the vehicle.I phoned Defence Media Liason to see if they knew the soldiers unit as 7RAR has some troops in the theatre but that fact hadn’t been announced yet.
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Kev
Newsflash at 11.50am gave his name as trooper David Pierce and his age as 41. There was no mention of unit.
Kev, by now you would have heard that it was a Brisbane boy from 2/14th. They lost Const Brett Goodwin, a former Regt member earlier this year in a tragic Qld Police shooting event at a domestic incident. The 41 Club will get David Pearce’s name on the wall.
Hi Kev
Surprised at the journalist’s spin?
You must be getting old mate.
Cheers
Cav
And another thing about journalists I found interesting in writing about the Vietnam War and associated battles – THEY WEREN’T THERE!
Their accounts were second or third hand because they were back in the rear so to speak and then came forward when it was all over.
They would file their story, and then the editors in New York, or where ever, would then edit the story according to their agendas!
Is it any wonder that we soldiers Kev are the only ones who know the truth about Vietnam – that we did it tough, and we did it right.
One day I hope to see a story on the South Vietnamese and how they saw the whole thing – nobody seems to want to ask them! It was the South Vietnamese that our boys gave their lives for while the cowards hid in the universities.
Sorry – end of Rant!
Your mate
Cav
Bad luck for Trooper Pierce – the bastards only have to get one right out of hundreds of attempts, our people have to get it right every time.
Did the IED get through the armour or was he ‘outside’ i.e. head out whilst driving?
See what some of Australia’s peace lovers are saying about him http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/comments/leftist_peacenik_sampler/
What a pack of scumbags.
Cav, I don’t know who you served with or when, but look up a few (or all) of these names, all accredited journalists or cameramen, all went out with the Infantry Bns and many other units in VN, all filed stories from the field first hand.
Don Hook
Pat Burgess
Bill Pinwell
Jimmy Lee
Don Wise
Neil Davis
They are not the only ones, either.
Don’t let your dislike of the Press allow you to denigrate these brave men. They didn’t have to “go bush”, but they did because they believed in their profession.
PQ You’re right of course; there were good journalists in Vietnam but Cav can afford to generalize as most weren’t.
Thanks PQ for pointing out some really fine journalists.
Alas I only recognise two of those names – Pat Burgess and Neil Davis.
I’ll look the others up.
Cheers
Cav
Paul Ham has a new book coming out called Vietnam – The Australian War.
He also remarks on how the war was mis reported. His first chapter was in last weekend’s Australian.
Should be a good read.
It’s out 1 Nov
Cav,
Yes I read it in the Oz and look forward to buying the book. In fact I get a book voucher yesterday from one of my kids – now I know what to buy with it.
Gary
I read the same piece – will be worth waiting for.
One of the surprising things for me was Ham’s contention that the Gorton government all but abandoned its troops from early 1968, before public opinion turned against the war –
“The politicians cared little for the operational war ……….. commanders experienced the sense of being marooned, neglected…”
and –
“The sense of abandonment percolated down to the troops…..” (Cameron Stewart’s review on p4).
I don’t remember this in any clarity in my experience, although I certainly remember getting a hard time when I got back.
Hopefully, the Australian community and the media has now learned to discriminate between their support for diggers operationally deployed and their support (or lack of) for the pollies who sent them.
I wouldn’t bet on it, however.
One other thing that for me was intriguing was his report of Michael Herr writing in “Dispatches” in 1868 that only 50 journalists in-country were worth any respect. It’s intriguing, because I clearly remember a journo, complete with wind-up camera, traveling with Company HQ for about two days on our second Op, but I have no idea now who he was. I wonder if he was one of the 50.