Most Australians know the words, "Frankie kicked a mine the day mankind kicked the moon." Yet what do we actually know of this? The day man stepped on the moon 3Ptn A Coy 6 Btn RAR were on their second 12 month tour of Viet Nam in approx three and a half years They were patrolling approx 2Km east of Hoi My, Frankie actually did not trip a mine, though he did i believe loose a leg, the Ptn Lieutenant and a Corpral tripped one M16 mine each. Both these men KIA also wounding 23 with 12 Returned To Australia (RTA) for advanced treatment. The M16 mines were taken by Communist Vietnamese from what was quaintly called "The Great Barrier Minefield" a long minefield placed by the Aussie Combat Engineers in the earliest days of Task force ops (1966). This mine field was used as a armoury by the Communist troops. And the mines from and in this mine field most likely killed and wounded many more Aussies than Vietnamese. Later tours found that many maps did not have it marked and as the years went by less and less new of it's existence. So on the day man kind walked on the moon people all over the world were fighting for their lives and even their very existence. . VALE
This is the song Cobber is referring to: I Was Only Nineteen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia One of the greatest songs ever, IMHO. Up there with Khe Sanh and The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Posted a link in August last year. A goose bump song for sure. http://ww2chat.com/forums/barracks/3163-i-only-nineteen-vietnam-war.html
Thanks for posting the links to the song "I was only Nineteen", originally sung by the band Red Gum. A haunting song for anyone, Probably even for the Regulars with multiple tours. I wonder how many conflicts were raging "The Day, Man Kind Kicked the Moon", This is not really the right site for such a discussion.
