‘Tribute08’ Wellington 30 May-1 June Vietnam Vets

[FlyNavy]

www.tribute08.co.nz/?gclid=CJuA_PnpuJMCFR4sagodyGPuCA

Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June 2008
Queens Birthday Weekend
WELLINGTON
Tribute08 is set to be a hugely significant event not only for Vietnam Veterans but also their families, the wider Veteran community, and New Zealand as a whole. The event will commemorate those who served in Vietnam and will be a reunion for many Vets. There will also be opportunities for the public to be involved (see public events programme), including a public commemoration and concert.

You can register for Tribute08 here, or contact us on:
0800 VIETNAM or [phone];
email: [e-mail];
write: Tribute08, PO Box 11 034, Wellington.

Dress Code for the Weekend

Dress for the weekend overall is "comfortable, smart-casual". People may choose to wear medals at any activity they wish eg. Sub-unit Reps may want that for their Sub-unit reunion on Saturday.

For the following events it is "Dress as for ANZAC Day Services including medals":

Saturday:
The Honour March, Whakanoa & Parliamentary Welcome

Sunday:
The Memorial Service, The Commemoration and Celebration

[vgp]

also of interest on TVNZ and to anyone with Freeview TVNZ7.

Vietnam documentaries on TVNZ

Tribute08: Other Vietnam Documentaries screening on TVNZ 7

Tribute08: Out from the Darkness
TVNZ 7 : Monday 2 June at 10:10pm
TV ONE : Monday 2 June at 12:30pm
Mark Sainsbury hosts this programme about Tribute 08, the commemoration the contributions of New Zealand war veterans on the battlefields of Vietnam, the first official recognition of their service in the conflict. It includes coverage of the weekends events, background about the Vietnam War and its impact on the Kiwi soldiers who fought in it, and the veterans own experiences and fight for recognition, told by the veterans themselves and their families.

Made in NZ: The Shadow of Vietnam
Friday 30 May at 10:10pm, and Saturday 1 June at 1:10pm
When New Zealand troops returned from Vietnam, they came back to an angry public who were protesting the involvement of New Zealand. Despised and ignored, the Vietnam veterans never received the public acknowledgement that had been given to soldiers from all other wars. Using original film footage shot by the soldiers themselves during their tour of duty, this documentary powerfully captures the emotion of the war and mood of the times. Through painful memories and with tears and laughter, the veterans tell their stories for the first time on film about a forgotten chapter of the legacy of the Vietnam War.

Doco of the Week: Jungle Rain
Tuesday 27 May at 9:10pm, Wednesday 28 May at 12:10pm, Thursday 29 May at 9:10pm and Friday 30 May at 12:10pm
Jungle Rain is a history of experience versus opinion, of a foreign war making for a foreign homecoming, and of a nation's responsibility to its soldiers. It's the story of the 3,500 men who changed the course of New Zealand's future. This documentary looks at Agent Orange, one of the four main chemical defoliants used by the American forces during Vietnam, and the ramifications of it on the health of the Vietnam Vets and their families. It looks at the unpopular legacy of Vietnam as it continued to haunt the soldiers who were initially ostracised, and even cursed, when it was proved that they could have serious or terminal illnesses from their service.
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488124/1783241

Tribute08 will be streamed LIVE on Saturday 31 May at 10.10am.

TVNZ 7 coverage of Tribute08 will be streamed LIVE on tvnz.co.nz from 10.10am - 12.30pm.

TV ONE will screen a special programme called Tribute08: Out From the Darkness on Monday 2 June at 12.30pm, which runs for 90 minutes. This will also be streamed online.

Both programmes will be available on TVNZ ondemand once they have screened as well.
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488124/1783258

TVNZ 7 Coverage of Tribute08

Saturday 31 May at 10:10am:

Tribute08: A Vietnam Commemoration is set to be a hugely significant event not only for Vietnam Veterans but also their families, the wider Veteran community, and New Zealand as a whole.

The event will commemorate those who served in Vietnam and will be a reunion for many Veterans. TVNZ 7 is screening documentaries leading up to the weekend in rememberance of Vietnam; and Tribute08.

TVNZ 7 will screen Tribute08 LIVE, a broadcast of part of the commemorations, hosted by Mark Sainsbury with commentators Paul Diamond (leader of the Vietnam War Oral History Project) and Ian McGibbon (Ministry of Culture and Heritages historian and General Editor of War History).

Tribute08 LIVE on TVNZ 7 includes The Honour March, where Veterans will march from Wellington's Civic Square to Parliament, and the very special Whakanoa ceremony inside parliament grounds.

This LIVE coverage is interspersed with 'real life' stories of people who were involved in, and affected by, the Vietnam War.

These include the story of Gael Keighley. Gael was the young wife of air force medic Gordon Watt. Gordon was killed by a landmine in Vietnam in March 1970.

At the time, Gael was given very little information about her husband's death, and was refused permission to attend his funeral in Singapore. Gael will be looking for closure by marching at Tribute08 (along with Gordon's youngest son, Darryl) and carrying his photo alongside 36 other families who lost loved ones in Vietnam.

The broadcast also contains the story of Patrick Duggan from Christchurch. He had two separate tours of duty to Vietnam (the first in 1966/67 and the second 1970/71). Within the programme Patrick goes back to Nui Dat (where the Australians and New Zealanders were based), and he talks about how - as a young 19-year-old soldier - he reacted to the experiences of war, including the infamous Battle of Long Tan where 14 Australians died when they came under attack by North Vietnamese battalions.

Tribute08: Other Vietnam Documentaries screening on TVNZ 7
tvnz.co.nz/view/page/497100/1775974

TVNZ Tribute08 main page:
tvnz.co.nz/view/tvnz_7_index_skin/tvnz_7_tribute_08_index_group

[vgp]

Tribute08 Finally Honours Vietnam Vets
Friday, 23 May 2008, 3:05 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Defence Force

New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa

Media Release

23 May 2008
Tribute08 Finally Honours Vietnam Vets

Military veterans who served in the Vietnam War will finally get their official welcome home next weekend in Wellington at Tribute08.

The veterans will be welcomed to Wellington on Friday 30 May by Mayor Kerry Prendergast at a ceremony held in Civic Square which will be followed by a Beat Retreat performed by the NZ Army.

On Saturday morning an Honour Parade will be held through the Wellington CBD. The veterans and their families will march from Civic Square to Parliament where they will be greeted by the Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Chris Mullane, Chairman of Tribute08 said, “It will mean so much to the veterans if the people of Wellington turn out to support them and their families during the Honour Parade, as they did in such great numbers ten years ago when the veterans held their own street march as part of Parade '98. The tremendous public support in 1998 greatly lifted everyone’s spirits and we are looking forward to it again.”

Following the welcome at Parliament the families of those who gave their lives in Vietnam will carry photos of their loved ones to the Legislative Council Chamber where they can be honoured by family, veterans and the public until midnight Saturday. Members of the Navy, Army and Air Force will mount a Vigil during the whakanoa (healing) ceremony.

The Vice Chief of Defence Force Rear Admiral Jack Steer said, “I hope that Tribute08 will enable veterans and their families to move forward into the future with the respect and mana they deserve. It is time to recognise that mistakes were made in the past and to acknowledge the valuable contribution of those that served.”

On Sunday a waka wairua containing the spirits of those who lost their lives in Vietnam will be taken from Legislative Council Chamber to the National War Memorial in Buckle Street where a wreath laying ceremony will be held.

The veterans and their families will then march to the Basin Reserve where they will be honoured by the public and dignitaries. The programme includes speeches by His Excellency the Governor General of New Zealand, the Honorable Anand Satyanand and Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae. During the ceremony 1RNZIR will be presented with its Regimental Colour with the Theatre Honour – Vietnam 1967 - 71, updated to acknowledge all infantry companies that served in Vietnam.

The ceremony will also include a tri-Service Guard of Honour, a 37-gun salute, performances by the NZ Army Band and the Central Band of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) as well as a flypast of RNZAF aircraft. The event will conclude with a concert featuring the Maori Volcanics.

Summary of Public Invitations:

• Saturday, 31 May. Support the Honour March to Parliament commencing at Civic Square 1000am and the Whakanoa Ceremony in Parliament Grounds commencing 11.00am and concluding approx 12.30pm. Pay your respects to the Vietnam Fallen and sign the Book of Remembrance, 1.30pm to Midnight in the Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament.

• Sunday, 1 June. Attend the Basin Reserve Commemoration & Celebration commencing 9.30am and concluding approx 1.30pm. “Good Night Vietnam” – the Public Concert, 7.30pm at the TSB Bank Arena; a nostalgic 60s – 70s show. Tickets, $25 - $45.00 through Ticketek on 0800 842 538.


ENDS
www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00393.htm

[flyjoe180]

Vietnam vets divided over apology

The Vietnam War divided the country a generation ago and as the Government launched a belated healing process this week nearly 36 years after the last troops came home, its toxic legacy continued to divide the veterans who served there.

Many welcome the Crown's apology for their treatment and official commemoration of their service over Queen's Birthday weekend as part of what Prime Minister Helen Clark calls a comprehensive settlement.

A lot do not. Still angry over their exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange and callously offhand treatment by past governments, they say the attempt at reconciliation is too little, too late, and it's time to move on anyway.

In the words of one veteran army officer, weary of years of recrimination, who says he will not march in Saturday's long overdue welcome home parade through the streets of Wellington: "There are too many people picking at scabs at the moment."

But Chris Mullane, chairman of the weekend's events entitled Tribute08, says: "It marks the point at which Vietnam veterans and their families receive proper recognition, with dignity and respect, for their service, which the nation has sadly denied them in the past."

And the militant Vietnam Veterans Action Group, which is based in Queensland, dubs the settlement a "band-aid solution that requires major surgery" and continues to deplore "decades of misfeasance and failure of duty of care".

It was the first time New Zealand forces had fought, killed and died in a war that was not fully supported by the people back home. But it was not just anti-war protesters that cold-shouldered them.

The troops believed they were not properly backed by the 1965 government that bowed to pressure from the US to join the war for diplomatic and trade reasons and then made only a half-hearted commitment to their logistic and moral support.

The troops were made to pay income tax - unlike veterans of two world wars - on the specious claim that war had not been formally declared. Their overseas allowances were cut on equally false justifications and soldiers were forced to beg, borrow or steal everything from generators to medicines from well-equipped US forces.

As a result, the army left Vietnam in 1972 with its morale badly shattered and the soldiers came home to a hostile environment. Unlike returned servicemen of previous wars, they were not met by flag-waving crowds, but flown in at dead of night, told to take off their uniforms and not tell people where they had been.

When Auckland put on a home-coming civic reception for the gunners of 161 Battery in 1971 they were jeered as "baby-killers" and daubed with red paint symbolising spilled Vietnamese blood. Their commanding officer John Masters was subjected to a citizen's arrest by a peace group and charged with offensive behaviour for leading his men down Queen Street.

Even RSA members shunned the returning soldiers, encouraged by the government's tax determination that Vietnam was not a "war" but some kind of military "sideshow".

Veteran officer David Moloney had to point out to an Anzac Day service in Rotorua that the young soldiers who came back from Vietnam spent more time on operations and being shot at in 12 months than most World War 2 vets had in five years overseas.

Cold-shouldered by the RSA, the returning troops established the Ex-Vietnam Services Association (EVSA) and the two organisations did not come together until they negotiated the so-called Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government which spawned the Government's apology and this weekend's commemoration.

The MoU, signed in December 2006, contains a raft of measures designed to heal the wounds, including a trust to give financial help to needy veterans and their families funded by the interest on a $7 million endowment for 30 years.
Many hard-up veterans who envisaged the trust easing their plight, have been disappointed.

"We're not sitting on a bag of gold," said trustee John Masters, noting that its February meeting had claims totalling $1.2 million and only $50,000 to give away.

Masters, 73, like a number of vets, has suffered a range of cancers in recent years and has no doubt they stemmed from exposure to chemicals widely sprayed by US forces to defoliate the jungle and deny cover to Viet Cong guerrillas. "I was fit as a fiddle when I went to Vietnam," he said.

Successive governments rejected veterans' claims that they and their children suffered serious health problems because of exposure to Agent Orange, denying that it had been used around the Anzac base at Nui Dat. It was only after Masters discovered a map stamped secret showing that 1.8 million litres of herbicide was sprayed over 31 months with a total of 356 probable occurrences where New Zealand troops had moved through contaminated areas that a parliamentary health committee rubbished two government-sponsored studies of denial.

The MoU provides for a one-off payment of $40,000 for veterans suffering one of five "prescribed conditions". The vets wanted 10 more included, including prostate cancer, which Australian research shows is more prevalent among men who served in Vietnam than in the rest of the population, but the health ministry - "a pack of snivelling so-and-sos who tell lies" says one angry sufferer - vetoed them.

The disaffected Vietnam Veterans Action Group, which objects to a $95 registration fee for the Tribute08 reunion weekend, says the MoU helps only about one percent of veterans and "it appears the government are waiting for us all to die". It is talking about a class action against the government to seek compensation.

RSA president Robin Klitscher, who flew helicopters in Vietnam, says this is unfair and the association is pursuing issues like payments for more "prescribed conditions". The apology does not close the Vietnam issue and the MoU includes a number of provisions, like long overdue reviews of the War Pensions Act and the often criticised Veterans' Affairs department, that will benefit all military veterans, he says.

"It establishes a new starting point in the relationship between New Zealand and its veterans. This is the first government even to recognise that there was a problem, let alone looking at what to do about it."

The biggest single issue that angers veterans is the Government's refusal to refund the income tax - estimated at about $8,000 a head - that New Zealand troops, alone of all allied forces in Vietnam, were made to pay.

"That rankles with everybody," says David Moloney. "It's a point of principle. Had they done that, the naysayers would have been shut up."

John Masters says: "If they gave every person who was in Vietnam $8,000 it would not only silence all the critics, they'd think they'd got a wonderful handshake from the Government and they'd all vote Labour at the next election."

NZPA

[flyjoe180]

New Zealand's Vitenam timeline from the Herald:

New Zealand's Vietnam War timeline
1:35PM Wednesday May 28, 2008

1963 - Prime Minister Keith Holyoake agrees to provide "non-combatant" troops under pressure from the US

1964 - In June, New Zealand sends 25 Army engineers to South Vietnam to build roads and bridges.

1965 - In May, Holyoake announces the Government will send fighting troops to Vietnam, including 161 Battery.

1967 - In April, New Zealand sends the first New Zealand Services Medical Team to Vietnam

1967 - In July, a Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot was made available to the Royal Australian Air Force which operated Iroquois helicopters in Vietnam. Two more pilots were provided in the following year.

1968 - New Zealand reaches the peak number of troops fighting in Vietnam at any one time with 543

1969 - In January, New Zealand sends 26 Special Air Service (SAS) troops to Vietnam.

1969 - Labour Party leader Norman Kirk - then in opposition - makes an unequivocal commitment to withdraw troops if his party wins the election. National is re-elected.

1971 - In January, a military training team of 25 were sent to train Vietnamese soldiers. They were joined by a second team of 18 the following year.

In April, protesters disrupt a reception for Vietnam War veterans of 161 Battery who accused the soldiers of being murderers and threw red paint, symbolising Vietnamese blood. One protest march drew 35,000 people on to the streets. Many argued New Zealand should follow their own foreign policy and accused the Government of following the US into war.

In May, the SAS and 161 Battery leaves Vietnam.

1972, In December, New Zealand pulls the last of its militarily personnel out of Vietnam after the Labour Party wins the election. By the end of the war, 3400 New Zealanders had fought in Vietnam with casualty figures of 37 dead and 187 wounded.

1975 - The first reunion of New Zealand Vietnam veterans was held.

1978 - The Ex-Vietnam Service Association is formed with 1800 members including veterans and the families of veterans.

2003/2004 - Select Committee hearing. EVSA makes submissions on the effects of veterans' exposure to Agent Orange and other chemicals used in the Vietnam War by the US and its allies.

2005/2006 - A joint working group supported by the RSA and EVSA carried out consultation with veterans and their families throughout New Zealand.

2006 - In April, the group's findings were reported to the Government.

In December, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and veterans is signed.

Sources:

New Zealand History online: www.nzhistory.net.nz/

Ex-Veteran Services Association: www.evsa.org.nz

www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10512994

[FlyNavy]

Not that it makes anyone feel better about the situation described in the above posts but a similar situation existed in Oz much to our shame. It seems the 'healing process' started here some time back with many long over due celebration "return home marches' about a decade ago (I'll have to look it up) which made a huge difference to VietVets morale afterwards. I hope myself that any Kiwi Vets participate in any marches/celebrations - even if they have misgivings - because it is likely that they will feel better about it afterwards (although the experience may be painful at the time). Only my hunch from what I have read and heard reported after the Oz events.

[14liney]

Long overdue recognition of the Vietnam veterans, their treatment by the NZDF was shameful.