Bomaderry honours Vietnam Veterans in sunset service

RSL sub-branches from across greater Nowra joined with Shoalhaven Vietnam Veterans Association to hold a moving, yet earnest evening service at Walsh Park.

Supported by the broader Nowra community, including current service personnel from HMAS Albatross and local cadet squadrons, Nowra Legacy, and the South Coast Veterans Motorcycle Club, the community paid tribute to Vietnam Veterans on a significant anniversary.

It has been 60 years since the first Australian troops joined the war in Vietnam, and 50 since the last of them came home - forever changed.

Their homecoming was far from jubilant, and many relied on their mates to cope; it's how Vietnam Veterans Associations, including the Shoalhaven Vietnam Veterans Association were born.

Over the years the Shoalhaven group has held strong, supporting its members through the difficult times.

At the helm is Veterans Association secretary Carl Robinson - an American, once an advisor to the US Government in Vietnam, later joined the Associated Press in Saigon until 1975.

Mr Robinson addressed the service, sharing his own experiences of Vietnam as an American and a journalist; he stayed on the ground from the war's outbreak through to the final US evacuation.

He said it was starting a new life in Australia with his wife that helped him move forward from an immense anger and bitterness he felt for his homeland immediately after the war.

After starting anew with his family, Mr Robinson was able to change his mindset, and has gone on to to help others move forward - through the association, and in the broader veteran community.

"I wanted to get on with my life, and thankfully Australia gave me the opportunity to do that," he said.

"Something I have learned from my wife is that you don't dwell on the past because the past is so painful.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it is that there's no point in feeling alone, there's no point in feeling any shame or any guilt about what we did and why we were in Vietnam.

"We were all there for a good cause, and it's too bad it turned out the way it did."