Australian War Memorial recognises I Was Only 19
IT’s a guitar that looks like any other, bought at 447 Station Street, North Carlton, more than three decades ago. It took the hands and the voice of Redgum lead singer John Schumann to turn it into part of a story that changed a nation when he used it to create and perform his Vietnam War ballad I Was Only 19 in 1983.
When John penned the lines “And can you tell me doctor why I still can’t get to sleep?....God help me, I was only 19”, he started the work he continues today raising awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder among the veterans of Vietnam and more recent conflicts.
The guitar is now on display at the Australian War Memorial as part of the Battle of Long Tan 50th anniversary commemorations, which begin this month.
From dusk to dawn on August 16-18 images from the Vietnam War and honour roll names will be projected on to the facade of the memorial, and on August 17 Schumann and Hugh McDonald will perform the famous song in the Hall of Memory to a group of 100 invited Vietnam veterans.
Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson said while the world huddled around television sets on July 21, 1969, as man first stepped on to the moon, the men of 3 Platoon, A Company, 6RAR/NZ were being deployed in Operation Mundingburra on the approaches to the mine-infested Long Hai hills of Phuoc Tuy province.
“Shortly before the word came over the radio that the Yanks had landed on the moon, these men found themselves in the middle of one of the bloodiest mine incidents of the Vietnam War,” Dr Nelson said.
“John’s song, based on this incident, has become the anthem for all Australia’s Vietnam veterans.
“Occasionally an artist writes and produces a song which changes the nation – and this is exactly what I Was Only 19 did.
“It did so much more than tell the story of 3 Platoon – his beautifully crafted song helped bring thousands of veterans finally home.
“Equally importantly, it sparked understanding and empathy across the rest of the nation.”
John was delighted to consign the guitar to one of Australia’s most important national institutions.
“While I have great affection for this instrument, for reasons which everyone will understand, it really belongs here at the memorial,” he said.
The personal accounts of Vietnam veterans helped inform the song’s lyrics. “I think 19 put PTSD (post- traumatic stress disorder) into the national conversation.
“When I started to meet a lot of veterans and the veterans’ organisations, they started to explain to me about post- traumatic stress disorder and I became quite interested in it.”
John has since worked with veterans organisations and mental health groups to raise awareness of the issue. “I’ve done a project for the Mental Health Directorate for the ADF to destigmatise and alert young diggers to PTSD, and the fact that it’s an honourable battle wound.
“They need to put their hand up and not bury it because that’s when it gets really nasty.” Long Tan was Australia’s most costly single battle in Vietnam, with 18 men dying as a result of the battle and 24 others wounded. John said the song had an even broader resonance.
“I think I Was Only 19 was a device that helped Australia stop and think ‘Hey, we didn't do right by those boys and we really need to have a good, hard look at them and an even harder look at ourselves’.
“For the younger ones who haven't really quite come to terms with the Vietnam War and what it meant to us as a society, I hope it's a doorway in.’’
John will also record a personal oral history for the memorial.