|
 CHAPTER
6: OLD SALT AND SUPER GLUE
804520 Sergeant Denny KING,
RNZIR
1
Platoon, Whisky 3 Company
1969-70
Getting
Some Time Up
The platoon sergeant in
Vietnam was the ‘old hand’, the backbone of the team.
He was the senior soldier and usually the most experienced
in the platoon. He was like the glue that held the
whole thing together. I don’t mean to boast by saying
those things, but platoon commanders were often only about a
year out of their respective training establishments and
lacked the years of experience I had accumulated one way or
another and most of the soldiers had only been in the army
two or three years on average. Whereas the platoon
sergeants, like me, had done their time in the ranks, had
been section commanders, and had at least ten to twelve
years’ service behind them. Most of the sergeants in
Vietnam also had operational experience in Malaya and
Borneo.
Sergeant Denny
King’s claim to ‘old hand’ status was backed up by a service
career that began in 1960 in Hokitika on New Zealand’s West
Coast. He had been a candidate for army service two years
before, when he would have been due to be called up for
Compulsory Military Training (CMT). But, the second Labour
Government disbanded the national service scheme as part of its
election manifesto. Denis King was born in 1940 and saw
his father head off with 2NZEF for the Italian campaign in 1943.
He had a brother, Don, in the Navy and another, David, in the
Territorial Force (TF) as Company Sergeant Major (CSM) of the
local sub-unit in the late 1950's. His brief experience in
civilian employment just did not prove exciting enough, so he
enlisted in the army's regular force as soon as he was old
enough.
Within his first two years of service Denny completed his basic
and corps training and an instructor’s course. He was
promoted to Lance Corporal and was a section commander in
1961-62 with with what was then known as LTCOL Les Pearce’s
Battalion in Malaya. He found the training regime, which Pearce
and his senior staff had modelled on General Freyberg’s World
War II divisional training ideas, strenuous but rewarding
1.
The unit trained non-stop. Other units would go on leave;
but the Battalion would be either in the bush working on their
jungle training or participating in organised sports events.
They were fit too. The Kiwi Battalion won every sports
event going, rugby, tug ’o war, swimming…the lot. The
competition between them and their Australian and British rivals
was fierce. In Malaya the then CPL King contracted a severe
illness, acne vulgaris, which was to complicate his service in
South East Asia for many years. The condition was
exacerbated by carrying a heavy infantryman's pack, continual
perspiration in the tropical climate, wearing wet and dirty
clothing and not being able to to regularly wash the effected
area. He was repatriated in 1962 with a temporary medical
downgrade. The condition turned out to be worse than
anticipated and it took him five years, until 1967, to get back
up to full fitness.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 2NZEF
veterans included the Battalion 2ic and most Company Commanders,
the RSM, some CSM's and platoon sergeants. A large number of
veterans who had served in 'J' Force, 'K' Force and the Malayan
Emergency were also placed in training and leadership
appointments.
His journey back to a completely healthy state was certainly a
drawn out affair. He had to struggle to convince the
authorities that he could take his place in a combat unit again.
He used his love of sport as a means to reach peak fitness and
to show the Army why he should be medically regraded to
operational standard. He served as the cadre NCO in
Blenheim with the 2nd Battalion (The Canterbury, Nelson,
Marlborough, West Coast) Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment's
TF Company. Sergeant King played representative rugby for
Marlborough and Combined Services in his time there. The
highlights for him were taking the field against the 1965
Springboks and the 1966 Lions.
2
After that, the Army had to upgrade him and move him out of the
wilderness after five years.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2 Denny
King played for the Combined Unions Marlborough – Nelson –Golden
Bay – Motueka as a loose forward against these overseas teams.
The Combined teams lost both games: 6 – 45 vs. the 1965
Springboks and 14 – 22 vs. the 1966 Lions.
He became a Four-Star Instructor at the Battalion Depot in
Burnham in 1967-68 under the unit's Training Officer Warrant
Officer Class I Roly Manning (a former member of 1NZ
Regiment1961-63. King was part of a special training team
that Manning had assembled (predominantly NCOs' from 1 NZ
Regiment 1961-63) to prepare soldiers and NCOs for operations
overseas. In November 1968 Sergeant King was posted back
to Terendak Garrison in Malaysia with his family – he had
married Jeanette, a childhood sweetheart from the Coast in 1963.
They had two children by the time King was called forward to
serve in Vietnam in 1969.
It was the intense training programme that the Kiwi infantry
units in Burnham and Malaysia went through that best equipped
Denny King to become a knowledgeable and experienced NCO.
His personal training and preparation for Vietnam was enhanced
in the training units by being able to rub shoulders with
veterans of the early companies that had deployed to Vietnam by
the end of 1968.
I was able to benefit
greatly by this contact with these experienced soldiers.
I took every opportunity to pick their brains on all kinds
of subjects and down to the finest detail. I would ask
them what operational issues were different in Vietnam from
what we had done in Malaya back in 1961-62. For
example, I learned that while personal weapons had to be
meticulously cleaned in Vietnam, they should not be
over-oiled because of the dusty conditions in the dry
season. I also discovered a shift-up in the size of
operational organisation that the infantry would run in the
field. In Malaya the basic organisation was
undoubtedly the section; small six to ten man patrols formed
the best fighting package to take on the CT (Communist
Terrorists). We learned that, in Vietnam, the optimum size
had become the platoon operating within a fully deployed
company. The contact reports and after-action
summaries that we received from the units in Vietnam told us
this sort of thing. So that is how we structured our
training.
On his return to Malaysia in 1968, and during the frequent
training exercises he was involved in, his acne condition
returned. He realised that he required assistance to
manage the condition, and needed something to keep the pores of
his skin unclogged. Largely on his own initiative, he
acquired a container of solution, similar to liquid soap, and
with assistance from his radio operator, applied this regularly
to the affected area. This regular washing routine
continued ion Vietnam, and was successful in keeping the
condition under control.
Before he arrived in Vietnam with Whiskey 3 Company (W3),
Sergeant King had reached some important decisions about his
role. Because of his length of service and experience in the
ways of the army, and because he had received all the training
in operational skills at the tactical level, he felt that he had
to accept some responsibility for leadership of those junior to
him in rank and to provide unstinting support for the commanders
more senior to himself. In the platoon setting he saw
himself as the glue that held it all together. He was
responsible for mixing and setting the resin that was composed
of four interconnected elements:
Morale, standards and discipline
As platoon sergeant I
was well placed to sense and react to the feelings and moods
of the troops. We could lay down the standards of
behaviour and job performance expected of the members of the
platoon, but it was up to the individual soldiers themselves
to take ownership of their special role and to do it to the
best of their ability. It was not so much a matter of
discipline within the platoon but one of self-discipline on
the part of each person. I did not have to do much to
monitor the behaviour or performance because they knew when
things were not going right and their mates certainly told
them. But I had to make sure there was back up for any
individual in case he was taken out of action. So we
crossed trained all members of the sections to do each
other’s jobs as well. To keep morale, standards and
discipline at high levels all we had to do was to encourage
soldiers to be mature, to learn and to make every day’s
performance better than the one before.
Security of the Platoon.
On
operations, especially when we were in contact with the
enemy, my role was always to keep an eye on things from the
rear and to watch our tail. The platoon commander,
quite rightly, was usually concerned with what was going on
up front and with other things like fire support. But
I was always alert to the fact that the most dangerous time
for the platoon was in the aftermath of contact with the
enemy; when there was a tendency for soldiers to let their
attention stray towards the sound of action rather than pay
attention to their own responsibilities. With
adrenalin levels running high we were most prone to lapses
in security; it was my task to ensure that those lapses did
not occur. My approach was to ensure we consolidated
our position first then moved back to the normal routine
gradually. I was usually on to people all the time.
I made sure they checked their weapons, and that they were
aware of the situation around them. I would usually be
in charge of conducting the sweep to secure our position
after any contact. That usually involved collecting
bodies, seeing to the wounded and gathering up prisoners,
captured equipment and documents. This was a dangerous time
and the platoon commander and I carefully coordinated what
was going on. Sentries had to be posted, claymore
mines rearmed and every single soldier had to know what was
going on.
Logistics and
Administration.
If the
platoon ever ran out of resources with which to fight, we
were going to be defeated in battle. It was my job to
ensure that the resupply system ran like clockwork on its
three to five day cycle. So I ordered ammunition,
rations, water and equipment, as they were required. I
simply consolidated the demands from the sections and sent
them along to the company sergeant major (CSM) at company
HQ. I then had to distribute the supplies once they
had been delivered. I had to arrange the evacuation
and replacement of manpower. Some men would depart for
and return from leave, others would need medical attention.
Then, there were things like mail, fresh rations and small
luxuries (clean clothes, cigarettes, toiletries, etc) that
helped keep the troops happy in the field. Our system
worked like a charm and its success was largely due to the
reliability and efficiency of air transport services.
We had the freedom of the skies in Vietnam and the
maintenance demand (maintdem), operational demand (opdem)
and casualty evacuation (casevac) services were used to
maximum effect. It was the urgent deliveries that were
most critical and the high standard of service never
wavered. If we lost a radio in a contact a helicopter
would appear over the trees and a new one would be lowered
onto the smoke marker. We could not have asked for
better.
Battle Second in Command
(2IC).
Above
all else, as platoon sergeant, I had to be ready to step in
to command the platoon should anything untoward happen to
the platoon commander (the boss). I felt the weight of
this responsibility greatly because, to be able to take his
place effectively, I really needed to be aware of everything
he thought, saw and did. I maintained my awareness by
backing him up continually; I was part of the navigation
checking team so I always knew where we were. I
attended all the O (orders) groups so I knew what he had
told the sections and the mortar fire controller.
After he had sited the guns and claymores in defensive
positions, it was my job to check every one and to look
after the detail. The personal and professional
relationship between the Lieutenant and me, the sergeant,
was critical. I was fortunate indeed to have
cultivated a sound relationship with Lieutenant (LT) (Bill)
Blair from the outset. When he joined our platoon in
Malaysia he accepted my request not to make any changes for
a three-month period after assuming command; he looked,
evaluated and decided in full consultation with me.
That was a successful process for all of us. To his
credit he delegated me certain responsibilities and kept me
up to date so that I could take up the reins if required.
A Successful Mix
After the first contact that the platoon had in Vietnam, any
fears that Sergeant King might have held for the capabilities of
the company to which he belonged were dispelled. The
toughness of the competitive training in Malaysia and the
programme of inspired self-discipline all seemed to have paid
off. The platoon’s (and W3 Company’s) efforts were
rewarded in the best possible way; by the receipt of glowing
praise from their Australian Commanding Officer. His words
to the W3 Company Commander during an after-action wash-up were
relayed to the troops. He had said ‘ Well done, Major. The
standard of your soldiers in W3 is at the level that my soldiers
achieved after six months on operations. You have arrived
at that point’. These comments boosted the morale of No 1
Platoon and the members continued to strive for perfection.
Denny King noted some key indicators of excellence of their
performance in the facts that:
The platoon lost
not one soldier killed in action throughout the tour of
duty.
Soldiers’ personal discipline in health and hygiene procedures held up
well; No 1 Platoon suffered no casualties from malaria or
tinea pedis infections,
Platoon members continued to help each other out; some would volunteer to
relieve their mates of sentry duty on the Nui Dat perimeter,
others would share their water selflessly when supplies ran
low,
Any arguments, disagreements or unpleasantness were resolved in-house,
There were no offences within the unit related to the use of drugs,
There was only one accidental discharge of a weapon and that occurred
off-patrol and in a base area, and
Soldiers learned not to repeat mistakes that might endanger themselves or
their mates. (On one occasion in contact with the
enemy a section member threw a grenade in the direction of
the enemy in a heavily wooded area. The grenade bounced off
a tree and returned to the thrower’s position wounding one
soldier in the explosion. There were few, if any, grenades
thrown after that.)
After seven months as platoon commander 1 Platoon,
Lieutenant (LT) Blair was promoted to Captain and became W3
Coy 2ic and was replaced by LT Jim Cutler. The
outstanding leadership that Bill Blair displayed during his
tenure in charge was going to make it difficult for his
successor to continue at such a high level. The
platoon NCO's, realized that they still had a job to do for
a further five months and they had to maintain the same
level of professionalism that they had established.
They decided that they would have to work harder in their
respective roles whilst LT Cutler was coming to grips with
the complexities of being the boss of everything that
happens in a platoon on operations! To the credit of
all concerned everyone accepted the challenge and the
platoon performed well for the remainder of the tour.
At the completion of the tour of duty, W3 Company received
four gallantry awards for their service in Vietnam.
That two of the four awards went to 1 Platoon seemed just
reward for the members.
A Platoon
Sergeant’s View of a Contact with Charlie
The middle of the afternoon was a hot, sticky time of the day in
a Vietnamese jungle. Denny King sat out of the sun under
his half-shelter. He sipped his newly brewed tea from his
aluminium mug with the usual tentative kisses blown onto the rim
with a bottom lip scarred from previous scolding's. Even
brewing tea had a tactical dimension to it for the ever-alert
platoon sergeant; he had stirred the tea with a plastic spoon so
it would not rattle on the side of the mug and break the vow of
silence that the platoon maintained. The humidity did not deter
nature’s creatures from their routine pursuits. He
carefully eyed a patrol of red ants marching like storm troopers
up the trunk of a tree and hoped they would not mass for an
attack on his cosy spot. He had already shooed off a
banded crate and a scorpion that had gatecrashed his picnic.
He was trying to complete his maintdem signal in his green field
notebook. It was a peaceful moment and he was able to
reflect on the fact that after five weeks in the jungle on
operations they had yet to experience any contact with the
enemy. Had they all left the area?
Mid-afternoon was not known as a time for serious engagements
with the enemy. But then, that is the fog of war in
action; the enemy will turn up when least expected. As
guardian of platoon security Denny was confident that their
position was safe enough from intrusion. Preparations for
the night were well advanced. The platoon ambush had been
set at the junction of two streams; Mr Blair had marked out the
gun pits and support positions and Denny had followed up with
his usual checks of the fine points. The troops were keen
and awake to the chance of a contact that evening.
It was at this point that things started to go wrong. One
of the platoon sentries had reported that some soldiers from
Company Headquarters (attached to No 1 Platoon for the time
being) had gone outside the perimeter and down the hill to fill
their water bottles. This was an absolute No! No!
The platoon commander went to fetch them back and Sergeant King
quickly warned the other soldiers what was going on. To be
outside a platoon perimeter in Vietnam was extremely dangerous
and some soldiers had already learned that lesson the hard way.
Things began to happen very quickly. LT Blair had reached
the spot where the errant water gatherers were and was
frantically trying to attract their attention, (as quietly as
possible). However, it was too late. To his dismay
he realised three enemy soldiers, armed with AK47s were entering
the water from the other bank. The enemy had noticed the
two soldiers with their water bottles and were set to open fire.
The sharp crack of rifle fire split the silence that the platoon
had lived with for five weeks. Fortunately, the fire was
from 1 Platoon's sentries who had spotted the the enemy and had
been tracking them for the last few minutes. Two enemy
were felled in the initial opening burst. A third enemy
soldier was hit but disappeared in the jungle near the waters
edge. Several actions happened at once. LT Blair and
his terrified water-gatherers made a dash back into the platoon
harbour. They all wondered who would shoot them first, the
enemy or their own men, as they attempted to rejoin the platoon
inside the safety of the perimeter cord. Sergeant King
meanwhile was endeavouring to control the platoons not
insignificant fire power. By this the time the machine
guns and grenade launchers had joined with the rifles in
sweeping the the platoon frontage. The bush was blue with smoke
, and the bitter taste of cordite hung in the air. Bits of
foliage flew from the vegetation as bullets cut their path into
the ambush zone. This was where SGT King's experience
told. He calmed the soldiers so their firing was directed
and effective. He exerted control over those initial
panicky reactions that are inevitable in a contact. In
minutes it was all over. SGT King took command of the
sweep of the ambush area. Two bodies of Vietcong soldiers,
plus their weapons an d equipment, were recovered. A third
body was discovered some days later by Australian tracker dogs
following up the incident. The platoon had undergone its
first action with the enemy and had emerged safe, sound and
triumphant. Needless to say no one slept very much that
night.
Out of the Line
Denny King discovered early in his tour of duty in Vietnam that
his job was not done once an operation was finished and the
platoon was back in Nui Dat. To the contrary, he found that the
week or so out of the line was a period of more work for him
rather than less. He found that, since the platoon
commander became intensely involved in other duties that he, as
the sergeant, virtually took over day-to-day command. He
held short administrative parades each morning then sent the
sections away under their corporals’ directions to ready
themselves for the next foray. The No 1 Platoon routine
included a complete reissue of ammunition including claymores.
Weapons were taken to the armourer for checking and adjusting
while boots and clothing were also exchanged. He had to
arrange for medical inspections to ensure freedom from infection
(FFI) was maintained. Any reinforcements who had arrived
had to be trained and they spent hours at a time on the range
preparing their weapons and learning the drills.
One of the first events after an operation for W3 was the
company barbeque. After a shower and a change of clothing
for everyone, the company assembled before a quarter-ton trailer
full of ice and beer while the cooks prepared sizzling steaks on
a grill. There was much noise, joshing of those whose
minor misdemeanours made headlines, sharing of jokes and songs
to the standard guitar accompaniment. Revelry might have
lasted well into the night, but the next morning it was parade
again and back to work.
One of the first events after an operation for W3 was the
company barbeque. After a shower and and a change of clothing
for everyone, the company assembled before a quarter-ton trailer
full o f ice and beer while the cooks prepared sizzling steaks
on a grill. There was much noise, joshing of those whose minor
misdemeanours made headlines, sharing of jokes and songs to the
standard guitar accompaniment. Revelry might have lasted well
into the night, but the next morning it was parade again and
back to work.
Occasionally there would be an extended period of leave and
recreation taken at the leave centre in Vung Tau. These
were times when there would be serious mischief, if any
mischief was to occur. The most common offence for 1
Platoon was that a soldier might be late returning to the truck;
he would be charged and might have to serve a field punishment.
Lesser offences might have resulted from some form of frivolous
insubordination or from over-indulgence. Denny King
recalled one such instance involving his soldiers and a senior
Australian warrant officer at Vung Tau.
We
arrived at the Badcoe Club down at Vung Tau. This
Aussie Warrant Officer PTI briefed the boys. He was
dressed in spotless white T-Shirt with a red band around the
neck, ironed white shorts with pockets in them and sandshoes
whiter than a virgin bride. He was an arrogant s.o.b.
and he did not like Kiwis. He gave them the ‘rewles of
the Pewl’ (rules of the Swimming Pool) as if they were
kindergarten kids.
‘No.1. Swimmers must shower before entering the pool.
No.2. Bathers must be worn at all times.
No.3. No swimming after 1900 or before 0800.
No.4. Swimmers must not enter the pool under the influence
of alcohol.
No.5. No bombing off the board or skylarking.’
I just knew, in the light of this provocative talk, that
something was going to happen. It did! That
night…very late…well, after 1900 hours, every Kiwi who came
back to the Peter Badcoe Club, pissed as a chook,
belly-flopped into the swimming pool, fully clothed,
unshowered and swam to the other side before retiring to his
bunk. One actually bombed off the diving board, in the
nude, holding a can of Fosters at midnight! I had to
turn a ‘blind’ eye to all this, because my own vision had
become somewhat blurred by that time.!
So, it seems
that even the strongest glue can come unstuck albeit on the
rarest of occasions. But the inability to supervise late
night swimming activities probably did not come within the scope
of any of the infantry courses completed by Sergeant King that
were devised to prepare him for Vietnam service. If this
NCO was ever to be judged on his overall performance in his role
as Platoon Sergeant 1 Platoon, W3, then the judgements would
rightly have to be made by those who knew him best, his troops.
He trained them, selected them, fed them, armed them, checked
their feet, and cared for them. If they were down he
encouraged them. If they erred he corrected them. He
knew what they needed even before they did. He had been
where they were going and he had done what they were about to
do. He understood. After all, he was the backbone of
the infantry platoon. This combination had been successful
for generations of soldiering and it was no different in the war
in Vietnam.
LT Bill Blair
and SGT Denny King had much in common personally, and they
established a sound and successful working relationship within 1
Platoon, W3 Company, in the ANZAC Battalions. It helped
that both of them were West Coasters. They were delighted
when they discovered that Denny was Hokitika born and bred, and
Bill was a Reefton man. Both their fathers had served in
2NZEF in North Africa and Italy. It turned out that both
had joined the Army as teenagers, had married hometown
girlfriends, and both were determined that their platoon would
be successful.
Bill Blair and Denny met infrequently during their service after
Vietnam. They did not server together again until Bill was
appointed Commanding Officer of Burnham Camp, where Denny was
completing his final year in the Army prior to discharge.
They were, however, invited to make presentations, based on
their experiences in Vietnam to selected groups. During
the 1980's, they travelled to Waiouru for the annual Platoon
Commanders/Platoon Sergeants Courses. Before each
Battalions deployment to East Timor in the early 1990's, they
spent time with each Company's command staff making similar.
On these occasions, they also included George Preston, a former
section commander with 3 Platoon, W3.
Aftermath
Denny King had nothing but praise and gratitude for the Army
after Vietnam. He served on for a full NCO career until
his retiring age for rank and reached all his personal goals.
He attained the rank of Warrant Officer Class I and held the
following appointments:
1978 - 80 RSM, 5th (Wellington, West Coast, Taranaki)
Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
1980 - 82 RSM, Army Schools, Waiouru
1982 - 84 RSM, 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry
Regiment, Singapore
1984 - 87 RSM, Burnham Military Camp
1986 (Apr-Nov) Training Warrant Officer, Multinational
Force and Observers, (MFO), Sinai
1987 - 90 Senior Instructor, Training Wing, 3 Task Force
Region
1985 - 90 Advisory Warrant Officer, 3 Task Force Region
(dual appointment)
1990 - 94 Warrant Officer (Territorial Force)
Instructor, Training Support Unit
He served as an
NCO on overseas tours of duty to South East Asia four times; to
Malaysia (twice), Singapore (twice), and once to the Middle
East, the Sinai. In New Zealand he was posted to Burnham
four times, Waiouru twice, Blenheim, Wanganui, and Christchurch.
He came to specialise in in the design of training courses for
NCO's in the Regular Force and for Territorials. Denny's
military service was recognised in in 1983 with the award of the
Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) and, again, in 1988 when he was
made a Member of the British Empire (MBE).
When he retired from the Army he was able to extend the training
knowledge that he had acquired in a career spanning 30 years to
his work as a civilian. He established a Training Activity
Centre with two former long serving NCO's, (ex WO1s) Jack Powley
and Manu Lee, and ran special courses under a government
sponsored training scheme for unemployed people. The
company was then contracted by the Army to write the highly
popular and successful Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) training
scheme that the Army conducted for youth volunteers. Denny
King and his colleagues found in the LSV scheme that the
principles they had used to care for, train and discipline their
men in combat were equally relevant to the civilian 'troops'
assigned to the programme. The LSV scheme conducted in
Burnham ran for more than fifteen years, the longest running of
any LSV programme in New Zealand.
Denny ventured more deeply into private enterprise for a couple
of years after the LSV course had been implemented as he and his
wife owned and operated an industrial takeaway in Christchurch.
Finally, for the ten years leading up to his retirement Denny
King was employed as a Training Officer for Canterbury Regional
Council Civil Defence. He was responsible for operational
readiness and providing courses and training for the Regional
and Christchurch City Council staff and volunteers on emergency
management. Denny formed a small Civil Defence Training
Team, comprising mainly former Army officers and NCO's, that
developed courses and conducted training activities for council
staff and community volunteers. They also introduced
regular exercises to simulate situations that could be expected
to happen during a major event. No major events had
occurred in Christchurch since the Waimakariri flooding of the
1950's. However minor events did occur and on those
occasions the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was activated
and staffed until the emergency was over. Selected
elements of the Civil Defence were mobilised to provide
assistance and support to Emergency Services and establish and
operate Civil Defence Welfare Centres. As had been done in
Vietnam, where Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) were
refined from the lessons learned, Civil Defence teams went
through a detailed debrief after each event.
Behind Every Good Man
In his nearly fifty years of working life, both inside and
out of the military, Denny King served in appointments which
required him to provide staunch support for those for whom he
worked. However, he acknowledged that none of that could
have been achieved without the pillars of strength behind him -
the members of his family.
Throughout my career, the support of my wife Jeanette was
magnificent. The nature of a soldier's job means long
periods of separation from the family, and we were no
exception. Jeanette knew, and accepted, that being
married to a soldier was going to be different to most
marriages, and encouraged me to achieve my goals.
Without her support, I would not have been able to devote
the time and effort I needed to qualify on courses, and to
put in the extra hours involved in many of the appointments
I held. Good military wives are exceptional people,
and I was fortunate to love and marry one. I have
always been most grateful for her love, loyalty,
encouragement and advice. My family lived in Singapore
for the duration of Whisky 3 Company's 12 month deployment
in Vietnam. At that stage, we had two pre-school
children. Jeanette and the other wives had no family
support, and relied on friends and neighbours for
assistance. The military support system was available
in the event of any serious situations, but most events the
wives dealt with themselves or with assistance from the
street warden. As with each long separation, my return
was exciting for all, but it brought problems that took time
to resolve. Decisions, purchases, children's
activities etc, had been made without my input, but then I
was back and wanted to be involved again; it was difficult,
but we got there eventually.
Our four children accompanied us on our postings to Malaysia
and Singapore, but the constant moving with postings did
make it difficult for them to establish normal
relationships, to make friends and to get to know their
extended family. They all became very adaptable individuals,
and successful in their adult lives. By 2008 Jane
became a registered nurse and gained 24 years experience in
nursing, including time at Burwood Hospital in the elective
orthopaedic surgical ward. Bruce worked with Gourock New
Zealand for twelve years; he became Manager - Marine,
responsible nation-wide for the manufacture, fitting and
selling of marine equipment for the commercial fishing
industry. Paul served as a regular force infantry
officer in the New Zealand Army, and undertook tours of duty
to Bougainville, East Timor and Afghanistan. Megan, too
established personal links with her fathers old profession.
She served for more than sixteen years in a non-uniform
appointment with the Canterbury Regiment, a Territorial
Force unit based in Burnham, where she became the
Administration Officer.
|