by Nicholas Duck

The values of mateship and sticking by those who stick by you were the principles that guided local Vietnam veteran Alan Eade through his service - and continue to guide him to this day.

Alan and his family moved to Warragul when he was young, purchasing a farm and allowing Alan to attend Warragul Technical School.
A keen footballer, Alan was by his own admission not half bad at the sport.
"I wasn't a James Hird by any means but I played a bit of football and I enjoyed that," he says.
Like many people in their early 20s, Alan was conscripted. And like many who were conscripted, Alan wasn't overly happy about it.
"My father was more than angry about the whole thing, he didn't like it at all,
"Anyway we joined up with the army and made the best of it with what we had. We didn't resent it but we didn't love it either."
As if being signed up for service wasn't enough of a whirlwind for someone to deal with, Alan had something else complicating matters - young love.
Alan and his wife Pauline were married in 1969, six months after they began seeing one another. It meant the couple were separated for the early stages of their union when Alan headed off overseas.
"It was a bit of a worry to everyone concerned, especially my wife and myself. You're stuck over there and you don't know whether you're going to come back alright or not," Alan recalls.
Adding to that stress was the fact Alan's job as a panel beater was not going to be held over while he served. Essentially, he was fired.
Core training in Puckapunyal didn't take too much of an adjustment for Alan, and before long he was in Singleton learning how to be an infantryman.
Infantrymen in Vietnam primarily focused on ambushing the enemy, taking them by surprise and being on the frontline in the event of contact.
Joining his fellow infantrymen in 8RAR (8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment), Alan found his niche as a rifleman and later manning a machine gun - which he had to carry around every day.
Travelling to Vietnam at just 22, Alan was shocked when he saw the hundreds of American aircraft lined up over many kilometres. It was at that point where it all became real.
He was initially shipped off to replace two fallen soldiers in 8RAR. That replacement process was all encompassing too, as Alan inherited his uniform from them, all the way down to the boots.
"At the time it didn't worry me too much but looking back, wearing dead people's gear is probably horrendous to be honest."
Alan acknowledges he was luckier than many who made the same journey. He says while contact with the Viet Cong certainly occurred, it wasn't as often as it could have been.
Still, that doesn't mean it wasn't a challenge when it did happen.
"You sort of hope to God you don't have any contacts but if you did you just put your head down and bum up and hope for the best. It was quite frightening, no doubt about it," he says.
An incident with a sniper is one of the stories that stands out. Sitting with his mates at their camp enjoying a meal, one of Alan's countrymen was suddenly sent sprawling after an unseen gunman grazed his cheek with a bullet, marking the beginning of a conflict the Australians managed to get out of relatively unscathed.
At times it wasn't just the Viet Cong they had to worry about either. Alan recalls when an allied American chopper opened fire on them in what was a moment of terror and confusion.
"He fired first and asked questions later, but we survived that alright," he says.
A few things kept Alan going through all the conflict, one being the letters his wife sent from home.
"That's all we had to look forward to, there wasn't much else, that's for sure. I'd write as much as I could and she'd write most days, actually."
Another was less tangible, that being the good old fashioned idea of Australian mateship.
"It's a bit like when you play football, you have mates that you rely on. You rely on the people you work with and you hope that they do the right thing by you, which they do.
"They were all for one and one for all. What you read about is pretty much what it is. They are your mates and you stick by them. It's no different today."
Upon his return Alan and his wife enjoyed the chance to settle down as Alan readjusted to civilian life, working as a school bus driver for a time before returning to panel beating.
While he made the best of it, he says he would have liked to have seen more support for returned servicemen from the Australian government, especially after many Vietnam veterans were vilified when they arrived home.
Speaking candidly towards the end of his interview, Alan shows plenty of emotion as he gives gratitude to those most important in his life. "I'd just like to thank my family, in particular my three girls, for the support that I've had for many years. Without their support, I'd be rat shit."