Well I did see the President/CEO (or whatever he is called?) from the RSL and he was very careful in choosing his words regarding Woolworths ... as apparently Woolworths (along with other companies) make mega donations to the RSL and in even more lately to help with the rehabilitation of troops returning from the Middle East.

IMO it was possibly some "younger generational" person in their advertising department (or agency if they outsource their advertising?) who came up with the poster idea? - bear in mind also - Woolworth executives have to "OK" anything and everything regarding their advertising.

Whilst probably not "diplomatic" I think it possibly offended the "older generation" more as Australia in general seems to be pretty "divided" and mid-morning the "media stats" were sitting about 50/50 regarding people's opinions.  Woolworth's are not the first multi-corporation to make a "boo boo" such as this and probably won't be the last!

Abby - you are pretty correct - in fact I thought it could have been even later than 1987? ....but you usually get your facts right!  :-)

The Viet. Vets. have been treated appallingly and still are to this day!  Young men aged 19/20 years of age were sent to Vietnam and if I recall it was not by choice - didn't they have the "marble in the barrel" type call-up??  These young men were pulled out of Universities/Apprenticeships etc. to go to a war that basically no-one in Australia - thought Australia should have been involved in!

All I know is they have a reunion every year and most of them are turning 70 this year.  My dearest friends just returned from the most recent reunion which was held in Sydney just a couple of weeks ago.  These men have formed amazing friendships/bonds since Vietnam - but - one of the weirdest things is - NO ONE will ever talk about what "went on" in Vietnam?? An  unnecessary war and always brushed "under the carpet"!!

There were Moratoriums held in Melb.  (and across Australia!)- people rallied over it -  protesters got violent over it - and conscientious "objectors" were sent to jail !!

When the Vietnam guys returned and marched through the major cities they were "boo'ed" - jeered at - spat on - people burnt flags etc. -  simply terrible!

For years and years - the Govt. never acknowledged them either and they sent them there!!! Upon return they had trouble accessing Govt. payments they were entitled to....and it was only a few years ago my friend's husband was granted his Viet. Vets. Gold Card!!  He had to fight tooth and nail for many years to get that approved - and - he deserved it!!  Agent Orange (I think it was called that?? ) almost destroyed him health-wise!!   Disgusting!!!!

Not one of Australia's "nicer" times that's for sure!  BTW Abby my friend does not march on Anzac Day and there are plenty who don't/won't!  It is sad for your brother and all the guys who no-one seems to care about!  It was one of the Australian Governments biggest blunder's!!! (If not - the biggest!) just my opinion ......................

Foxy

You raise some interesting points. I had not considered what happened to apprentices but uni students got deferred. It was a ballot and if your number came up ( birth date ) you were in. I was already married at the time with a baby boy and wife and was releived when my number was not called.

I believe you are correct about the govt and RSL giving the returned soldiers the cold shoulder. I do not recall any incidents of spitting or booing directed at the soldiers. Why would anyone do such a thing when they had no say in being drafted or deployed ? Nobody I knew felt that way about them and I certainly did not as it could have been me sent abroad if called up.

Those moratoriums were massive in Melbourne.

Yes, Foxy, I am aware of some of the public abuse handed out to returning soldiers from Vietnam ... such as calling them "baby killers" (etc).

 There was one disgusting incident when red paint was thrown at them.

yesss - Twila - thank you for the reminder - I had forgtten about the "red paint" incidents!  Revolting!

Sorry Seth - I think you are very wrong?  These kids DID NOT volunteer - it was a "barrel draw - numbered marbles" " Seth!  Designated by the Government! 

I recently watched "The last days of Vietnam" on SBS - couple of weeks ago - went for 3 hours - what I learnt about it was simply astonishing!  Astonishing!  I had no idea that the "yanks" had such empathy for the South Koreans and their families -  and -  in some cases - the yanks -  put their own lives at risk to save the South Koreans!! It was an amazing Doco. Amazing!

The "yanks" saved 130,000 South Vietnamese from certain death from the North Koreans!  They (the yanks) had naval ships off the coast as the North Koreans were entering .....helicopters - flown by Americans and South Koreans - were loading people/families onboard as fast as they could - dropping them off onto American Naval destroyers/aircraft carriers etc. - they could not cope with all the helicopters landing on their ships - they were taking up too much space -  so they devised a plan that when a helicopter landed - they got the families off - and then tipped the helicopter into the sea -  ('cause they had no space for all the helicopters landing on their ships) The number of helicopters tipped into the sea - had to be seen to be believed!i

Some of the highest ranking U.S. Officials who had been in Vietnam for a long time and were totally against the war  - put their lives on the line to save the terrified South Koreans and their families and put them on the 'copters first! Unbelievable!

I never knew that?

 Foxy I think you will find that the 'marble draw'was about who will be called up. it was not about serving in Vietnam, Did you know Australia during the 2nd world war, had three armies? of which only one could serve in other than Aust. Man.Terri.

Seth,

Just had a read to refresh my memory.

The marble draw as you say was to select those for service in the Army etc.

When it came to the Vietnam side of things it would appear that conscripts could be sent but they had a choice and it eventuated that virtually all conscripts that went to Vietnam were volunteers though possibly pressured to volunteer. According to the article they had for the most time more volunteers than they required.

Take it easy.

SD

Thought it was a marble draw with each marble representing two birth dates but to be honest had never actually thought about the actual details surrounding my brother's call up,  basically just thought his birth date had been pulled out of a barrel, he was physically fit, and had to go....

However do recall it being a seriously dramatic day in the life of the family, with my teetotal mother being incredibly upset, drinking a bottle of beer, downing tools, and taking to her bed for the day....Which in the mid 1960s seemed pretty dramatic given most mothers, machine-like,  seemed to be on deck 24/7 and rarely went on the blink, and even though still only a child at the time sensed  this was worry on a grand scale for families at the time....

SD the army always has a way of persuading young bloods to volunteer whereas if they {YBs} knew the truth they would get no one.

With the national service call ups their cunning method was to show these young 20yr olds,{who thought themselves indestructable} and wide open for the scam.

They were shown films where the infantry and combat units were shown in colour to enhance and make to be adventurous, the other training films were in black and white.

The day my son reorted I took him there and waited until the buses taking them to pucka left, I felt so heavy in the heart knowing what could eventuate if he never did what I had instructed him to do.

Nice!  Just shows there are some really decent people around!   :-)

Foxy,

Didn't think your post was off topic and actually found the info regarding postwar London, bomb shelters, and blacked out windows pretty interesting.

Re:  Top Viet War Hits -  To be honest none of those you listed ring any bells with me.   Think I'm sort of thinking along the lines of 'Eve of Destruction', 'Give Peace a Chance' from John and Yoko's 'Bed In' stint, 'Blowing in the Wind, Bob Dylan even 'Smiley' by Australia's Ronnie Burns etc.

  But mostly on a personal level and has no connection to war 'Opus 17' by Franki Valli and the Four Seasons because it was the song my brother played lots on his return from Vietnam...no idea why.

  But I guess there's a sort of soundtrack to most wars of the 20th century be it  'Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag' from World War 1 or Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' from World War 2 they all sort of stir the memory bank...

Shetso - just had a quick Google purely out of interest and you were correct.   It was called the "birthday ballot"....and it was Menzies that brought in conscription and subsequently sent 19,450 new conscripts purely to fight in the Vietnam War!  Conscription was abolished by the Labour Govt. in 1972 (there's a lot of interesting reading if you ever get some spare time  :-)

Cats

Sometimes they sell their loot in second hand shops ... might be worthwhile checking them out ???? ...if there should be a lot cheaper than at the PO.

Three Anzac branded items from a range developed by Camp Gallipoli have been pulled from shelves at Target after Minister for Veterans Affairs Michael Ronaldson deemed they had breached conditions of a permit the organisation has to sell the merchandise.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/anzac-merchandise-controversy-charity-chief-hits-back-at-social-media-snipers-20150417-1mne13.html

Foxy

wiki

The term Anzac is protected under Australian law and cannot be used in Australia without permission from the Minister for Veterans' Affairs;[6] misuse can be legally enforced particularly for commercial purposes. Likewise similar restrictions on naming[7] are enshrined in New Zealand law[8] where the Governor General can elect to enforce naming legislation. There is a general exemption granted for Anzac biscuits, as long as these biscuits remain basically true to the original recipe and are both referred to and sold as Anzac biscuits and never as cookies.[6]

This restriction resulted in the Subway chain of restaurants dropping the biscuit from their menu in September 2008. After being ordered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs to bake the biscuits according to the original recipe, Subway decided not to continue to offer the biscuit, as they found that their supplier was unable to develop a cost-effective means of duplicating the recipe.[9]

......keep this up Geo and you will become as boring as Pete! lol lol - just teasing the both of you ....... xoxo   :-)

No probs Foxy