Australia Veterans Support and Advocacy Service

Unsung heroes
18 Aug 10
By Judith Maizey

TURN the pages of veteran Gaven Thurlow’s old photo album and you won’t find a single shot of him in Vietnam.

You will find a few photos of him as a young soldier in uniform, but as part of his recovery from post traumatic stress disorder, the 59-year-old from Jimboomba burnt all the Vietnam pictures.

``I just got rid of them all, I burnt them all individually,’’ he said.

Attached to 161 Independent Reece Flight as an observer on Sioux helicopters, Mr Thurlow was posted to Vietnam in 1971 from January 14 to December 24, based at Nui Dat.

With the rank of staff sergeant, he was medically discharged from the regular army 29 years later for a range of psychological and physical problems on a full service pension.

As co-founder of the Veterans Support and Advocacy Service Australia group in Jimboomba, Mr Thurlow said he used to talk to other veterans about his worst times in Vietnam, but he did not do that any more.
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Unsung heroes