I was only 19’: Classic Redgum song about Vietnam War PTSD

Brings back a lot of memories. My husband was only 19 in Vietnam. We met in 1982. That was when I started researching PTSD and what has become such a big part of my life. Just got a little weepy after finding the video of the song below so done posting for the day.

I was only 19’: Classic Redgum song about Vietnam War PTSD to be added to 'Sounds of Australia' collection 
International Business
By Alice Hennen
December 15 2015

Australian singer John Schumann performs for Vietnam War veterans from Australia at the greyhound in Vung Tau city, 100 km (62 miles) southeast of Ho Chi Minh city August 17, 2006. The veterans will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Long Tan battle, one of the bloodiest, if not biggest, battles Australia was involved in during the Vietnam War. Reuters/Kham

When folk band Redgum frontman John Schumann penned the classic, “I was only 19 (A walk in the light green)” in 1983, he was writing it for the soldiers who upon returning home, felt disconnected from civilian life and alienated by the government.

This song, written from the perspective of a soldier returned from the Vietnam War, has now been added to “Sounds of Australia”, a collection of historically, culturally and aesthetically significant sounds established by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

Schumann drew inspiration for the song from his brother-in-law, who served in Vietnam and was a member of the Vietnam Veterans’ Association of Australia.

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