Chester Borrows: Remembering the war we tried to forget

Chester Borrows PHOTO/FILE

To my shame I was confronted with another example of my almost complete ignorance on a slice of New Zealand history - this time with respect to the Vietnam War.

This was revealed last week when I was asked to attend the 50th commemoration of the war in Canberra on behalf of Minister of Veterans Affairs Craig Foss and the New Zealand Government.

The occasion was the anniversary of the Battle for Long Tan which was largely an Australian engagement with the North Vietnamese although some New Zealanders gave technical and artillery support. New Zealand uses this date to commemorate the war itself.

As I listened to the speeches and the recollections of the 35 veterans from New Zealand who made up our contingent, I realised how little I knew of our country's involvement. I can't name a significant battle, and my recollections revolve around black-and-white television footage from the days when I was a child at primary school. Nobody talked about it much.

To their complete insult, the returning servicemen and women were shunned by the government and the RSA - there was almost snobbery from the returned soldiers from the First and Second World Wars.

Vietnam vets were given no acknowledgement and pretty much told to come home and get on with life. "Don't talk about what you've done, where you have been or what you've seen."

There was no service medal until 2008. It seemed with hindsight that the anti-war protest movement was celebrated far more than those who fought, and the 37 Kiwis who died in Vietnam.

We now have a call for the repatriation of war dead who now lie in non-Commonwealth graves in southeast Asia.

The quandary for the government is that some families want their loved ones home, while others want them to rest in peace. A lack of embalming at the time means that having much to return in some instances is questionable.

The previous concerns over access for those visiting and upkeep of the graves to a respectful level have been mitigated over time by the contracting to locals to maintain the cemeteries and the posting of a New Zealand representative in Malaya to facilitate visits.

So access is assured and recent photographs of gravesites show well maintained memorials.

Successive New Zealand governments have decided not to repatriate the 109 dead from nine countries for fear of initiating a floodgate precedent-setting situation where those from other conflicts would also be required to be repatriated. It is a sensitive situation especially for family and fellow servicemen, and will remain touchy for some time to come.

At a time when we are called upon to remember and be educated on the New Zealand Land Wars in our own backyard, we also have a duty to be educated on our war history in other places we chose at the time to forget.

These men gave their lives so that we can enjoy a way of life with a relatively clear conscience. We shouldn't forget the debt we owe those who fought on our behalf.

By way of postscript, it was poignant to note that the war memorial in Canberra sits at the opposite end of a long avenue from the federal parliament buildings. You can see the memorial from the cabinet room, reminding ministers that the decisions they make around the table have a lasting impact on the population they govern sometimes with devastating results - a good point for any politician to remember.

And all the people said: "Lest we forget."