By Trevor
Magrath
It
was a mild autumn evening around Easter so my wife,
Pam and I decided to have dinner on our back deck
with our daughter and her boyfriend. Just as we
started our meal the phone rang. My immediate
thought was 'another bloody survey' so I'll just let
it go to the answering machine. However, my
conscience got the better of me and, as it's usually
my job in the family to get rid of nuisance callers,
I eventually decided to answer it.
The caller identified me by name and asked how I was
and received the usual disinterested and somewhat
abrupt "good". Then he identified himself and I
still remained sceptical as the name meant nothing
to me at the time. It was the following that simply
blew me away.
The caller's next question was to ask whether I
served in the Armed Forces, which aroused some
interest, but I was still suspicious of the caller's
motives. He then went on to ask me if I served in
Vietnam, which I found intriguing, particularly
after he mentioned the years of 1969/70 when I had
served.
By now, my total attention was focused on what would
follow these probing questions because surely no
sales company would dig that far back for personal
information even though these days, despite privacy
regulations, they seem to know so much about us. By
this time I had totally forgotten my empty stomach
and was fully embroiled in the call and the mystique
it provided as to where it was heading. The caller,
Steve Howe, was then able to quote my rank, serial
number and date of birth all of which were accurate.
He revealed that one of my dog tags had been found
in Vietnam and he was helping to trace its owner.
I was momentarily speechless, which doesn't happen
often, as I had lost one of my tags when serving for
5RAR (second tour) but wasn't certain exactly how or
where - I had a recollection it was during a night
patrol, some kilometres from Nui Dat. It was never
found so a replacement was provided. Rather than use
the green hutchie cord allocated, I chose to wear my
dog tags on a cheap American chain along with a
'Peace-Ban the Bomb' symbol so it's no wonder it
broke when I think about it now. The replacement tag
provided was quite inferior in quality, made from a
much softer metal, probably tin, and simply engraved
rather than embossed on what seemed to be a brass
plate originally. It never really had the same
significance to me but I wore it as directed just in
case I was KIA when one tag would stay with my body
and the other would be returned to my NOK.
Fortunately that didn't happen and I am here to tell
this story. As to the prospect of my "missing dog
tag" being found after 38 years I must say I was
totally stoked and couldn't wait to have it back in
my possession.
Steve explained that he was too young for the
Vietnam War but has a keen interest in it and had
just returned from a tour. It was during this tour
that somehow he met Aussie, Al Davis, who many know
runs the Ned Kelly Eureka Pub at Vung Tau with his
wife, Anh who listed on his website that my tag and
a full set of another soldier's tags had been found.
Steve took it upon himself to attempt to locate both
of us by telephone and steer us towards their
recovery. After six calls, he was able to locate the
other guy and tracked me down on the second call
attempt.
I quickly got on to Al's website, confirmed the
finding and couldn't wait to get that tag back in my
possession but it was a matter of how to do this
without loss or damage in transit. Pam and I had
only returned from a tour of Vietnam late last year
(first time back in 38 years and what great therapy
it was) and were already planning our next trip in
2008 but I knew I couldn't wait until then. We made
some great friends with the Vietnamese people while
we were there so I thought perhaps I could get one
of them to collect and hold them for me until I
return but again I was too eager for that.
Al put all these ideas quickly to rest when he
informed me by email that the tags had already left
Vietnam with an ex Viet Vet from WA, Owen "Obie"
Evans (6RAR second tour). It seems Owen and two
mates, David Roach (110 Sig Sqn) and Les Dienhoff (3
RAR second tour) were touring around their old
stomping grounds in Nui Dat on motorbikes in
February when approached by a couple of local
Vietnamese kids seeking money, one with an old metal
detector and the other with an old entrenching tool
and my partial dog tag. My tag was purchased for
about AUD1-80. There was literally no English spoken
by either boy but they managed to sign language them
over to the house situated near the old airstrip and
produced the second full set of dog tags on hootchie
cord for Paul Conboy (7RAR) which were also bought
for a little over AUD4-00 - a great days trading for
the kids and an even better discovery for Paul and
I.
I exchanged emails with Owen and within days my tag
arrived by registered mail all packaged up. There
was much excitement as I opened the package to find
the partial remains of my original dog tag - in
three pieces and may have been subjected to fire at
some stage but still containing sufficient
information to decipher my details. As you can
imagine, I was, and still am, ecstatic at having it
back after so long. Because of the constant need to
wear dog tags, its loss was almost like losing part
of ME and now recovering it nearly 40 years later,
when I never gave any hope of this ever happening.
The one single reminder I had of its absence for so
long came from a frame my wife gave me as a very
special surprise 25th wedding anniversary gift (even
that seems and probably is a long time ago) - a
mounting of all my Army memorabilia including
medals, two dog tags (the original and the
"imitation", Peace symbol, Discharge Certificate,
even a photo of me lying in a hammock under the
rubber trees in our base camp at Nui Dat. This is
something I really treasure and will now be complete
once I add the genuine dog tag to the mounting. I
have even been provided with some green hootchie
cord by a current Army mate to 'tie' off all loose
ends so to speak.
I am truly indebted and grateful to Owen, Les and
David for their efforts in recognizing the
sentimental value and returning it to me and also to
Al Davis and particularly Steve Howe (whose contact
details I unfortunately never obtained) for the
roles they played in this recovery. Next year, when
we return to Vietnam I may venture back to Nui Dat
again to track down these kids to hear their piece
of this puzzle and possibly make similar purchases
to fulfill the lives of other Vietnam Veterans' as it
has for me.
These days I must say I am far more receptive to
receiving telephone calls at dinner-time as you never
know where it may lead!!!
Regards,
Trevor Magrath
5RAR 2nd Tour
Support Company & BHQ
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