‘Lost’ 2nd D&E Platoon Recognised

2nd D&E Platoon, originally uploaded by vvfact.

Family, friends, and veterans of the Vietnam War

As many of you know, for the best part of 39 years, I have battled to have the official histories of the Vietnam War changed to include the 2nd D&E Platoon. This was an ‘ad hoc’ platoon made up of 39 regular soldiers left behind when the 4th Battalion went home. I was one of them. It existed for just 6 weeks – but in that time had significant contacts with the Viet Cong, including the major ambush at Thua Thich on the 29th May 1969. All in all, it is estimated that this platoon killed as many as 50 Viet Cong in that short space of time – more than most ordinary infantry platoons operating within battalions achieved in 12 months.

However, the 2nd D&E Platoon was never officially recorded in any war diaries, and all credit for its achievements were attributed to another D&E Platoon under the command of a Lt Ray Woolan.

In telling this story all these years, I have been caled a “liar” a “bullshitter” and worse, by many people. Certain veterans, in particular, have castigated me about it. (These include Normie Rowe; Bob Buick, and Keith Tennant – men with some influence, or so they think.)

In recent years, other veterans from the same 2nd D&E Platoon have joined with me in proving the existence and achievements of that platoon, and they too, have met with fierce opposition and derision from fellow veterans.

But yesterday, at Parliament House in Canberra, five of us met with The Hon Mike Kelly MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support, and after extensive investigations, he has formally acknowledged the existence of the 2nd D&E Platoon, and is in the process of ensuring that it is correctly recorded in all the historical accounts, along with its membership, leadership, and the historical record of its actions against the enemy.

(Now might I ask you to read the Press Release AT

http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/kelly/media.cfm

before I continue.

It’s fair to say that we are ecstactic about this – such a triumph after 39 years, and more than 30 years of battling the fortress-like bureaucracies of the Australian War Memorial and the Australian military.

I am mindful of the words of (Brig) George Mansford AM who advised me to not let my bitterness show towards those who created this travesty, but I can’t hold back against those who poured scorn on our attempts to validate this platoon, and on the character of some of us.

Now For Round Two…

To all and sundry, let me make this clear as well, this is only the first victory – now we pursue the true story behind this outrage – and we do it because our platoon commander of the day – Corporal James B. Riddle lies paralysed, stricken by strokes, while successive governments have played games with him.

Here is a man who served longer in Vietnam than any other man (some 900 days) yet, after going home to England, had to battle with recalcitrant Immigration bureaucrats in Australia to let him back in. They locked him out long enough so that he failed to qualify for the full TPI war pension – a fact that should be a national outrage as well.

As well as fighting for Jim Riddle, what we want now, are answers….

• Was there a deliberate cover-up of events at Thua Thich on the 30th May 1969 that resulted in the service records of 39 men being corrupted?
• Was there a meeting of certain officers in early June (out in the jungle, away from prying eyes) that determined who was going to get the next gallantry medal?
• Were photographs within the AWM collections falsified to guarantee the platoon commander of another platoon would claim the glory for the actions of the 2nd D&E Platoon?
• Have certain photographs in the Impressions Magazine been falsified to lend credence to the ‘gallantry award’ given to a particular officer?
• Why was James B. Riddle denied a gallantry medal after being promised one on two occasions?
• What happened to the bodies after Thua Thich?
• What else happened on Route 328 on the way to Xuyen Moc?
• What was the purpose of the Major Pound Enquiry of 1976 into certain allegations at Thua Thich when NOT ONE PERSON from the 2nd D&E Platoon, nor any trooper, nor the OC of the combined force got called to give evidence?

And so on… the new fight begins!

What I will call for now, is exactly what Normie Rowe called for in 1987 when he rubbished my claims about this platoon – a Royal Commisssion into the corruption of historical documents, the embellishment of gallantry claims, and the whys and wherefores as to why all traces of the 2nd D&E Platoon were erased.

- Don Tate