An established author is ensuring the stories of Australian veterans are not forgotten, including that of Emu Heights Vietnam veteran David Calderwood, better known as “Buddha”.
Writer Dave Morgan is a Vietnam veteran himself, and Never Forgotten will be his fourth book.
“I’ve met a lot of veterans in my time who tell me about their experiences, but they’ve never shared their stories,” Morgan said.
“My father, for instance, he served in the First and Second World Wars. He passed away before I was born, and I don’t know anything about him.
“He never spoke to my mother about his experiences and his story died with him, so that’s one reason I’m reaching out to different veterans to tell their stories.”
Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence, with many veterans choosing to keep their stories close to their chest.
“Everyone in life has a story to tell, and unfortunately, a lot of people can’t be bothered writing out their story and it’s lost,” Morgan stated.
“One bloke in the book has already passed away, and his wife told me, ‘We’ve got this book, and his story’s in there, and his story will never be forgotten.’”
The book includes the stories of 38 men and women who served. Morgan found them through the well-connected veteran community.
“It spread through the grapevine and all sorts of veterans contacted me,” Morgan explained.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t take all their stories because Big Sky Publishing said we couldn’t take any more.
“They’ve asked me to do another edition of the book because they had to cut four stories from the first edition.”
Lucky for us, a local made it into the first edition, and Morgan didn’t need to use the grapevine to find “Buddha”, who he met in Vietnam in December 1969.
“When I got to Vietnam, we had shift work, we used to do three days, three evenings, three midnights, and he was the corporal on my shift,” Buddha recounted.
The Emu Heights resident went to Vietnam around nine months into Morgan’s service and they’ve since kept in touch – which was very important for Vietnam veterans upon returning to Australia.
“We weren’t really accepted when we came home,” Buddha explained.
“Even the RSL’s didn’t want us because they were mostly full of World War II blokes, and so you just sort of fade into the background a bit, you don’t talk about it with anyone other than your army mates because other people don’t understand.”
Now, almost 50 years later, Morgan is bringing their stories to light.
The book is a collection of easy-to-read experiences written through the lens of someone who’s experienced battle and subsequent PTSD, and all proceeds will be donated to Legacy Australia.
You can find Never Forgotten on the Big Sky Publishing website, on Amazon, or in store at Big W.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.