IT MIGHT be the forgotten war, but for John Munro, Korea is never far from his mind.
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And he didn’t get there until just after the shooting stopped, with this bloody civil war seeing North and South Korea pinned down by the demilitarised zone along the 38th parallel.
Virtually the very place the three-year war started when the North invaded the South — with the backing of both the Soviet Union and China.
Coming so close to the end of World War II, the Korean conflict would then be overshadowed by the Vietnam War — first with the French and then the US and Australia.
But if most people have forgotten Korea, others such as John can never forget the more than three million soldiers and civilians killed in this brutal conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
“When I got called up in 1952 the war was at its height and we weren’t sure what would happen, but I was sent to Puckapunyal for three months basic training and then got attached to 8 Company, 38th Battalion with the CMF (Citizen Military Forces and forerunner of the Army Reserve),” John told the Riverine Herald in 2018.
“You did time with them and then I was sent to the regulars attached to 4th Battalion before being shipped out to Korea in February 1954.
“Although the ceasefire had been signed about six months before, I can tell you things were still very much on edge, we went on patrol with loaded rifles and when you were sent to man posts on the DMZ you were really on your toes and aware of the tension.
“I was also in charge of the Bren gun and lugged a mortar around from time to time as well.
“And while you were there you had to dress as MPs because that had been part of the ceasefire; that combat troops would not be in the DMZ.”
Despite living life on the edge and needing to learn to adapt to the tension, to this day John still considers himself one of the lucky ones.
“When you speak to the guys who were involved in active conflict you realise just how lucky you were,” he said.
“There were still plenty of dangers when we did simple patrols. Our job was to do things including clearing mines and if you weren’t at a safe distance you could have quite easily have been injured.
“Until I was sent home it felt like the situation could have been turned on its head at any moment.”
He would return home to Swan Hill after finally being demobbed in November 1955, following his parents to Kyneton where he met local girl Ethel Bavington.
It was destiny.
They were married in the October of 1958 and went on to have seven children.
But the military and his time abroad were never far from his mind and just a few years later, while most people were getting into the Swinging Sixties, John was getting back into uniform.
And despite Vietnam looming as his second war, he would never again be deployed overseas.
By the time John said he had done his duty, he had served 25 years across his two stints in Australia’s armed forces.
“I missed the camaraderie of being in the army,” John said.
“I felt like I didn’t miss a beat when I went back, despite being a little bit older.
“Having the opportunity to train the younger guys was something I enjoyed a lot; yes, the army was one of the places where I felt most at home.”
Like Anzac Day in April, today’s Remembrance Day service will be very different to the years that have gone before, John said.
And perhaps they’ll never be the same again.
It’s also one of the hardest days of the year for the Moama resident.
November 11 also marks the birthday of his father Jack, who served in World War II and was a prisoner of war in Germany for about years.
It also marks the death of his daughter-in-law Jacqui, who died aged 45 in 2011.
Then he also pauses to remember his uncle Bob, and his cousin Neil, who served in World War I.
“It’s a bit hard to swallow, if I’m honest,” John said.
“But I’ll still be at Moama cenotaph to lay a wreath.”
And the cancellation of services is the latest blow to the veteran community, which has continued to be separated by the pandemic.
“This year has been very difficult as a former serviceman,” John said.
“I would usually catch up with some of the people I served with at least once a month but that has all changed now.
“Our last meeting was in February and we have lost three members since then.
“Armistice Day will be an opportunity to reflect on the lives we have lost. We don’t talk about what happened in Korea, we talk about our general lives.
“It is more important than ever that we are all looking out for each other.
“Every time I’ve picked up the paper recently, I’ve felt like I should expect bad news.”
Making today even more poignant for the old soldier, looking around for mates who can’t be there, remembering the ones who never will be again.
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