Fallen

By Russell Bennett
MOUNT Evelyn RSL members Derek Crittenden and Laurie Hollier will this Thursday remember fallen comrades and those who returned from war physically and mentally scarred.
But the two men will also reflect on how their time in the armed forces changed their lives for the better as the nation pauses at 11am on 11 November.
Mr Crittenden, sub-branch president, was enrolled in the National Service and Citizens’ Military Forces from 1954 to 1959.
“It was a compulsory call-up,” he said.
“Luckily when I was involved, we were between wars. Korea had finished and Vietnam was yet to begin.”
He never set foot on a battlefield but Mr Crittenden learned a lot from his time in the service.
“The mateship I experienced and the discipline I learnt have carried me through life,” he said.
“It was very satisfying. I was only supposed to serve two years but I stayed in for five because I was getting so much out if it.”
Mr Hollier served in the air force from 1968 to 1974.
“I had six of the best years of my life,” he said.
But the harsh reality of war was never far from his mind.
“I was having a beer with him at the base in Laverton before he was sent off to Vietnam. He was a driver.
“His truck rolled over during a rocket attack and he was killed.
“From Mount Evelyn alone, we had nine blokes fight in Vietnam and three died up there. That’s an incredibly high percentage.”
Mr Hollier said the nightmares soldiers experienced on the frontline were also felt back home because of a public backlash against the Vietnam War.
“There was this widely held belief that we shouldn’t have been there but the thing is, most Vietnam vets would agree with that,” he said.
“War is horrible, it’s absolutely disgusting.”
Mr Hollier said national service traumatised many of his peers.
“They were pulled out of society and whacked straight into the armed services,” he said.
“They were up there fighting the war and then they were just expected to come back to normal life again.
Mr Hollier said he hoped each year on Remembrance Day people would stop and think about those who gave up so much in the name of freedom.
“If you get the chance to fight for peace, you do it but we should try to avoid war at all costs,” he said.
“It’s funny, when you look at the honour boards at footy clubs, RSLs and fire brigades in smaller towns, a lot of people feature in all three.
“They’re the type of people who go to war to protect their country.”
Mount Evelyn RSL will host a Remembrance Day service this Thursday at the Memorial Gardens, corner Birmingham Road and Wray Crescent, Mount Evelyn.