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The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
Vietnam Veterans Day marks fresh call for recognition
Having not always felt fully recognised by their kind, 2500 Australians excluded from receiving the Vietnam Campaign Medal continue their struggle to be acknowledged. The Vietnam Veterans Association and the RSL are calling on the federal government to award the honour to the contingent, who were among 60,000 Australians to serve in the conflict between 1962 and 1975, but remain without acknowledgement due to a technicality. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Navy veteran Bob Braithwaite finally received his medal last week after multiple applications and rejections. After joining up as a teenager, he served 120 days in Vietnam before having to return due to injury. "It's very hard, very hard," Mr Braithwaite told AAP from his home in Adelaide. "You weren't recognised as a full veteran in my books ... you could say it felt like being a car with only three wheels." Conscripted into service and sent to fight in a deeply unpopular war, the veterans awaiting recognition completed at least 60 days in-country, serving under harrowing conditions. Because their national service obligations ended before they reached the 181-day threshold, they were sent home and denied the campaign medal - and the recognition and respect many of their comrades received. Made to feel like they had not done enough, some were labelled "short-timers" and have since carried the burden. Mr Braithwaite takes medication for PTSD and undergoes a twice-yearly psychological check-up. "You'd go to a hotel on ANZAC Day to have lunch and celebrate with your wife and a couple of close friends, and the guys with the full medals would kind of look at you a bit funny, and you'd think, 'oh, OK, I haven't finished the progress to become a full veteran'. "But the stigma has slowly worn off ... and we seem, the older we get, the fewer we get, to get more appreciation for what we've done." The broader community and RSL failed to treat veterans well or welcome Vietnam vets when they returned. NSW president Ray James, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, was among those to deliver a formal apology on Vietnam Veterans Day in 2023. The end of the Vietnam War, Australia's longest military engagement of the 20th century, will be commemorated on Monday, the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Services will be conducted in communities throughout Australia, including a major gathering of servicemen and women in Sydney's Martin Place. Some 3000 Australians were wounded during the conflict and 524 died during or as a result of their service in Vietnam. Lifeline 13 11 14 Open Arms 1800 011 046 Having not always felt fully recognised by their kind, 2500 Australians excluded from receiving the Vietnam Campaign Medal continue their struggle to be acknowledged. The Vietnam Veterans Association and the RSL are calling on the federal government to award the honour to the contingent, who were among 60,000 Australians to serve in the conflict between 1962 and 1975, but remain without acknowledgement due to a technicality. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Navy veteran Bob Braithwaite finally received his medal last week after multiple applications and rejections. After joining up as a teenager, he served 120 days in Vietnam before having to return due to injury. "It's very hard, very hard," Mr Braithwaite told AAP from his home in Adelaide. "You weren't recognised as a full veteran in my books ... you could say it felt like being a car with only three wheels." Conscripted into service and sent to fight in a deeply unpopular war, the veterans awaiting recognition completed at least 60 days in-country, serving under harrowing conditions. Because their national service obligations ended before they reached the 181-day threshold, they were sent home and denied the campaign medal - and the recognition and respect many of their comrades received. Made to feel like they had not done enough, some were labelled "short-timers" and have since carried the burden. Mr Braithwaite takes medication for PTSD and undergoes a twice-yearly psychological check-up. "You'd go to a hotel on ANZAC Day to have lunch and celebrate with your wife and a couple of close friends, and the guys with the full medals would kind of look at you a bit funny, and you'd think, 'oh, OK, I haven't finished the progress to become a full veteran'. "But the stigma has slowly worn off ... and we seem, the older we get, the fewer we get, to get more appreciation for what we've done." The broader community and RSL failed to treat veterans well or welcome Vietnam vets when they returned. NSW president Ray James, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, was among those to deliver a formal apology on Vietnam Veterans Day in 2023. The end of the Vietnam War, Australia's longest military engagement of the 20th century, will be commemorated on Monday, the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Services will be conducted in communities throughout Australia, including a major gathering of servicemen and women in Sydney's Martin Place. Some 3000 Australians were wounded during the conflict and 524 died during or as a result of their service in Vietnam. Lifeline 13 11 14 Open Arms 1800 011 046 Having not always felt fully recognised by their kind, 2500 Australians excluded from receiving the Vietnam Campaign Medal continue their struggle to be acknowledged. The Vietnam Veterans Association and the RSL are calling on the federal government to award the honour to the contingent, who were among 60,000 Australians to serve in the conflict between 1962 and 1975, but remain without acknowledgement due to a technicality. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Navy veteran Bob Braithwaite finally received his medal last week after multiple applications and rejections. After joining up as a teenager, he served 120 days in Vietnam before having to return due to injury. "It's very hard, very hard," Mr Braithwaite told AAP from his home in Adelaide. "You weren't recognised as a full veteran in my books ... you could say it felt like being a car with only three wheels." Conscripted into service and sent to fight in a deeply unpopular war, the veterans awaiting recognition completed at least 60 days in-country, serving under harrowing conditions. Because their national service obligations ended before they reached the 181-day threshold, they were sent home and denied the campaign medal - and the recognition and respect many of their comrades received. Made to feel like they had not done enough, some were labelled "short-timers" and have since carried the burden. Mr Braithwaite takes medication for PTSD and undergoes a twice-yearly psychological check-up. "You'd go to a hotel on ANZAC Day to have lunch and celebrate with your wife and a couple of close friends, and the guys with the full medals would kind of look at you a bit funny, and you'd think, 'oh, OK, I haven't finished the progress to become a full veteran'. "But the stigma has slowly worn off ... and we seem, the older we get, the fewer we get, to get more appreciation for what we've done." The broader community and RSL failed to treat veterans well or welcome Vietnam vets when they returned. NSW president Ray James, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, was among those to deliver a formal apology on Vietnam Veterans Day in 2023. The end of the Vietnam War, Australia's longest military engagement of the 20th century, will be commemorated on Monday, the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Services will be conducted in communities throughout Australia, including a major gathering of servicemen and women in Sydney's Martin Place. Some 3000 Australians were wounded during the conflict and 524 died during or as a result of their service in Vietnam. Lifeline 13 11 14 Open Arms 1800 011 046 Having not always felt fully recognised by their kind, 2500 Australians excluded from receiving the Vietnam Campaign Medal continue their struggle to be acknowledged. The Vietnam Veterans Association and the RSL are calling on the federal government to award the honour to the contingent, who were among 60,000 Australians to serve in the conflict between 1962 and 1975, but remain without acknowledgement due to a technicality. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Navy veteran Bob Braithwaite finally received his medal last week after multiple applications and rejections. After joining up as a teenager, he served 120 days in Vietnam before having to return due to injury. "It's very hard, very hard," Mr Braithwaite told AAP from his home in Adelaide. "You weren't recognised as a full veteran in my books ... you could say it felt like being a car with only three wheels." Conscripted into service and sent to fight in a deeply unpopular war, the veterans awaiting recognition completed at least 60 days in-country, serving under harrowing conditions. Because their national service obligations ended before they reached the 181-day threshold, they were sent home and denied the campaign medal - and the recognition and respect many of their comrades received. Made to feel like they had not done enough, some were labelled "short-timers" and have since carried the burden. Mr Braithwaite takes medication for PTSD and undergoes a twice-yearly psychological check-up. "You'd go to a hotel on ANZAC Day to have lunch and celebrate with your wife and a couple of close friends, and the guys with the full medals would kind of look at you a bit funny, and you'd think, 'oh, OK, I haven't finished the progress to become a full veteran'. "But the stigma has slowly worn off ... and we seem, the older we get, the fewer we get, to get more appreciation for what we've done." The broader community and RSL failed to treat veterans well or welcome Vietnam vets when they returned. NSW president Ray James, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, was among those to deliver a formal apology on Vietnam Veterans Day in 2023. The end of the Vietnam War, Australia's longest military engagement of the 20th century, will be commemorated on Monday, the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Services will be conducted in communities throughout Australia, including a major gathering of servicemen and women in Sydney's Martin Place. Some 3000 Australians were wounded during the conflict and 524 died during or as a result of their service in Vietnam. Lifeline 13 11 14 Open Arms 1800 011 046
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
Vietnam Veterans Day marks fresh call for recognition
Having not always felt fully recognised by their kind, 2500 Australians excluded from receiving the Vietnam Campaign Medal continue their struggle to be acknowledged. The Vietnam Veterans Association and the RSL are calling on the federal government to award the honour to the contingent, who were among 60,000 Australians to serve in the conflict between 1962 and 1975, but remain without acknowledgement due to a technicality. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Navy veteran Bob Braithwaite finally received his medal last week after multiple applications and rejections. After joining up as a teenager, he served 120 days in Vietnam before having to return due to injury. "It's very hard, very hard," Mr Braithwaite told AAP from his home in Adelaide. "You weren't recognised as a full veteran in my books ... you could say it felt like being a car with only three wheels." Conscripted into service and sent to fight in a deeply unpopular war, the veterans awaiting recognition completed at least 60 days in-country, serving under harrowing conditions. Because their national service obligations ended before they reached the 181-day threshold, they were sent home and denied the campaign medal - and the recognition and respect many of their comrades received. Made to feel like they had not done enough, some were labelled "short-timers" and have since carried the burden. Mr Braithwaite takes medication for PTSD and undergoes a twice-yearly psychological check-up. "You'd go to a hotel on ANZAC Day to have lunch and celebrate with your wife and a couple of close friends, and the guys with the full medals would kind of look at you a bit funny, and you'd think, 'oh, OK, I haven't finished the progress to become a full veteran'. "But the stigma has slowly worn off ... and we seem, the older we get, the fewer we get, to get more appreciation for what we've done." The broader community and RSL failed to treat veterans well or welcome Vietnam vets when they returned. NSW president Ray James, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, was among those to deliver a formal apology on Vietnam Veterans Day in 2023. The end of the Vietnam War, Australia's longest military engagement of the 20th century, will be commemorated on Monday, the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Services will be conducted in communities throughout Australia, including a major gathering of servicemen and women in Sydney's Martin Place. Some 3000 Australians were wounded during the conflict and 524 died during or as a result of their service in Vietnam. Lifeline 13 11 14 Open Arms 1800 011 046
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Legally, Abby and Brittany are two separate people
Conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel are considered two separate individuals in every sense of the matter except one – and the revelation has left many horrified. The 34-year-olds were born with dicephalic parapagus, where two heads are attached to a single body. Each of the women have their own brain, heart, stomach and lungs, but share the same organs below the waist as well as the same bloodstream. They can also write, eat, run, and drive a car, both independently and in perfect sync, thanks to their co-ordinated brains and nervous systems. But while they are legally individuals, meaning they can enter into contracts, and even get married individually – Abby tied the knot to US army veteran Josh Bowling in 2021 – it has recently emerged the pair are struggling to be acknowledged as individuals in the workplace. The American sisters, who work as fifth grade teachers in Minnesota, revealed they divide up their responsibilities at work but only receive one single wage which they share between them. 'Obviously right away we understand that we are going to get one salary because we're doing the job of one person,' Abby, who controls the right side of their shared body, told the BBC previously. 'As maybe experience comes in we'd like to negotiate a little bit, considering we have two degrees and because we are able to give two different perspectives or teach in two different ways.' Brittany, the left-side conjoined twin, added: 'One can be teaching and one can be monitoring and answering questions. So in that sense we can do more than one person.' However, in order to qualify as teachers, the pair were considered as individuals within the school system and had to pay and pass two separate degrees at university. While the comments about their earnings were made in 2013, they have recently resurfaced on social media, and in light of a very different climate almost 12 years on, the situation isn't sitting well with people. 'Abby and Brittany, the well-known conjoined twins, had to pay two separate college tuition fees but now earn only one salary at their job,' a recent post shared by a pop culture Instagram account reads. Many were quick to flood the comments section, declaring it 'doesn't seem fair', as others questioned whether one could claim benefits if her physical situation was prohibiting her from getting her own job. 'Whatever university made these conjoined twins pay two tuitions needs to lose their accreditation,' one raged. 'They are twins, two individuals. Doing this implies they're each only half a person, it's inexcusable,' added another. As one declared: 'Makes zero sense.' 'That is shocking they are two different people two different brains they need two salaries,' one woman weighed in. 'This is disgusting behaviour from the powers that be!!' argued someone else. Some also pointed out the situation was 'complicated', adding it was hard to land on what the 'right thing to do' is given the rarity of their circumstances. Abby and Brittany rose to fame on a reality show that chronicled their major life events, including high school graduation and job hunting. The duo originally appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996. When growing up, their parents Patty and Mike encouraged them to be their own selves and they both developed very different personalities and tastes. Abby is known as the feisty, stubborn one, while Brittany is considered the joker of the family. Even their tastebuds are different. Abby secretly married her husband in 2021, with her sister right by her side, the pair donning a lacy gown for the occasion. The nuptials only emerged in 2024 after wedding documents were obtained by US media, prompting the sisters to share never-before-seen snaps online. When the Hensel twins were born on March 7, 1990, doctors warned their parents they were unlikely to survive the night. That prediction was to be proven wildly wrong, with the sisters inspiring people around the world every day with their positive attitude to life.
