WAR POETRY ‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ Composed by John Schumann

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ (A Walk In The Light Green) Written in 1983 by John Schumann

The song is sung as a first person account of a typical Australian infantry soldier's experience in the Vietnam War. The story is told through his eyes. ‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’

The young soldier is trained in Australia and then exposed to military operations and combat. He returns home disillusioned, psychologically scarred and possibly suffering from the effects of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. ‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’

(‘A Walk In The Light Green’)  Light green: parts on a map which indicated more dangerous areas for soldiers to patrol as there was less dense foliage and cover. This was an area which was more likely to be mined.  Puckapunyal: Army enlisted soldier recruit training centre in Victoria.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ Sixth Battalion: (aka 6RAR) Australian army battalion, whose D Company had been involved in the Battle of Long Tan during a tour three years earlier.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ Canungra: Jungle warfare training centre in the Gold Coast hinterland. Shoalwater: Military exercise area in Queensland. Townsville: City in Queensland.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ SLR: Self Loading Rifle.Standard 7.62mm semi- automatic rifle issued to Australian infantrymen during the Vietnam War. Greens: Jungle Green Working Dress, the field uniform worn by the Australian Army between the early 1960's and Slouch hat: Parade head-dress for the Australian army.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ Vũng Tàu: Coastal city in Southern Vietnam. The main Australian logistic base. Rest area for troops based at Nui Dat. Nui Dat: Village in Southern Vietnam. Main base of one Australian Task Force from 1965 to 1972.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ VB: Victoria Bitter beer Chinook: Military helicopter

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ ‘Asian Orange sunset’ or ‘Agent orange sunset’?

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ What is Agent Orange? It is the code name for a defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War m³ of Agent Orange were sprayed across South Vietnam. 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ M.I6

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ The “rash that comes and goes” was a common side effect of working with Agent Orange. It could persist till you died.

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’

Dusted off: Aeromedical evacuation by helicopter. Contact!: In the Australian Army the call is made by soldiers upon encounter with enemy to the immediate front or rear of the line of march (the correct call would have been either Contact Front! or Contact Rear!).

‘I WAS ONLY NINETEEN’ ANZAC: The World War I-era Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.