Kevin Stayner is a Vietnam War veteran. 89235 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
By CASEY NEILL
THE choppers on the HMAS Sydney flight deck were ready to carry Kevin Stayner and his comrades into Nui Dat.
“Right on the pre-dawn I could see the lights of Vung Tau in the distance,” he said. “I had this thought – we’re not all coming back.”
It was the first time the Vietnam War became real for the Dandenong RSL member.
“The rest was all boys’ stuff – shoot ’em up, run around the country, I can run quicker than you can … ” he said.
“All of a sudden it’s live ammunition and we’re ready to rock and roll. And unfortunately it didn’t take long for the s*** to hit the fan.”
The Endeavour Hills resident was conscripted at age 20 and allowed to finish the final year of his cabinet-making apprenticeship before being called up to recruit training at Puckapunyal.
He completed infantry training at Singleton and was sent to join the third battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment at Woodside in South Australia.
He was 22 when he arrived in Vietnam in late January, 1971.
“We lost a couple of guys out of our platoon in action very soon after we got to Vietnam – John Wheeler and Paul Manning,” he said.
“Remembrance Day just gives us a chance to remember those two.”
Mr Stayner’s battalion was in Vietnam for just over eight months and was involved in four major battles.
“Which is basically boring because you’re on patrol, working your guts out, carrying huge weight and heaps and heaps of live ammunition and nothing happens,” he said.
“Laying in ambush for day after day after day in pouring rain, sleeping in the mud, and nothing happens.”
Returning home relieved the boredom but presented new challenges.
“It took a long time to adjust after we came back,” he said.
He was among the last cabinet-makers trained in solid timber, with chipboard and veneered board entering the market.
“My dream was to do further studies with solid timber furniture in Europe but that never happened,” Mr Stayner said.
“I went back to the same company that I left … but not long after I joined them, the company went broke and then I drifted around for quite some time.”
Mr Stayner said Remembrance Day gave people a chance to stop and think about those who lost their lives on the battlefields, and those whose lives war changed forever.
“It’s important because it gives us a chance to remember the sacrifice so many Australians made,” he said.
He’s part of a Dandenong RSL contingent that sells poppies in the Dandenong and Melbourne CBDs in the lead-up to 11 November. The proceeds go towards welfare services for ex-servicemen.
“Every $2 helps,” Mr Stayner said.
