By Trevor
Magrath
It was a mild
autumn evening around Easter so my wife, Pam
and I decided to have dinner on our back
deck with our daughter and her boyfriend.
Just as we started our meal the phone rang.
My immediate thought was 'another bloody
survey' so I'll just let it go to the
answering machine. However, my conscience
got the better of me and, as it's usually my
job in the family to get rid of nuisance
callers, I eventually decided to answer it.
The caller identified me by name and asked
how I was and received the usual
disinterested and somewhat abrupt "good".
Then he identified himself and I still
remained sceptical as the name meant nothing
to me at the time. It was the following that
simply blew me away.
The caller's next question was to ask
whether I served in the Armed Forces, which
aroused some interest, but I was still
suspicious of the caller's motives. He then
went on to ask me if I served in Vietnam,
which I found intriguing, particularly after
he mentioned the years of 1969/70 when I had
served.
By now, my total attention was focused on
what would follow these probing questions
because surely no sales company would dig
that far back for personal information even
though these days, despite privacy
regulations, they seem to know so much about
us. By this time I had totally forgotten my
empty stomach and was fully embroiled in the
call and the mystique it provided as to
where it was heading. The caller, Steve
Howe, was then able to quote my rank, serial
number and date of birth all of which were
accurate. He revealed that one of my dog
tags had been found in Vietnam and he was
helping to trace its owner.
I was momentarily speechless, which doesn't
happen often, as I had lost one of my tags
when serving for 5RAR (second tour) but
wasn't certain exactly how or where - I had
a recollection it was during a night patrol,
some kilometres from Nui Dat. It was never
found so a replacement was provided. Rather
than use the green hutchie cord allocated, I
chose to wear my dog tags on a cheap
American chain along with a 'Peace-Ban the
Bomb' symbol so it's no wonder it broke when
I think about it now. The replacement tag
provided was quite inferior in quality, made
from a much softer metal, probably tin, and
simply engraved rather than embossed on what
seemed to be a brass plate originally. It
never really had the same significance to me
but I wore it as directed just in case I was
KIA when one tag would stay with my body and
the other would be returned to my NOK.
Fortunately that didn't happen and I am here
to tell this story. As to the prospect of my
"missing dog tag" being found after 38 years
I must say I was totally stoked and couldn't
wait to have it back in my possession.
Steve explained that he was too young for
the Vietnam War but has a keen interest in
it and had just returned from a tour. It was
during this tour that somehow he met Aussie,
Al Davis, who many know runs the Ned Kelly
Eureka Pub at Vung Tau with his wife, Anh
who listed on his website that my tag and a
full set of another soldier's tags had been
found. Steve took it upon himself to attempt
to locate both of us by telephone and steer
us towards their recovery. After six calls,
he was able to locate the other guy and
tracked me down on the second call attempt.
I quickly got on to Al's website, confirmed
the finding and couldn't wait to get that
tag back in my possession but it was a
matter of how to do this without loss or
damage in transit. Pam and I had only
returned from a tour of Vietnam late last
year (first time back in 38 years and what
great therapy it was) and were already
planning our next trip in 2008 but I knew I
couldn't wait until then. We made some great
friends with the Vietnamese people while we
were there so I thought perhaps I could get
one of them to collect and hold them for me
until I return but again I was too eager for
that.
Al put all these ideas quickly to rest when
he informed me by email that the tags had
already left Vietnam with an ex Viet Vet
from WA, Owen "Obie" Evans (6RAR second
tour). It seems Owen and two mates, David
Roach (110 Sig Sqn) and Les Dienhoff (3 RAR
second tour) were touring around their old
stomping grounds in Nui Dat on motorbikes in
February when approached by a couple of
local Vietnamese kids seeking money, one
with an old metal detector and the other
with an old entrenching tool and my partial
dog tag. My tag was purchased for about
AUD1-80. There was literally no English
spoken by either boy but they managed to
sign language them over to the house
situated near the old airstrip and produced
the second full set of dog tags on hootchie
cord for Paul Conboy (7RAR) which were also
bought for a little over AUD4-00 - a great
days trading for the kids and an even better
discovery for Paul and I.
I exchanged emails with Owen and within days
my tag arrived by registered mail all
packaged up. There was much excitement as I
opened the package to find the partial
remains of my original dog tag - in three
pieces and may have been subjected to fire
at some stage but still containing
sufficient information to decipher my
details. As you can imagine, I was, and
still am, ecstatic at having it back after
so long. Because of the constant need to
wear dog tags, its loss was almost like
losing part of ME and now recovering it
nearly 40 years later, when I never gave any
hope of this ever happening.
The one single reminder I had of its absence
for so long came from a frame my wife gave
me as a very special surprise 25th wedding
anniversary gift (even that seems and
probably is a long time ago) - a mounting of
all my Army memorabilia including medals,
two dog tags (the original and the
"imitation", Peace symbol, Discharge
Certificate, even a photo of me lying in a
hammock under the rubber trees in our base
camp at Nui Dat. This is something I really
treasure and will now be complete once I add
the genuine dog tag to the mounting. I have
even been provided with some green hootchie
cord by a current Army mate to 'tie' off all
loose ends so to speak.
I am truly indebted and grateful to Owen,
Les and David for their efforts in
recognizing the sentimental value and
returning it to me and also to Al Davis and
particularly Steve Howe (whose contact
details I unfortunately never obtained) for
the roles they played in this recovery. Next
year, when we return to Vietnam I may
venture back to Nui Dat again to track down
these kids to hear their piece of this
puzzle and possibly make similar purchases
to fulfill the lives of other Vietnam
Veterans' as it has for me.
These days I must say I am far more
receptive to receiving telephone calls at
dinner-time as you never know where it may
lead!!!
Regards,
Trevor Magrath
5RAR 2nd Tour
Support Company & BHQ
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