Nuff said..

Anzac Cove

From Stuff

NZ attitude to veterans decried
26 April 2006

The treatment of some of our returned service people is a national embarrassment, Retired Lieutenant Colonel John Gardner said yesterday.

The Vietnam veteran called for greater recognition and support for service members who had returned from battles that society would rather forget.

"I was one of over 3000 New Zealanders who did what they were told and went willingly off to a stupid war, sent by a government that when we came back rejected us," Gardner, 60, told the Seddon Anzac Day memorial service.

Many Vietnam veterans "fell to the bottom of the social heap" after the war and suffered illnesses related to alcoholism or smoking, he said after the speech. "Out of my company over half of them are dead," he said. "If this country is going to send our young men and women into harm's way they need to be well trained and well prepared. We need the backing of everyone and we need to look after them when they return."

Gardner said 2006 had been declared the Year of the Veteran, which was good for politicians and families who took the opportunity to "hock off family heirlooms".

Really, he said, it was an opportunity to thank those who had fought for their country and provided the freedom of speech which allowed him to express his opinions frankly. –Marlborough Express