Ex national-serviceman Jack David Cowin and sapper Dennis John Rankin Lutton are men with endless stories of trauma, hardship, comradery and plenty of entertainment.
They’ve also been disillusioned with their day of remembrance. Until now.
Mr Cowin has a love for Star Wars, Doctor Who and his giant mastiff, Yoda. He came to Australia from England when he was younger, earning him the nickname “Pom” in the army. He fought in Vietnam as gunner on an armoured personnel carrier.
Mr Lutton is a cheeky pot stirrer who says his body is breaking down. His arm is peppered with white dots – pigment damage caused by shrapnel. Despite the 23 different medications he takes daily, he’s a biker at heart and he can’t help but tell stories of all the trouble he’s caused in his life. He worked as an electrician at ammunition ports in Vietnam.
Today, the men plan to attend a service at Logan Village RSL.
Mr Lutton said Anzac Day was always important to him, to the extent that he travelled to Turkey for the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.
“It’s always been something special to me,” he said.
“I went to Turkey mainly to find the graves of the 17 members of my family that were burried there.”
Mr Cowin, on the other hand, said until recently he felt dissolussioned with Anzac Day.
“I’ve been a bit ambivalent about Anzac Day for some time,” he said.
He credited the treatment of Vietnam veterans in particular for his ambivalence.
“It was a bad time to be in uniform,” Mr Lutton said.
“We were under orders to come back in civilian gear,” Mr Cowin said.
“We weren’t allowed to come back in uniform – we weren’t even allowed to congregate together.”
He said it was the second time he faced discrimination in Australia.
“The first time was arriving here in Australia in 1959 as a pom,” he said.
“I wore my pommy badge with distinction, and as you can see I lost all my accent.”
Mr Cowin said the friendly banter about his British heritage didn’t compare to the discrimination he faced as a Vietnam veteran.
“It wasn’t friendly banter,” he said.
Mr Cowin said he was grateful for the changing tides.
“[Anzac Day] means a bit more now. Up until a couple of years ago I couldn’t care less about it. I remembered in my own way.”
What ultimately swayed him, he said, was seeing young Australians salute him.
“I went to Yarabilba school last Thursday morning [for a service]… and the cadets saluted me as a mark of respect,” he said.
“That really hit home.”
The men joked and laughed about the good times they had torturing higher ranking soldiers and and causing ruckuses with comrades.
But they didn’t gloss over the trauma.
“You don’t forget, you never forget,” Mr Cowin said.
Over 50 years later, war continues to play a role in their lives, but the men haven’t lost their smiles.
