Since returning to Australia in 1970 there has been only one Anzac Day that Vietnam veteran Martin “Marty” Cameron has spent apart from his regiment. On Thursday, Marty will be joined by the remaining members of 7 RAR to march together in Melbourne. Marty chats with Caitlyn Morgan about how Anzac Day provides him an opportunity to reflect, catch up with old mates and remember those who fought before him. Pictures: Carmel Zaccone
RED Cliffs’ Marty Cameron still remembers “clear as day” his 12 months of training before arriving in Vietnam where he would spent the next 12 months.
He was just 21, newly engaged and had recently completed his diploma in electrical engineering.
While fearing what lay ahead, he held tight to the advice his uncle Frank, who had fought in WWII had given him: “Fear is the worst form of distraction, everyone has it but you must control it and you can do that by concentrating and doing your job.”
“The moment you took your mind off the job you would be shot or would step on a mine,” Marty says.
Marty comes from a long line of men who fought for Australia.
His grandfathers Arthur Cameron and William O’Riley and great uncle Horace Griffith fought in WWI, while his uncles Ted, Ern, Frank and Kevin O’Riley and Jack and Lou Cameron fought in WWII alongside his father Ronald Cameron.
“My grandfather Arthur would drive all of the guns and bombs to the frontline, where he was shelled constantly,” Marty recalls.
“He also had three engines blow up underneath him and his ship was sunk and yet he managed to survive all of that.”
Despite never meeting his grandfather, Marty shares a bond with him through a diary his grandfather wrote during the war.
One diary entry recalls the moment that Arthur was warned about “an event” that changed the course of history.
When asking two coal miners currently on leave from Newcastle what they had been up to “they responded with we can’t tell you, but you will know at 3am tomorrow”, Marty reads.
“My grandfather was lying in his bunker when at 3am the following morning he was physically lifted three feet out of his stretcher.
“The pair he had met had just planted 5000 tons of explosives behind the German lines creating an earthquake and killing 10,000 people.”
Barely an adult, Marty recalls when he was called up for duty.
“We all went for the medical; I remember swatting down in my jocks having to waddle across the room. Those who fell or tripped had flat feet and couldn’t go,” Marty says.
“I was extremely fit but at the time I was doing a diploma in electronically engineering, I was subsequently deferred until my degree was finished.”
As soon as Marty completed his degree, he began his 12 months of training in Puckapunyal.
“After the 12 months they asked if we wanted to go overseas, I did. I was definitely prepared,” Marty says.
“Growing up (in Sunraysia) I had a head start on the city blokes, as a kid it was common to go out spotlighting for roos.
“I was a good shot so I was trained as a marksman, a sniper.
“I would always be the forward scout, leading them all in the night.”
While in Vietnam, Marty says every six weeks everyone had three days off, which they could spent at base camp or in close towns, they would also have one week that they could go to the RNR resort, leave the country or even fly home.
“I had a fiance at home so I spent my week back here,” Marty says.
“I remember being so excited that I purchased so many duty free items that customs staff were helping me pack it all.
“When I came home all I wanted to do was watch the footy and go to the horse races – I did both.”
Once his time in Vietnam was over, Marty and those in his regiment made a pact that still continues to this day.
“When we got home we said we would all get together for Anzac Day and I have met with them every year but one,” Marty says.
“We decided we would march in a capital city together and for as long as I can remember that has been in Melbourne.
“It’s good to do it with your mates.”
