Ken Jolley was a tunnel rat in the Vietnam war. His job was to crawl on his belly down the Vietnamese tunnels – and it was scary. He can talk about his experiences now, but it took a lot of therapy for him to be able to finally open up. 

“It’s 53 years on Monday since I came home from Vietnam,” Ken said. “We got treated like dirt when we came home, but I put it aside and got on with life.”

Ken said wartime Australia was nothing like Australia under Covid-19 restrictions.

“Staying at home is not the same as war,” he said. 

Since returning to Lismore, Ken has breathed life into the North Lismore war memorial and plans to keep the Anzac spirit alive next week – from his own home. 

Beginnings

Ken has always lived in Lismore and grew up on a family farm in Rock Valley in 1944. 

“I was born on the dairy farm because mum couldn’t get to hospital,” Ken said. “I went to school at Cawongla (the school is not there anymore) and I hated high school and only spent two years there.

“Then I came home and helped mum on the farm until I was 18, milking cows twice a day. It was a great life and my dad worked at Foley’s butter factory.

“Then I joined the army in 1963 and spent two years fighting in Malaya and Borneo, then to Vietnam in 1966 for a one year tour of duty.

Ken and a friend in Vietnam.

Vietnam

“We thought we were hardened troops after Malaya, but Vietnam was much worse.

“When we arrived in Saigon, we were put in choppers and flew to our base.

“Four hours later, we had 100 choppers lifting a mob of troops to Nui Dat, where we had to clear an area within eight hours – it was straight into the sharp end – I’ve never been so scared.

“Going into the unknown was the worst of it.

Tunnel rat

“I was a tunnel rat over there. I went down into enemy tunnels head first with a bayonet and a torch.

“I was shit scared. It was dark and wet and sometimes I could stand, up but mostly I would crawl on my belly.

“The enemy was down there. We were looking for cache supplies of ammunition and were laying mines and booby traps.

“We had to pull one bloke out of the tunnel sick from gas – it was so scary. 

“I can understand why I go to a psychologist.

“I locked everything away and didn’t want to talk about it.

“It was when I went to Canberra with a few mates for a funeral and I went to a war memorial in Canberra, I started crying. Then I came home and went to a counselling service 

Friendship forged under fire

“In Vietnam, the people I was with have become friends I’ll never lose. Friendship forged under gunfire will only die when we die – it was an intense experience we lived through 24/7.

“We got mortared one night – being hit with mortars is terrifying. It was in the lead up to the battle of Long Tan on the 17th of August.

“We heard them coming down into us – we jumped up and picked up our weapons. We were in water with lizards - and one bloke said to me ‘you saved my bloody life’. I said ‘yes, we all did’.

Operation Ingham, 1966.

Changed and unlocked

“It changed me. I locked up until I saw a psychologist. Now I’ve unlocked everything. 

“It was good for marriage and my kids and I saved myself. Lots of things happen in war and people lock the door and throw the key away.

“It makes a hell of a difference opening up – I couldn’t see myself talking to the kids after war. It’s scary, I was frightened – there’s no glory in it.

“Now, I love talking to schools and kids about Anzac Day.

“I’ve even written a letter to read out at my funeral about what I want to say - and I’ll send it to my two kids.

“I have a great life now - Australia has been good to me.

“If I could do it again, I would – I’ll always help my country.”

After Vietnam and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter

After Vietnam, Ken got married and spent the rest of his life working around Lismore as a rigger, jack of all trades and semitrailer driver.

Since 1982, Ken has been fundraising for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, selling raffle tickets.

He said he started volunteering because he saw the importance of the service after his experiences in wartime Vietnam.

“In Vietnam we had chemical dust offs hit us and if people got ill, our helicopters meant we were only 30 minutes away from hospital,” Ken said. 

“We would come in under gun fire and the helicopters were lifesaver machines.

“One of the first local Rescue Helicopter pilots here was a Vietnam veteran - Harold Frederick.

“When I first started with Harold, I’d sell raffle tickets at the Lismore Show to guess weight of bullock – that was a long time ago now.”

North Lismore war memorial

“I was president of the South Lismore Returned Servicemen’s League sub branch for years, but now, I’m just a member.

“There was an old dilapidated war memorial in North Lismore and we brought it to the South Lismore Hall and did it up – it looked great.

“Then we sold the hall, so we moved the memorial to the Lismore railway station. The council approved it so everyone could see the memorial when they got on and off the train.

“About three weeks after we put it there, the train stopped. It stayed like that two years – then with council help, we shifted it again. Monumentals Mason in North Lismore also helped us put it back to North Lismore.”

The North Lismore memorial on Alexandra Parade.

Significance

Now, the memorial stands on its original site, near the railway tracks next to the Lismore Showgrounds on Alexandra Parade.

There’s a big significance to that site. It’s where a railway station used to be and lots of army troops left Lismore from there, on their way to war.

“Soldiers used to camp in the Lismore Showground, then then hop on trains to bring them to European battles,” Ken said.

“The memorial was put there in 1926 as the first war memorial for Lismore.

“It cost 120 pounds to erect and the Council at the time never had enough money to put an avenue of trees in. There’s still no trees, but there’s a bench seat and I keep it mowed and look after it – they deserve it.

Anzac Day

For Ken, Anzac day on April 25 has a special significance and he believes it’s important to commemorate the occasion. 

“I lost a few good mates in Vietnam and I think of them on Anzac day, I don’t think of myself,” Ken said.

“It’s a special memorial day for me and my family.

“Every Anzac Day, I usually put 140 poppies in the garden – there’s 140 names on the war memorial there.”

This year, because of social distancing regulations stopping people from gathering together, Anzac Day will be a very different experience.

“At my home this year, I have a made a special ‘Lest we forget’ sign and on Friday morning, I’ll put 14 crosses in front of it.”

Lismore memories

When he was young, Ken remembers riding horses on weekends and with no drugs, he and his friends used to have fun stealing mangoes. 

“We never had two bob to rub together,” Ken said. “Instead, we would go into Lismore town.

“One bloke had a car and we would go into town on Saturday night and walk around. We would go to the dance halls and maybe have a couple of beers and act stupid – then go home and back to work on Sunday.

“There used to be loads of people on the streets and there used to be a pub on every corner – not like now.”