Missing in Action

Annotation — Australian & New Zealand Songs

Country musician from Queensland, Australia. Retiring as an ambulance driver in the 1990s, he turned to music, releasing dozens of country albums, with "Australia and Australians as the major themes for his ballads", and a focus on the "traditions cemented into our culture by the late Slim Dusty".1 The album "They Answered the Call" had a military / war theme, focused on Australia's role in World War One, World War Two, the Vietnam War, Afghanistan, amongst other conflicts. Specific Vietnam-related songs including a version of "The Battle of Long Tan" and "The Battle of Coral", discussed above, as well as "Missing in Action", and "Fifty Thousand Australian Sons". Several songs were about veterans, which did not reference a specific war. The song "Missing in Action" provided a post-war look at the impact of the war on a father whose son never returned from the Vietnam War, presumably killed in action (K.I.A.), or as the government / military informed him back then: "missing in action was all they would say... his number and name". The father was watching a parade, and when "the Vietnam veterans march by", the memories flooded back: "our young men where called to the 'Nam", with the narrator noting that "you can't begin to image the horrors of war". Also note the use of the term "diggers" - as discussed, a military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand, which came to prominence during World War One.1 The song "Fifty Thousand Australian Sons" focused on the treatment of Vietnam War veterans on their return to Australia, which noted the lack of cheers, and that the "bureaucratic speeches have a darkened sombre tone". Decades later, in 1987 at the Welcome Home Parade when it was "time to make amends", finally the "streamers and confetti came down". The title of the song was of course a reference to the number of Australian that served in the Vietnam conflict, although the number is thought to have been higher, at around 60,000+.2 The song also contained a reference to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "the jungle vines in the.. heat of 'Nam weighed heavy on the minds".3 Sources1grahamrodger.com.au↩2National Archives of Australia: Vietnam war↩3apnews.com↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: There's a face in the crowd at the edge of the street / Watching the diggers march by / The young moms and dads with the kids at their feet, hardly notice the tears in his eyes / The warm April sun filters down from up above / But the wind sends a chill up his spine / And his solemn old face never shifts in its gaze / For his thoughts are lost somewhere in time / His mind wonders back to a time long ago when our young men where called to the 'Nam / Early adults, with no choice but to go / To fight in that far away land / You can't begin to image the horrors of war / The suffering and shear waste of life / Somewhere out there, on that far distant shore his own son paid the ultimate price / Missing in action, was all they would say / The words cut through his heart like a knife / Missing in action, his number and name, it's not much to show for a life / For the sake of an innocent life / He draws a sharp breath / Pulls is body up straight / As the Vietnam veterans march by / With his cast iron draw, set on his face / He fights back the tears in his eyes / Someone once told him, that he should just let go / Move on and just let the past be / But how can he face what tomorrow may hold when the nightmares just won't set him free / Missing in action...

Notes

Self-released. A father whose son did not return from Vietnam watches the veterans march.

About the artist

Graham Rodger - country singer-songwriter from Queensland; a former ambulance officer who turned to music in the 1990s and has released dozens of albums in the Slim Dusty tradition.

Themes

Vet · Home Front Perspective · Digger · Anzac Day · Combat

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs