Fifty Thousand Australian Sons

Annotation — PTSD 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". 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. 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+. 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".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

the jungle vines in the... heat of 'Nam weighed heavy on the minds

Notes

Self-released. The 1987 Welcome Home parade.

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 · Mistreatment of Vet · Welcome Home Parade · PTSD · ANZUS

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs · PTSD Songs