Tuesday, May 14, 2024

GRIM REMINDERS OF INDOCHINA WARS

The deceased  estate of   Australian Vietnam  War  veteran,  Garry  Silcock , 79 , of  Townsville, contained  a   variety  of   war   books   and   photo  albums .

Silcock, shown here with his medals on Anzac Day, a signaller in the 6th Battalion  Royal Australian Regiment , served  twice in Vietnam . After the war, by trade a painter,  he went back to  help  rebuild the  country and also  spent much time in  Cambodia , Laos  and  Thailand .

He  died in February , having earlier been found unconscious  in the carpark of a Townsville hotel, where it was  thought  he  had  fallen  or  had collapsed.

However, in hospital it was found that he   had been hit on the  back of  the  head .  Nobody was ever charged.

In  his  house  there   was  a  large  Buddha  at  each  end of   a  bookshelf which  held    war   books  ranging from the Boer War dispatches of  Banjo Paterson   to   World  War  ll , several  about   Australians  fighting  in New Guinea   and   Tarakan,  the   Indochina  conflict .  

The above book covered  the disappearance of  American  Vietnam  War  photo-journalists  Sean  Flynn  ( son of  Australian filmstar  Errol  Flynn) , and Dana  Stone , who  in April 1970 set off  on motorbikes to cover the  war. Last seen in Cambodia ,they were captured by  Communist  forces , never   seen   again , massive  investigations  made  over  the  years .  

While  the  book mentions that Errol Flynn had been in New Guinea early in his life, there was no mention that he supposedly won an interest in a  Magnetic  Island  goldmine  in a Townsville pub    card  game . 

The  goldmine became a  tourist  attraction , where you could go  and  inspect   Errol   Flynn's  shaft . Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. 

A Thai  Airways  boarding  pass  in  Silcock's name  for a flight  from  Bangkok to Brisbane was found inside the  book .   

By   Peter  Simon  

The  book brought back  memories of  former Darwin journalist  Neil Sharman , 23,   and   American  Charles  Dean , 24 ,  who  were  captured and  killed by Communist guerrillas in  1974  when  backpacking  through  Southeast  Asia .

While Neil was working  on Darwin's Northern Territory News , he wrote to his brother in 1973 and told him he  was taking  time  off  to see the world- Indonesia, Malaysia,India and  all places in between.

In  addition ,  he  said maybe the Arab countries ,"If we can  without  being  shot."

Sharman  had  met   Charles  Dean  when he came to Australia and worked on a sheep station . He was a  member of a prominent   American   family which included  the  future  Democratic  National Commitee chairman Howard Dean, Democracy for  America  chairman, Jim Dean, and  activist  Bill Dean.

They were captured in Laos  where Charles , an anti-war campaigner at university,  planned to  visit  a  family  friend  working  in  USAID.  

Earlier in their travels they had been  accompanied by Neil's girlfriend, Joy Hooper , another Darwin reporter, who  was  to  meet  up  with  them.

I knew both Neil  Sharman , who had  worked on the  Sydney Morning  Herald,   and   Joy  Hooper.  Joy  desperately  tried to find out  what  had  happened  to  them.

She    told  me how   she  had    approached   people in  high  places  in the region  for  help, including   Prince  Sihanouk of  Cambodia, and  showed  me  correspondence  she   had   received.

The wife of missing photo-journalist  Dana  Stone , Loise, also  had extensive correspondence with Prince Sihanouk, and had  sought help from   Australian journalist  Wilfred  Burchett  , in   Paris, who had reported on the Korean  War  and the Vietnam War from the Communist  side  , with  contacts  in  Hanoi  and  Peking .

A  book  on  Prince  Sihanouk  and several others on the brutal Pol Pot regime   in  Cambodia   were  in  Silcock's  collection.


Eventually , it was   discovered that Sharman and Dean had been handcuffed and shot by Communist Pathet Lao  guerrillas .

 It was said  that  because  they  were carrying cameras , they were  regarded as   American  spies. A claim that Dean was a CIA agent  was strongly  denied .  Their  remains  were repatriated  to   America  and   Australia  in  2003.