Conscription was an abuse

Unlike regular soldiers awarded the Australian Defence Medal, they are not entitled to a pension. By and large they accepted their fate and made good and loyal soldiers. They fought with distinction in Vietnam and did their duty in Australia.

They are asking for recognition that at the age of twenty they were removed, sometimes forcibly, by the state from family, friends, jobs and careers and stripped of everything familiar, including their hair. They were taught to be aggressive, mechanical, neat and tidy.

Recognition of the nature of the 1965/72 National Service Scheme and of the ethics of conscripting men, not yet able to vote, for service overseas in a war as bloody and complex as either of the two World Wars and Korea needs acknowledgement and examination. The Australian Government conscripted and trained 63,000 men to go to a specific war. They were not just trained to be soldiers; they were trained to go to Vietnam.

Nasho's who went to Vietnam, if eligible, get the health benefits due to veterans of that war. It has been suggested that the 1965/72 Conscripts would like a clasp on their National Service Medal to show the years in which they served and some limited benefits, such as an annual medical check and a rebate on commonly used drugs, hearing aids and glasses, for Conscripts who, although eligible, did not go to Vietnam

The Judicial Inquiry should look into the abuse brought about by the unjust act of the introduction of Conscription; an act that led to a great deal of protest and civil unrest at the time. The damage wrought by conscription is self evident and pivots on compulsion with loss of life and injury or the possibility of that happening. It also includes loss of liberty, choice, brutalization and possible psychological harm; which of course is not to deny that many Nashos made lifetime friends and greatly improved their life skills.

The Inquiry should examine the efficacy of an apology and the introduction of benefits to those who were Conscripted and who are not the recipient of other veteran entitlements.