Up Close: Conversations with Modern Veterans

Reflecting on what it meant to serve, each of the veterans speak honestly with Adam about their time in uniform and how it impacts where they are today.  Fred and Lorraine explain why they regret nothing from their time in service, and Fred shares how he continues to help others.  Lorraine finds her calling through volunteering, and David explains why being a veteran doesn’t mean that you are ‘broken’.  Having reconciled her relationship with the military and been an advocate for change, Kim discusses the resting place of her second husband and proves that bonds formed in service are for many as strong today as they ever were.

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After experiences that were far from normal, the veterans discuss their return to a life that was supposed to be.  Fred opens up to Adam about the mental impacts of that night in 2004, sharing how it still impacts him today.  Lorraine reflects on returning to an empty house after a deployment where a quiet moment was unheard of, and discusses the challenges that she faced returning to the workforce.  David explains the physical injuries that cut his service short, and Kim returns home to a diagnosis that her second husband has just months to live.

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Having now felt the physical and psychological impacts of a life in uniform, Adam discusses the support that the veterans received both during their deployments and when they came home.  Fred shifts into a more people-focused role, and he and Lorraine both talk about the importance of having a partner who understands military life. Believing support to be about more than just the people, David shares how ‘Flojo, the Bomb Dog’ was a huge part of his deployment.  Kim meanwhile, struggles to find the support that she felt she should have received following the death of her husband.

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The nature of the job changes as Australia goes to war and the veterans must put their training into action.  Fred explains how a routine patrol day became anything but routine, Lorraine shares how her comrades were able to deal with life on a military base which was regularly bombed, and David recalls how a training scenario suddenly and unexpectedly became very real.  Kim discusses the death of her first husband ‘Shorty’, and the legal inquest that followed.

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Adam investigates the training stage of the veteran’s careers.  Having initially enlisted to avoid school, Fred ironically finds himself back in the classroom as he reflects on a standard day of training.  After transitioning from a family of 11 to a ‘family of thousands’ Lorraine shares the challenges that she faced as a female recruit during an important time of transition for army.  David explains his decision to make the move from Navy to Army, and Kim details her choice to join the reserves.

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What draws someone to a life in the Defence Force?  Adam Shand learns that the answer to this question is often as varied as the people that enlist.  In this episode he meets Fred, who was seeking an apprenticeship as an escape from school, Lorraine, who was driven by job security, and David and Kim, who were both raised in families already immersed in a life of service.  Lorraine explains how an initially unsuccessful enlistment attempt drove her to seek another way in, Kim recalls how meeting her first husband changed her life journey, and Fred explains how his reason for serving very quickly shifted from what it was on day one.

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Adam Shand navigates raw conversations with recent Australian Defence Force members about their lives in service.  From enlisting, to the challenges that come with training, conflict, and life after the uniform, these are real stories of the highs and lows of military life.

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