In his Vietnam Veterans’ Day Commemorative address to the RAR Association, Fred Fairhead concluded that the RAR Association is doing its best to help those in need and Trojan’s Trek, tailored for younger veterans, is a good example of that. On the broader front the Association is taking the lead, as indeed you would expect the Infantry to do, in the campaign to put right the long standing inequities in such matters as the indexation of superannuation and delivery of mental health services.
We are in a time when to our great despair, politics and the proper management of government affairs have slumped to a new, possibly all-time low; in a sense we have become politically bankrupt and it is apparent that this is pretty much the case in most of the world’s democracies; I suggest this is not only sad but also a harsh and unnecessary penalty to have to pay for a freedom that was fought so hard to obtain. Nevertheless it makes the task of caring for our veterans even harder and we will all need to pull our weight if success is to be achieved.
On the ramparts of Cardiff Castle in South Wales, there is a dedication to this cause. It takes the form of a sculpture of an Infantryman’s head, helmeted and battled scarred. The plaque beneath reads as follows:
THE ABANDONED SOLDIER
TO HONOUR THOSE WHO HAVE VALIANTLY FOUGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY BUT ARE NOT BEING TREATED AS THE HEROES THEY TRULY ARE.
