I could taste the dust in the air, I felt the vegetation and I could smell the rain.

The rubber plantation on the old Nui Dat Base site.

Ella Frampton writes:

To be walking in the footsteps of our men, some of who made the ultimate sacrifice and never came home was quite daunting. This was where so many young Australian’s spent the end of their short lives and this was where they had been living for weeks, if not months on end. They lived with the constant fear of being sent on patrols and hearing that terrible word “contact”. Standing in the rubber plantation I could hear them talking and laughing and just living. When Peter was showing us the formation they was used when fighting I couldn’t’ help but think about how scared you would be. You never would have been able to know where the Viet Cong were and at night it would have been pitch black as the soldiers stumbled around the dense jungles of Vietnam. When we were walking up to Kangaroo Pad where the helicopters used to land, I had a very vivid perception of what the soldiers would have seen, felt and heard. I could hear the choppers and see the trees blowing as they were hovering just above the ground, I could taste the dust in the air, I felt the vegetation and I could smell the rain. It was a windy and overcast day when we visited Nui Dat, which added to the ambiance. With every step I took that day I could feel someone with me. It was like a presence of someone who went there to fight and never left.

I couldn’t help but think about my researched soldier that day, Major Peter John Badcoe. I had just seen where he had been based for so long and the entire country where he had spent the final moments of his life. Driving into Vung Tau and completing my speech as we stopped on Back Beach was coincidental. On my right, I saw the beautiful sands of Back Beach and to my left was the location of the Peter Badcoe VC Club where Australian’s spent their 'rec' leave. This entire trip was a great opportunity for me to feel connected to the Australian’s who made a huge difference in all of our lives - for many of them it was not a choice to go and fight. As a member of a defence family I knew that without the soldiers of the past I potentially could have not only missed out on this trip but also not having an entire future. On the trip I didn’t only learn a lot but I also met a group of brilliant, like-minded people who I can now comfortably call my friends, if not my family. I’m so grateful that I got the opportunity to go on this trip and I know it will be something I will never forget.