Memoirs not all black for White
OUR CITY, OUR FUTURE: From Mt Tyson to the Vietnam War
LIKE many returned Vietnam War veterans, Toowoomba man Kerry White found it difficult to settle back into mainstream Australian life.
However, that restlessness may well have helped drive the creativity behind this former The Chronicle journalist’s five books.
Born in Toowoomba, Mr White attended Mt Tyson primary school before boarding at the then boys only Downlands College.
“We couldn’t even think about girls in those days,” he quipped with customary humour.
Life after school took on a varied journey from the Commonwealth Bank in Toowoomba to the Vietnam War to studying at the DDIAE (now USQ) to a variety of jobs and places from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast.
Mr White is completing his fifth book Dominos and Marbles which catalogues much of his life’s journey with a few detours along the way.
“The title comes from the theory at the time of the Vietnam War that communism would have a domino effect and spread down through the Asian countries,” he said.
“The ‘marbles’ was the way they picked the people to go to Vietnam (conscription).”
Mr White describes the book as “A young man’s story based on memory, reflection and imagination”, touching on his life as a child in Toowoomba to Vietnam to adjusting to life on return from war to contemporary life.
“It (post Vietnam) was difficult for me, I had to face the headlines,” he said of his return from the “unpopular war”.
“When I came back they put me in the Commonwealth Bank at St Lucia on (university) campus in the heart of the demonstrations.
“Psychologically, it was as difficult as Vietnam.”
Dominoes and Marbles will be available soon along with Mr White’s other books at https://www.amazon.com//e/B074QCYFH3