Letter holds poignant insight into a hero
Penned shortly before death on duty
VICTORIA Cross hero Cameron Baird’s last letter, written less than two weeks before he was killed in action, has been released by his family.
The letter to Sydney student Campbell Byrd provides insight into Corporal Baird’s work in Afghanistan just before his tragic death in 2013.
“It was Cameron’s last letter he ever wrote, we believe, before he was killed,” said Cpl Baird’s father, Doug.
Mr Baird and wife Kaye can pinpoint the timing because Cameron writes that he is aged 32 (his birthday is on June 7) and he died on June 22, 2013.
The treasured letter was passed back to the Bairds within a month of learning of their son’s ill-fated mission.
“We knew nothing about the boy, Campbell Byrd, or his family,” Mr Baird said.
“It didn’t quite register at the time but then it did and our thoughts changed to how great was it of this boy’s family to take the time to get this back to us. It’s terribly sincere.
“Cam had obviously taken the time to carefully word his replies and it was exactly what we would expect from him.
“I think he was putting a message out there from himself that the work he does is so dangerous and you don’t know what is around the corner. And he’s sending a message out that you should enjoy life.”
This week News Corp introduced the Bairds to Campbell, now aged 16, and his parents, Jason and Leanne Byrd.
“Cameron would have liked Campbell; there were so many similarities, they would have just got on,” Mr Baird said.
The teenager said his letter had been part of a school project encouraged by his English teacher, who asked the class to write to an “unknown soldier” serving in Afghanistan.
“It was like a ‘Dear Soldier’ letter, we had no idea of their names,” Campbell said.
“We tried to update them on things are going on in the current day; obviously, I had no idea what his interests were so it was kind of hard.
“But it was pretty cool, writing to one of them.”
The class put the letters together and sent them off, and the students were rewarded with replies within weeks.
“About a month later I got a reply,” Campbell said. “It was pretty full on.”
Then came news of Cpl Baird’s death about a week after his letter arrived.
“The teacher came up to me and said, ‘Do you by any chance still have that letter?’.
“She ran me through what had happened and suggested it would be good to give the letter to the War Memorial.
“I feel pretty privileged to have received it (the letter).”
For the Birds, reading the heartfelt letter resonated as the true words of their son.
“He was a great believer in it’s better to give than receive – I think there’s a little bit of that in there, that you can make your life better for yourself,” Mr Baird said.
Releasing their son’s letter publicly served as a call for other students to return them.
“Our hope is if there are letters out there that students have received from a soldier who has been killed in action, that their parents would be just as grateful as us to receive it.
“We’d encourage them to make contact with (the Department of) Defence to have it passed back to their family.”
The letter had also helped the family understand Cameron’s work, which had been heavily censored on his phone calls home.